Crisis and Emergency Management System Design Training Course: Governance, Plans and Exercises

Programme Summary

Crisis and emergency management system design is the subject of this two-week training course for crisis, emergency and continuity directors at strategic level, ending in a documented system design for one organisation or sector. Many organisations hold separate plans for emergencies, crises and recovery, written at different times by different owners, so roles overlap and gaps appear when events escalate. The programme moves from governance and risk to continuity, response, crisis decisions and recovery, then to exercises and improvement. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on crisis and emergency management system design to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Utilities, hospitals, airports, banks and public agencies face events that begin as an incident and become a crisis within hours. A single system with one governance line, one set of scenarios and linked plans lets leaders move from response to recovery without confusion over who decides. Design work done before an event also shows where resources, authority and information are missing.

• Response Coordination: Improves when command roles and escalation triggers are defined once for all event types.
• Recovery Readiness: Strengthens when recovery priorities follow tested continuity objectives.
• Assurance Evidence: Grows when exercises, audits and reviews produce records that owners can show to boards.

Principles and Evidence Base

• ISO 22361: Gives guidelines on crisis management, applied in Sessions 1, 2 and 6 to governance, team activation and strategic decisions.
• ISO 22320: Gives guidelines on emergency management and incident response, applied in Sessions 1 and 5 to command structure and information flow.
• ISO 22301: Sets requirements for business continuity management systems, applied in Sessions 4 and 7 to impact analysis and recovery objectives.
• ISO 31000: Provides the risk management process, applied in Session 3 to threat assessment and scenario choice.

Intended Participants

• Crisis directors who own the arrangements for events that threaten the whole organisation.
• Emergency managers who lead response teams and incident command.
• Continuity leaders who maintain impact analyses and recovery strategies.
• Risk and assurance heads who must show that arrangements work.
• Senior officials who coordinate several agencies within one sector.

Typical settings include utilities, healthcare, aviation, banking and public administration.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to construct a governance structure and policy for a crisis and emergency management system.
2. Participants will be able to prioritise threats and select scenarios against which the system is designed.
3. Participants will be able to evaluate critical activities and set recovery objectives.
4. Participants will be able to design command structures, escalation triggers and response plans.
5. Participants will be able to diagnose weaknesses in a system through exercises and audits.
6. Participants will be able to justify a system design and improvement plan to a board.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Crisis and Emergency Management System Design Foundations

What must a management system for crises and emergencies contain?

• System Scope and Boundary Statement
• ISO 22361 Crisis Principles Map
• ISO 22320 Emergency Principles Map
• System Architecture Sketch
• Stakeholder and Obligation Register

Day 2: Governance, Policy and Resources

Who owns the system, and who decides when events escalate?

• Crisis Governance Charter
• Policy Statement Draft
• Roles and Authority Matrix
• Resource and Budget Brief
• Performance Indicator Set

Day 3: Risk, Threats and Scenarios

Which events must the system be built to handle?

• ISO 31000 Risk Assessment Template
• Threat and Hazard Register
• Scenario Selection Matrix
• Impact Severity Scale
• Scenario Narrative Pack

Day 4: Impact Analysis and Continuity Strategy

Which activities must continue, and for how long without them?

• Business Impact Analysis Form
• Critical Activity Register
• Recovery Objective Table
• Dependency and Supplier Map
• Continuity Strategy Options Grid

Day 5: Emergency Response Planning and Command

How does the first hour of an incident run?

• ISO 22320 Incident Command Structure Chart
• Escalation Trigger Table
• Emergency Response Plan Template
• Information Flow Map
• Resource Mobilisation Sheet

Day 6: Crisis Teams and Strategic Decisions

How does the strategic team decide under uncertainty?

• Crisis Team Activation Protocol
• Decision Log Format
• Situation Briefing Template
• Options and Consequences Grid
• Crisis Communication Plan Outline

Day 7: Recovery and Resumption Planning

How is service restored in a planned order?

• Recovery Plan Template
• Resumption Priority Sequence
• Alternate Site and Workaround Register
• People Support and Return Plan
• Stand-Down Criteria List

Day 8: Training, Exercises and Testing

How is readiness proved rather than assumed?

• Training Needs Matrix
• Exercise Programme Calendar
• Tabletop Exercise Design Sheet
• Functional Exercise Control Plan
• Exercise Evaluation Form

Day 9: Monitoring, Audit and Continual Improvement

How does the system learn and stay current?

• System Audit Checklist
• Corrective Action Register
• Management Review Agenda
• After-Action Review Template
• Improvement Priority List

Day 10: System Design for One Organisation or Sector

Do the earlier tools join into one system design a board can approve?

• Applying the Session 3 Scenario Selection Matrix
• Testing the Session 4 Recovery Objective Table
• Checking the Session 5 Escalation Trigger Table
• Rehearsing the Session 8 Exercise Programme Calendar
• Completing the Crisis and Emergency Management System Design

Methodology

The programme uses a design studio method built on prepared case material for two settings, a regional power utility and a hospital group, each with asset lists, past incident reports, plans and organisation charts. Participants build their system design day by day, challenge each other's choices in peer reviews and defend the final design to peers acting as a board.

• Suggested activity: Merging three overlapping plans into one escalation path.
• Suggested activity: Running a tabletop exercise on a scenario that outgrows its first plan.
• Suggested activity: Reviewing an audit finding and drafting the corrective action.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a crisis and emergency management system design for one organisation or sector. It holds a governance charter, a scenario set, a continuity strategy with recovery objectives, command and crisis team arrangements, an exercise calendar and an improvement cycle. At work the design is used to brief a board, to align plan owners and to schedule the first year of exercises and audits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a training course on crisis and emergency management system design suitable for leaders who manage only one type of event?

Yes. Crisis and emergency management system design is taught through prepared cases and templates. The programme assumes you hold responsibility for emergencies, crises or continuity, but needs no earlier system design work.

Which standards does crisis and emergency management system design rest on?

Crisis and emergency management system design rests on ISO 22361 for crisis management, ISO 22320 for emergency management, ISO 22301 for business continuity and ISO 31000 for risk, each applied to prepared cases.

How is the design from crisis and emergency management system design used at work?

You use the crisis and emergency management system design to brief your board, align plan owners and set the first cycle of exercises, audits and reviews.

How does crisis and emergency management system design differ from a programme on business continuity alone?

Crisis and emergency management system design joins governance, response, crisis decisions and recovery into one system, while a business continuity programme concentrates on keeping critical activities running.