Q&A: Global EOC Exercise

WHO has developed a framework to provide Member States with high-level guidance for establishing or strengthening a functional Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC). With Member States and international health emergency support agencies, WHO has undertaken a series of simulation exercises to assess the functionality and interoperability of the PHEOCs of selected Member States.

A PHEOC is a type of emergency operations centre that is addresses the specific requirements for coordinating responses to public health emergencies such as communicable disease outbreaks. Such a centre is a physical location or virtual space in which designated emergency management functions are performed. It is supported by appropriate legal authority and regulations, and designed and resourced with sustainability in mind. All emergency operations centres perform a vital role in the coordination of information and resources for efficient and effective responses to emergency events. An operations centre may be a temporary facility or may be established in a permanent location.

Exercises comprise a variety of forms of training and evaluation. In this functional exercise a global public health event is simulated through the introduction of events in a scenario. People in the EOC will respond to the simulated events in their normal roles in the centre, drawing on established plans and procedures. This allows them to practice and maintain critical skill sets, and to continuously improve the overall functioning of the EOC, based on post exercise evaluations.

GEOCX is a simulated interactive exercise that is focused on the management of acute public health events. This will be a ‘functional’ exercise which will provide an opportunity for all players and entities to demonstrate and enhance their understanding of the event management processes by practicing their various roles and responsibilities during an international health security event.

GEOCX, along with other activities, is part of the commitment of WHO and partners to assist Member States to develop and maintain effectiveness in the management of public health events that may have national, regional and international implications. This exercise supports Member States in pandemic preparedness and response activities. 

GEOCX is expected to yield practical information about the efficiency of procedures, discover gaps in planning and operational responses, build on strengths and identify opportunities for improving plans and procedures.

Evaluators drawn from Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa will be watching how the participating EOCs perform in real time, measuring performance against what is expected from existing procedures.

The exercise offers participants a way to test their plans and capabilities in a realistic environment to gain an in-depth experience that can best be achieved by practice.

The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) requires that Member States develop the means to manage communicable disease and share information between their management infrastructures (EOCs). Participating Member States will participate (play) in the exercise from the facilities they would normally occupy during the management of an event of the type and magnitude in the exercise scenario.

A team of international, national, and sub-national experts in emergency management and infectious disease control from around the world jointly developed this exercise following a well-established process on how best to design, conduct, and evaluate and an exercise.

The exercise will be halted immediately. No essential personnel will be diverted from any type of actual emergency response during this exercise. Participating WHO units and Member States also have the option of withdrawing any of their players from the exercise at any time to address matters or concerns directly related to their public safety missions.

No. This is an exercise where there is no deployment of people or goods. The exercise will not affect public or official activity at all.

Member States will have an opportunity to test their plans and capabilities in a realistic environment to gain an in-depth experience that can only be achieved by practice.

This experience will help identify gaps and areas for opportunity that will ultimately help in the assessment and improvement of Member States’ readiness to respond jointly and effectively to a global public health emergency.

Depending on the intended level of participation, Member States are required to utilize their emergency operations system Plans and Procedures. Players in each location will deal with the inputs according to known plans and procedures, or based on their best judgment if these did not fully anticipate events. The local facilitators will be in electronic and voice communication with the lead facilitator and simulation team in Geneva to keep them informed about the pace of local progress in dealing with the inputs. Participants are required to provide records of their interactions as part of the exercise evaluation process.

Contact the Public Information Officers in participating Member States’ regional WHO offices and WHO Communications in Geneva.

Exercises are part of a commitment to training and practicing. Training programs should evolve to meet altered circumstances, opportunities and changes in personnel, resulting in the need for future exercises. 

Since no personnel or equipment will be deployed during the exercise, the cost is minimal. Most personnel involved will participate in the exercise from the facilities they would normally occupy. The exercise itself imposes few costs while the planning costs have been factored into regular operations.

The exercise takes place in the participating Member States who have volunteered and is managed by WHO at Headquarters and Regional Offices.

There will be opportunity for some observers of the exercise. This will be managed on a caseby-case basis by participating Member States. Many PHEOCs are modest in size and cannot accommodate observers.

WHO is working with a number of Member States and Regional Offices to conduct the exercise. A number of countries have already committed from Africa, Asia, and North America.

Each participating entity will conduct its own internal evaluation. In addition, WHO will publish an exercise evaluation that will capture overall themes and lessons learned.

Participating Member States may issue press releases, as will WHO. In the normal course of events in a real emergency, the preparation of public information messages for the media is actually one of the EOC’s functions. There will be a media briefing before the exercise that will provide opportunities to address any questions that may arise. 

WHO will provide a brief media package just before exercise commencement.

Each Member State will have a spokesperson, as will WHO. Participation in the exercise is public information, but it is important to contain the information surrounding the scenario to ensure that the exercise is as realistic as possible.

Communicable diseases do not recognize geographic boundaries. This exercise is an opportunity to train systems and people utilizing a scenario that we hope will never happen, but need to practice.

Contact the Public Information Officer for the National Health Authority in your country or the Communications unit in the WHO regional office, or in Geneva.