VEMS2025: G3 - Better to be Prepared than Lucky: Lessons Learned from Implementing a Regional Exercise Series - Taylor Jones & Alex Weston

In 2024, the NOVA Emergency Management Training & Exercise Working Group was tasked with developing and implementing several regional exercises for hazards that would impact the whole Northern Virginia region. This session will discuss the lessons learned from both the development and the implementation of an exercise series centered on a DC Walkout (seminar and tabletop) and a tabletop exercise focusing on a nationwide IT system outage 72 hours before regional hurricane impacts.