Public Health Drills Improve Emergency Preparedness

Enhancing the design, conduct and evaluation of public health emergency preparedness exercises: a rapid review was published. The authors reviewed research from 2013–2024 on all‑hazards emergency preparedness exercises for public‑health agencies and identified practices that make drills more effective.
The review found that well‑designed exercises — including simulations, tabletop drills, and full‑scale scenarios — help public‑health agencies identify weaknesses in plans, test coordination between teams, clarify roles and responsibilities, and improve readiness. It highlighted the importance of clear scenario design, appropriate selection of participants and facilitators, and post‑exercise evaluation to feed improvements into real-world preparedness.
Regionally, on 14 April 2025, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) organised a cross‑country training under its PREPARE project to strengthen the capacity of Public Health Emergency Operations Centres (PHEOCs) in East Africa. The training used simulation and tabletop exercises to test response procedures, inter‑agency coordination, and readiness for outbreaks and other health emergencies.
These findings and initiatives illustrate that public health drills are not just theoretical exercises — when done properly, they lead to better‑prepared health systems, clearer coordination, and ability to respond more effectively to epidemics, disasters, or other emergencies.