Emergency exercises and information exchange. Does practice make perfect? Final report

This project has covered a series of exercises and exercise like activities, in addition to a survey of scenario development tools and development of a suggestion for a Nordic system for data and information exchange. The results from the activities are presented in this report in a methodical perspective. The results reveal three similar components in almost all exercise activities: tools and methods to be used in an emergency situation need further development, systems for communication and information exchange should be developed and implemented, and the format and content of the information to be exchanged in an emergency situation should be agreed upon. Recommendations for future tasks regarding Nordic exercises are given according to this methodical approach. A major aspect here is to develop strategies for the over-all emergency planning. Such strategies should include the use of systematically chosen exercise types to improve the emergency response in a systematic way. (au)