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A tabletop exercise is the simplest type of disaster planning exercise. Unlike Functional or Full-Scale exercises, that simulate emergencies in a highly realistic (and physical) manner, participants in a tabletop exercise normally sit around a table and talk about the actions they might take to address an emergency. Don’t let the simplicity of the exercise fool you, though: such an exercise can expose the strengths and weaknesses of an agency’s disaster planning and lead to substantive change before a true disaster occurs.

During a tabletop exercise a facilitator presents a disaster-related scenario and everyone around the table verbalizes the actions that he/she would take in response to that scenario. As the discussion proceeds, the facilitator alters or complicates the scenario by introducing new information, called “injects.” Normally, the entire exercise lasts from one to four hours, though there is no prescribed limit; the exercise could be planned to extend a full day or more.