Functional exercises are a step up from walkthrough exercises as all help from documentation or supervisors is removed. These exercises allow personnel to validate plans and readiness by performing their duties in a simulated operational environment. Activities for a functional exercise are scenario-driven, such as the failure of a critical business function or a specific hazard scenario. Functional exercises are designed to exercise specific team members, procedures, and resources (e.g., communications, warnings, notifications, and equipment set-up).
The major focus of a functional exercise is to:
- Focus on a single consequence of an emergency event or a single department within the facility
- Review the implementation of the processes and procedures used in a real-life emergency event
- Test resource availability
This exercise involves:
- Decision-making individuals representing each group that could be involved
- An observer who documents decisions and assesses group interaction
- A topic-related scenario with set events happening in a timed sequence
- May include a real test of a system, such as a computer system failover or a phone/communications tree
No patients are involved in this exercise.
Functional exercises are usually scheduled to ensure all participants are available.
