The place of exercises in disaster management.

This article sets out the personal experience of the author in three types of disaster exercise, acted out exercises carried out at Belfast International Airport, talk-through exercises carried out with personnel at the four Area Boards in Northern Ireland, and a tabletop exercise organized by the Health Emergency Planning Officer of the North West Thames Region in connection with a specific scenario at Heathrow Airport. The advantages and costs of the various exercises are discussed. In order to collect experience from different people carrying out disaster exercises and to increase the professionalism of such exercises, a national centre for disaster teaching and research is recommended.