Cave System Rescue™ | Crisis Management Training Activity

Each team has 4-6 participants (and you can have up to four teams per licence). Each member of the team has a Brief which is unique to them. They can communicate what is in the Brief verbally but cannot show their Brief to their fellow team members. The Briefs explain that participants are in a remote village that has been cut off from the outside world by a landslide. Torrential rain has made the nearby cave system (famous worldwide) in danger of flooding and there are several parties underground at this moment.

One team is well overdue; the other is trapped by a rockfall and one member of that team has got through to give the alarm. She explains that one of those trapped has a broken ankle. Participants are not playing roles - they are themselves, so it is unlikely they will have any special skills they can bring to the table. In this situation, what is the best approach to take? With limited equipment and little expertise, it also seems wrong to just wait for things to get better and help to arrive. Together, the participants must get to grips with the situation, decide on priorities and implement a feasible Action Plan. A Review Form helps teams assess their performance.

A great test of teamwork as well as an opportunity to see if anyone reveals hidden leadership skills. Will someone take charge and push things through - and bring the team with them?

• Highlight and practise the main elements of crisis management
• The importance of having good communication skills
• The need to establish the facts, set clear objectives, and prioritise
• Making decisions under pressure and putting together a plan of action
• The need for a leader with vision and a dynamic, cohesive team

1. Divide your group into teams, with 4-6 in each team.
2. Introduce the activity briefly as a team activity and give a time frame. Do not go into
   details about what is on the Briefs but indicate that the Briefs are different and can
   only be shared verbally.
3. Put teams at separate tables or in breakout rooms if using virtually.
4. Announce the time and tell teams they have 40 minutes for the task. You may want
   to expand timing later if teams get very involved and you have time.
5. Visit teams to observe what is going on and what progress they are making. Are they in harmony? Are they sharing data well? Is a leader emerging or has one been elected?
6. Stop the activity at the allotted time or when you judge it right.
7. Start the debrief in a plenary session. Ask teams in turn to briefly report on how they approached the task and what their final decisions were on how to proceed. If time, allow each team to give a brief presentation running through their planning. Allow teams to quiz each other on their approaches.
8. Issue Team Review Forms to help teams assess their performance. Ask what key learning points - for themselves and their teamwork - they can take back to the workplace. A whiteboard, or flipchart, might be useful to summarise these points. If appropriate, teams might draw up an Action Plan.

Hard & Digital Copy

• ☑️ Hard copy pack supplied
• ☑️ PDFs supplied

Digital Copy

• ☑️ PDFs supplied
• ❌ You will need to source: Post-it Notes

Full Contents

• Trainer’s Notes
• Trainer's PowerPoint
• Team Briefs 1-6 (four sets)
• Cave System Map
• Team Review Form
• Resources: Post-It Notes
• The 'Right' Answer

This activity is for face-to-face or virtual classroom use. The digital files are supplied via the Northgate Trainerhub.

This Northgate Training activity comes with a five-year licence for repeat use with up to 24 participants at a time, for use by Trainers based at one licence-holding site.

All Trainers physically based at the same office location can access the Northgate resources during the five-year term, including the digital resources supplied on the Trainerhub via your own site-specific Trainer Dashboard. If you have Trainers based at other locations, and/or remote workers, who would like to access and use the Northgate resources, we can advise further depending on your requirements.

For further information on our licence terms please view the Northgate Licence Agreement.