This book was prepared by the World Health Organization. It was originally designed, produced and distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Emergency Management Institute of the United States of America. The World Health Organization has added to it and reformatted many sections of this material in order for users to focus on public health emergencies.

These guidelines are intended to provide a wide range of information related to public health emergency management exercise development. The course material has been designed for emergency exercise staff to acquire in-depth knowledge and skills related to the exercise development process, including management, control, simulation and evaluation. Emphasis is on the construction of exercise planning documents; staffing and training of team leaders in control, simulation and evaluation; the development of expected player actions and points of review; and exercise administration and logistics.