Operation Outbreak
Tabletop exercises

A tabletop that changes as you respond

Most tabletop exercises ask participants what they would do in a fixed scenario. Ours adds a live simulation that keeps changing as the room makes decisions. The debrief is based on the outbreak the participants actually produced. We design the scenario, facilitate the exercise, and deliver the after-action review.

Participants at a tabletop exercise working around a table with phones, printed injects, and countermeasure QR sheets while a facilitator presents a discussion question

A discussion-based exercise with a live simulation underneath it

Participants around a table during a tabletop exercise, working through printed injects and QR sheets on their phones while a facilitator presents the discussion question behind them
Two cells

Technical and policy

The technical cell focuses on case definitions, diagnostics, and clinical response. The policy cell focuses on risk communication, mitigation strategies, and public trust. Both face the same outbreak.

Staged injects

The situation keeps developing

New information arrives while the room is still deciding. A cluster may appear before the pathogen is identified. Pathogen confirmation may arrive alongside a press leak.

Facilitated debrief

Replay what the room did

During the debrief, participants can review the contact network and epidemic curve, and follow individual participants through the outbreak.

We provide everything but the room

Our team designs the scenario, runs the exercise, and documents the results afterward. You bring the participants.

Before

Scenario design

  • A scoping call focused on your aims and audience
  • A scenario built around your training objectives
  • Pathogen parameters and inject timing
On the day

Facilitation

  • End-to-end delivery by our team
  • All participant and facilitator materials
After

After-action review

  • An immediate debrief while the experience is fresh
  • A written after-action review within 24 hours
  • Raw data export

Past deployments

Two tables of participants at the Kuala Lumpur exercise, working through printed injects while a facilitator presents from the podium
June 2026

Global Health Security Conference · Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A biosecurity exercise for conference delegates focused on decisions made during the early stages of an outbreak.

Participants at the Trieste training seated in discussion, working through printed injects with a phone showing an infected status in the foreground
May 2026

UN BWC ISU and ICGEB · Trieste, Italy

Biosecurity training including a scenario-based exercise that brought together 16 early- and mid-career scientists from four continents.

Participant phones on a table during the Cape Town exercise, showing sick and very sick health statuses with protection and vaccination state
December 2025

ICGEB and UN BWC · Cape Town, South Africa

An outbreak-preparedness tabletop for 15 fellows in the Training Course in Pathogen Detection and Biosecurity.

Let’s scope your exercise

Send us your audience parameters (size, type, experience level, etc.), objectives, and timing. We’ll reply with a proposal.

Get in touch →