A functional exercise is the highest level exercise you can conduct without fully activating all aspects of your emergency action plan or evacuating residents. A functional exercise:

• Involves various levels of facility and local emergency management personnel.
• Involves the simulation of a facility failure or other specified events that require rapid responses by trained personnel “acting out” their actual roles.
• Takes place in a stress-induced environment with time constraints.
• Evaluates both the internal capabilities and responses of the facility owners and emergency management officials.
• Evaluates the coordination activities between the facility owner and emergency management personnel.

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