Emergencies — especially large-scale disasters — are rarely straightforward. Exercising provides an opportunity to collaborate and find solutions to address the inevitable, unexpected consequences of emergencies, build connections with everyone involved in a response, and to test emergency procedures. Updated in 2026, the Emergency Response Tabletop Exercise in a Box has everything you need to conduct a tabletop exercise, including guidance on preparing for the exercise, facilitating the exercise, and conducting a post-exercise debrief.
Scenarios include:
- Active threat/active shooter
- Cyber attack
- Operational technology cyber attack
- Flooding
- Tornado
- Wildfire
- Winter storm
In addition to the scenarios, the toolkit includes guidance on how to design, develop, and host a tabletop exercise, a planner checklist, facilitators guide, briefing and after-action reporting templates, and sample feedback forms.
Please complete the brief form below to download the toolkit. Completing this form helps us measure and improve the impact of the resources APPA develops.