When laboratories or healthcare facilities want to test their emergency management plans, they perform emergency exercises. Emergency exercises are announced or unannounced fabricated scenarios that mimic real-life emergency events. These exercises are conducted to ensure that the facility and staff are prepared and knowledgeable on how to respond to an emergency event. Emergency exercises are also known as practice events.
Emergency exercises range in scope and involvement from exercises that are limited to the potential occurrences in the laboratory to full-scale exercises involving simulated patients and federal emergency management organizations. The hospital is required to participate in emergency exercises coordinated with laboratories and other healthcare facilities that may be called upon in an emergency event.
As the scope of the exercise increases, the number of groups participating will also increase, requiring a longer lead time for planning. Simple laboratory-oriented exercises should be performed periodically to test procedures and group readiness. Exercises can focus on events that may not routinely occur in the laboratory setting but have a great patient impact, such as when an emergency release of blood is needed, computer systems are down, or water is leaking.
