​The most common participants in this exercise are local public health departments and hospitals. However, jurisdictions are increasingly involving (highly encouraged) their EMS agencies, emergency management departments, police departments, fire departments, and other health care providers (especially members of local health care coalitions) including community clinics, long term care facilities, surgical centers, etc. Anyone can participate.

​All participants can conduct their exercises on any day they choose. The advantage of participating on the day of the SWMHE is that the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) will activate their Medical and Health Coordination Center (MHCC) and participate as well, giving locals an opportunity to submit resource requests, situation reports, etc. However, if you need to change the date, advise your local community partners and jurisdiction of why you would prefer another date. The jurisdiction may be able to work with you and ensure that your community is participating on the same day. Depending on the size of your exercise, you may also want to alert CDPH that you are planning to conduct the exercise on another day, and they may be able to support your resource requests and situation reports during that time.

​There is information in the Exercise Evaluation Guide (EEG) templates on exercise evaluation, available on the "Post-Exercise" page of the Exercise Template section. Overall, assigning certain staff to be exercise evaluators will help ensure progress towards exercise objectives is adequately recorded for future use and reference. Participant Feedback Forms, evaluator notes, Exercise Evaluation Guides, and notes from the post-exercise Hot Wash and/or debrief with exercise staff can be combined and compiled into an After Action Report (AAR). There is an AAR template on the website available on the "Post-Exercise" page of the Exercise Template section. The AAR will help to summarize the strengths, areas for improvement, and next steps based on the exercise.

If you want to learn more about exercise evaluation, you can go to the FEMA.gov website, and click on the “HSEEP” tab, to view the HSEEP manual (PDF). Chapter 5 of that manual addresses the EEGs and how to develop them. There are also many additional sections within HSEEP on exercise evaluation to help guide you.

In terms of documenting an exercise, the Exercise Director, Senior Controller, or Lead Evaluator should collect all completed forms and documents after the exercise to compile as part of the AAR. These forms could include Incident Command System (ICS) forms, resource requests, situation reports, incident action plans, sign-in sheets, timesheets, and more. Photos and video footage of the exercise can be another helpful way to document the exercise and may be valuable tools for use in future trainings.

​Yes, you can always add to the exercise to make it work for you. Examine the equipment, look at your Master Scenario Events List, and include an inject that causes your staff to use that piece of equipment. For example, if they need training on a new generator, make sure there is an inject or event somewhere in the exercise that would require them to use the new generator. You may want to discuss how to use it during your tabletop exercise as well, or any pre-exercise training.

Each year may vary, but typically CDPH and EMSA’s Medical and Health Coordination Center (MHCC) will send out at least two CAHAN alerts – one to announce the start of the exercise at the MHCC, and one to announce the end of the exercise at the MHCC. If your jurisdiction is participating in other elements of play with the MHCC (such as joint conference calls) your jurisdiction may receive more.