Walkthrough exercises are a step up from tabletop exercises as they incorporate hands-on tasks. Walkthroughs still have documentation and supervisors readily available for help, but the tasks are played out in real time in the laboratory or healthcare facility. Typical tasks include setting the fire alarm and properly exiting the building in the event of a fire, communicating to staff via the fan-out list, locking the doors, and turning off the lights in the event of an active shooter.
Walkthrough exercises are designed to familiarize team members with emergency response, patient care continuity, and crisis communication plans, as well as their roles and responsibilities as defined in the plans.
The major focus of a walkthrough exercise is to:
- Implement the processes and procedures used in a real-life emergency event
- Detect issues that could interfere with conducting a realistic simulation
This exercise involves:
- Healthcare individuals physically going through the motions in the facility
- Decision-making individuals representing each group that could be involved
- An observer who documents decisions and assesses group interactions
- A topic-related scenario with set events happening in a timed sequence
No patients are involved in this type of exercise.
Walkthrough exercises are usually scheduled to ensure all participants are available.
