EU MODEX Table-Top Exercise in Slovenia
From 23-26 January 2023, a Module Table-Top Exercise (EU MODEX TTX) took place in Brdo, near Kranj, Slovenia.
Image: (c) Group photo of the participants/Photo by Neja Pavlica
The EU MODEX TTX is an exercise involving participants from civil protection Modules, other response capacities, TAST, and EUCPT, reflecting the composition of at least part of their respective teams. It is based on a disaster/emergency scenario that develops over time and becomes more challenging and complex as the exercise progresses. The participants are separated into their respective teams, receive phased injects and an evolving series of events - giving them incidents and problems to respond to and decisions to make relating to the specific international emergency response environment.
This exercise in Slovenia lasted for three days and was based on an emergency within the European Union. A total of 24 participants joined this EU MODEX. This Table-Top Exercise was comprised of nine modules from seven countries: Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Additionally, EUCPT and TAST brought representatives from Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, and Germany.
"We train around 30 participants through staff exercises, coming from 12 to 15 different countries, Member and Participating States in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism", explained Wolfgang Krajic, the exercise's chief supervisor who has been conducting this type of training for almost 20 years.
"Each exercise consists of about 50 people in total, 30 participants and 20 staff who run the exercise and support the participants. We are playing out the risks that actually threaten Slovenia, namely floods and earthquakes", he added.
We are facing the exercise on historical or real data - and very often we work with the people who would be involved in the response operations in Slovenia.
Wolfgang Krajic said: "The biggest difference between a EU MOD TTX and a field exercise is that the Table-Top Exercise produces lots of results with less effort. No equipment, no vehicles have to be moved." "The biggest added value is that we have the possibility to exercise in a very safe environment, because nothing serious can happen. (...) There is a little bit less stress than at a field exercise and, therefore, the possibility to learn and discuss is higher", he added.
On the other hand, Krajic explained that "the difficult part of a Table-Top Exercise is that the participants need to imagine the situation in their head, which requires lots of intellectual work (…), immersing themselves mentally in the situation, because they do not see it – there is no damage, no response operation."
