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<br />Recommended Participants <br /> <br />The exercise has three categories of participants: <br /> <br />· Facilitator(s)-the person or persons responsible for organizing the exercise, <br />providing information to the players before, during, and after the exercise, and <br />conducting the actual exercise. <br />· Players-those carrying out the prescribed exercise tasks. <br />· Observers-people invited to learn from the exercise by watching. <br /> <br />Who exactly should participate in each of these categories? The exercise is designed <br />with the following assumptions about participation. <br /> <br />Facilitator(s). The facilitator should be skilled in running meetings and knowledgeable <br />about flood hazards, long-term recovery from floods, and flood hazard mitigation. <br />Someone from your state's floodplain management office, hazard mitigation office, or <br />emergency services department could facilitate the exercise for your community. The <br />facilitator could also be a community's emergency services coordinator or other staff <br />member. Because the exercise emphasizes planning issues during recovery, a <br />community's city planner could be an excellent facilitator, either alone or working with <br />someone with emergency management expertise. A consultant with appropriate <br />qualifications is a possible choice. The facilitator must have the full support of the <br />community's chief administrative officer and be authorized to ask assistance from staff <br />members in preparing for the exercise. <br /> <br />Players. The players should include 8 to 12 local government senior staff members, <br />selected by the city or county manager. Staff members, such as the planning director, <br />building official, and public works director, who would be responsible for rebuilding <br />recommendations after a flood must be involved. Other possible players are the city or <br />county manager, emergency services coordinator, housing specialist, engineer, clerk, <br />attorney, parks and recreation director, and any other staff person who might have <br />recovery responsibilities. The police and fire chiefs need to be involved as the exercise <br />deals with some emergency response issues. However, it is wise to alert them that this <br />is not an emergency response exercise, and that others on the staff will probably be <br />taking the lead. Council members, local American Red Cross personnel, or business <br />persons may be players. It is important to include those people who would be <br />responsible for the tasks in the exercise after a flood, regardless of their formal titles or <br />roles. <br /> <br />Observers. Allowing non-players to observe the exercise is an effective way to spread <br />the benefit; however, it is optional. The decision would be made by the facilitator and <br />the participating jurisdiction. Observers could be other staff members from <br />participating departments, staff members from non-participating departments, elected <br />or appointed local officials, and community representatives. Staff members from other <br />nearby jurisdictions might also be invited. By including observers, a jurisdiction would <br />be increasing the impact of the exercise as a learning tool. <br /> <br />Facilitator's Instructions, page 3 <br />