The following reminder was shared by the South Dakota Department of Health | Tuesday May 19, 2026
This is a reminder that the South Dakota Healthcare Preparedness Coalition’s Medical Response and Surge Exercise (MRSE) will take place tomorrow, May 20, 2026, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM CST.
Zoom Link
All HPC participants are expected to attend the initial exercise kickoff briefing via Zoom to receive exercise instructions, scenario information, and additional exercise guidance.
Zoom Link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3839251603?pwd=NHAxeE9Sb25VVGhPTDNOUmFSRDlpZz09&omn=85249244808&jst=2
The Zoom link will remain open for the duration of the exercise, and participants are welcome to stay connected to observe and listen throughout exercise play.
The Zoom link will also serve as the exercise Sim Cell should participants need exercise clarification, support, or subject matter expertise from emergency management, EMS, the National Weather Service (NWS), or other exercise support partners.
The only facilities required to provide formal report-outs during the exercise will be the three identified long-term care facilities participating in the evacuation portion of the exercise.
Exercise Documents
Exercise documents, including the Exercise Plan (ExPlan), Exercise Evaluation Guide (EEG), sign-in sheets, Long-Term Care Facilitator Guide, and exercise scenario background information, will be posted on the HPC website tomorrow morning and will also be distributed via email.
To receive participation credit for the exercise:
- All discussion questions posted on the HPC website must be completed and submitted.
- Completed EEGs and sign-in sheets must be emailed to SDDOH.HPC@state.sd.us no later than the end of the day on May 20, 2026.
These materials and submissions are necessary to support exercise documentation, participant accountability, and After Action reporting requirements.
Patient Surge
Facilities participating in the healthcare surge portion of the exercise will also receive patient cards with various injury types and triage categories, including:
- Minimal (Green)
- Delayed (Yellow)
- Immediate (Red)
Facilities are encouraged to calculate their 10% surge capacity based on their licensed inpatient beds and use the patient cards to walk through how they would handle an increase in patients with different injury types and severity levels. If this portion of the exercise does not apply to your facility, please disregard.
Regional Coordinator Communication
Facilities are expected to communicate with their respective Regional Coordinators throughout the exercise. If questions or issues arise, please reach out directly to your Regional Coordinator.
Regional Coordinator Contact Information:
- Black Hills – Heather Mann | heather.mann@state.sd.us
- Glacial Lakes – Rick Forkel | rick.forkel@state.sd.us
- Sioux Empire – Lesley-Ann Pont | lesley-ann.pont@state.sd.us
- South Central Plains – Carol Taylor | carol.taylor@state.sd.us
Weather Injects
Throughout the exercise, weather updates aligned with the exercise scenario will be sent to HPC members via email. Facilities may use these updates as exercise injects to add additional realism to internal discussions and response activities, if desired. These updates will also help align with the discussion questions distributed throughout the exercise.
An initial severe weather notification aligned with the exercise scenario will be distributed at the end of the day today. This notification is intended to help set the tone and operational context for tomorrow’s exercise activities.
IMPORTANT
- Please ensure that all communications related to the exercise begin with “Exercise, Exercise, Exercise” to clearly identify exercise play and prevent triggering any real-world response actions.
Other Information/Considerations:
- Facilities should have internal documentation/evaluators tracking actions during the exercise for CMS/TJC/emergency preparedness documentation.
- If applicable, facilities are encouraged to include partners internally (security, facilities, IT, administration, PIO, etc.) during discussions.
- This exercise is discussion-based only (no actual patient movement/resource deployment).
- This is a no-fault learning environment.
