The UK has recently been plagued by a series of incidents which have led to serious concerns about the country's state of emergency preparedness. Within the UK emergency planning and management are, normally, executed at local level. Local authorities and emergency services have developed frameworks for planning, training and exercising. Simulation exercises form an important part of these
... [Show full abstract] frameworks because they are perceived as a useful tool for learning. However, there is a lack of evidence of their value for emergency, crisis and disaster management.This article investigates the use of simulation exercises by local authorities and emergency services by subjecting reports on exercises held at the Emergency Planning College at Easingwold to a detailed review.It is concluded that after relating the post-exercise reports to theories of learning no obvious conclusions could be drawn. It is questioned whether simulation exercises in their current form provide opportunities for learning. It is suggested that the framework for planning, conduct and evaluation would need to be improved so that post-exercise reports could fulfil their potential as a useful source of information.
