……….. and how to run one
Picture this: It’s 2 AM on a Saturday. A fire breaks out in a resident’s room. Your skeleton night staff needs to act fast. But here’s the question that keeps safety managers awake at night: Does everyone actually know what to do?
You probably have an emergency response plan. You likely run fire drills. But there’s a crucial gap many nursing homes miss: testing whether your plans actually work in the real world. That’s where tabletop exercises come in.
What Is a Tabletop Exercise?
Think of it as a “fire drill for your brain.”
A tabletop exercise is a group discussion in which your team walks through a realistic fire scenario, step by step and decision by decision, without anyone leaving the room. No alarms, no evacuations, no disruption to residents. Just your key staff sitting around a table, talking through exactly what they’d do if a fire started right now.
Unlike a physical drill, you’re not testing how fast people can move. You’re testing something equally important: whether everyone knows their role, can make good decisions under pressure, and can communicate effectively when it matters most.
Here’s how it works: A facilitator presents a hypothetical fire scenario (maybe a kitchen fire on a Sunday evening with minimal staff). As the scenario unfolds, your team discusses their response:
- How do you alert other units?
- Who calls 112?
- Which residents get evacuated first?
- What if the planned exit is blocked?
- Who calls the PIC?
- What happens if the PIC does not answer?
It’s a guided conversation that reveals gaps in your emergency plan before those gaps become life-threatening problems.
Why Bother? Three Powerful Benefits
Test Your Plans in Real-World Scenarios
Your emergency response plan looks great on paper. But does it account for a fire during Sunday lunch when half your staff are on break? What about that new extension you built last year?
Tabletop exercises let you throw realistic complications at your team:
- “The fire alarm in Zone 2 isn’t sounding.”
- “A resident in Room 12 is refusing to leave.”
- “The fire brigade is asking about your sprinkler system; who has that information?”
These scenarios quickly reveal whether your procedures hold up under pressure. And it’s far better to discover communication breakdowns or unclear responsibilities during a simulation than during an actual emergency.
Sharpen Decision-Making Under Pressure
When smoke fills a corridor, you don’t have time to check the manual. Your staff needs to make fast, coordinated decisions based on training and muscle memory.
Tabletop exercises build that decision-making muscle. By working through “what if” scenarios as a team, your staff learns to:
- Prioritise actions when multiple things are happening at once
- Adapt when Plan A isn’t working
- Communicate decisions clearly and quickly
- Work together under time pressure
The debrief afterwards is just as valuable; your team can reflect on their decisions and learn from each other without the stress of a real emergency.
Find the Gaps Before They Matter
During a tabletop exercise.
- A nursing home team realised that the emergency response plan was locked in a cupboard and that only the managers had the key.
- One team found that their list of residents who needed evacuation assistance was stored only on the office computer, which would be inaccessible if that wing were evacuated.
- Another group discovered that no one could tell the fire brigade where the sprinkler shut-off valve was located.
These aren’t minor issues; they’re potential life-safety problems. But discovering them in a conference room means you can fix them immediately. As emergency management experts note, these exercises help you assess your preparedness in a risk-free environment, a safe place to learn from.
How Tabletop Exercises Fit Your Overall Fire Safety Strategy
Don’t think of tabletop exercises as a replacement for anything you’re already doing. They’re an addition that makes everything else work better.
Think of fire safety in three layers:
- Physical Protection: Fire doors, alarms, sprinklers, emergency lighting (required by Technical Guidance Document B)
- Written Plans: Your Emergency Response Plan, evacuation procedures, and staff duties
- People Preparedness: Training, drills, and exercises to ensure staff can execute those plans
Tabletop exercises bridge the gap between layers 2 and 3. They ensure your written plans actually translate into effective action by real people in crisis situations.
Working Alongside Physical Drills
Physical evacuation drills are essential; you need that hands-on practice. But they’re also:
- Disruptive to residents and operations
- Time-intensive to organise
- Limited to specific scenarios (you can’t easily drill a 2 AM evacuation with real residents)
Tabletop exercises complement drills by:
- Letting you explore more scenarios more frequently
- Including management and external partners in the discussion
- Focusing on decision-making and coordination rather than physical movement
- Being easier to run between full-scale drills
Use both together: drills for physical skills (using extinguishers, moving residents) and tabletops for thinking skills (prioritising, communicating, adapting).
Meeting Your Legal Obligations
Running tabletop exercises isn’t just good practice – it helps you comply with multiple legal and regulatory requirements:
- Fire Services Acts 1981 & 2003: You must take “all reasonable measures” to ensure safety in the event of fire. Tabletop exercises demonstrate you’re actively testing and improving your emergency response.
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005: Requires employers to prepare adequate emergency plans and train staff on those plans. A tabletop exercise does both; it validates your plan and educates participants.
- HIQA Standards: HIQA’s Fire Safety Handbook emphasises building a strong fire safety culture. Regulation 28 requires adequate procedures and staff training. Tabletop exercises show HIQA inspectors that you don’t just have policies on paper; you actively practice and refine them.
- Technical Guidance Document B: While TGD B covers building requirements, those fire safety features only work if staff know how to use them properly. Tabletop exercises ensure your team understands how to leverage fire compartments, smoke doors, and other building features during an emergency.
- International Standards (JCI): For facilities seeking international accreditation, regular emergency preparedness exercises are typically required. Tabletop exercises align with global best practices.
Your Step-by-Step Guide to Running a Successful Tabletop Exercise
Ready to try one? Here’s your practical checklist:
Before the Exercise
Set Clear Objectives
What do you want to test? Be specific:
- ✓ “Test night shift response to a bedroom fire”
- ✓ “Practice communication between nursing and maintenance during evacuation”
- ✗ “General fire preparedness” (too vague)
Create a Realistic Scenario
Develop a detailed, plausible scenario for your facility:
- Where does the fire start? (kitchen, resident room, electrical room?)
- When? (shift change, middle of night, during mealtime?)
- What complications arise? (blocked exit, alarm malfunction, missing resident?)
Make it specific: “It’s 3 PM on a Tuesday. A small fire starts in the kitchen due to unattended cooking. Smoke begins entering the dining room where 15 residents are having their tea.”
Invite the Right People
Include anyone with a role in fire response:
- PIC
- CNMs
- HCA
- Maintenance/facilities
- Health & Safety Coordinator
Also assign:
- A facilitator to present the scenario and guide the discussion
- A recorder to take notes on decisions and issues
Consider bringing in an external fire safety consultant for added expertise and objectivity.
Gather Your Materials
Have on hand:
- Your Emergency Response Plan
- Facility floor plans
- Emergency contact lists
- Fire alarm panel information
During the Exercise
Set the Ground Rules
Start by explaining:
- Speak up if you’re unsure about anything
- This is a no-blame learning exercise
- Everyone should participate
- The scenario is fiction, but treat it as real
Walk Through the Scenario
The facilitator presents the situation in stages:
“It’s 3 PM. You smell smoke coming from the kitchen. What’s your first action?”
[Team discusses]
“Okay, five minutes have passed. The fire alarm is now sounding. Smoke is visible in the dining room. What happens next?”
Keep the discussion moving. Ask probing questions:
- “Who’s calling 112?”
- “What are you telling the residents?”
- “The fire brigade just arrived – what information do they need?”
Inject Realistic Complications
Add challenges to test adaptability:
- “The usual exit route is blocked by smoke.”
- “A resident is refusing to leave.”
- “You can’t use the phone because the alarm is too loud.”
These curveballs reveal whether your team can think on their feet.
After the Exercise
Debrief Immediately
This is the most crucial part. Ask:
- What went well?
- What was confusing?
- Did everyone understand their roles?
- Where did communication break down?
- What surprised you?
Keep it constructive, not critical. You’re looking for learning, not blame.
Document Everything
Write up a simple report with:
- The scenario you used
- Who participated
- What you learned (strengths and weaknesses)
- Specific action items to address gaps
For example:
- ✓ Issue: Staff unsure where the gas shut-off valve was
- ✓ Action: show all staff and instruct them how to operate the gas shut-off valve by the end of the month
- ✓ Responsible: Maintenance Manager
Follow Through
Assign owners and deadlines to each action item. Track progress. Some fixes are quick (update the contact list today); others require planning (budget for an additional fire panel on the first-floor quarter).
Most importantly: communicate changes to all staff, even those who didn’t attend the exercise.
Make It Regular
Don’t let this be a one-time event. Schedule tabletop exercises:
- At least annually (more often if you have high turnover or facility changes)
- Between your physical drills
- With different scenarios each time
- Covering different shifts and locations
Variety keeps everyone sharp and ensures comprehensive preparedness.
The Bottom Line
- Fire emergencies in nursing homes are every manager’s worst nightmare. But, with proper preparation, your team can respond effectively and protect your most vulnerable residents.
- Tabletop exercises are a low-cost, high-impact way to build that preparation. They require minimal resources, just a meeting room and a couple of hours of staff time, but they yield invaluable insights that could save lives.
- More importantly, they create a culture of safety. When staff regularly practice emergency scenarios, they feel more confident. When managers regularly test their plans, they find and fix problems proactively. When everyone talks openly about “what if,” the whole organisation becomes more resilient.
- Start simple. Choose one realistic scenario. Gather your key people. Talk through what you’d do. You’ll be amazed at what you discover.
- Your residents and their families will sleep better knowing you’ve not only written emergency plans, but you’ve actually practised them until they work.
Ready to get started?
If you need help designing scenarios or facilitating your first tabletop exercise, consider working with the fire safety consultants at Phoenix STS who specialise in healthcare settings. But don’t wait for perfection; your first exercise can be simple and still be valuable. The important thing is to start building this crucial habit into your safety management routine.
