EM Disaster Gaming to Distribute Six US-Adapted Crisis Communication Tabletop Exercises
PRESS RELEASE — EM Disaster Gaming, the US-based emergency management training platform founded by Dr. Arthur J. Simental, CEM, will begin distributing six crisis communication simulation zines developed by RiskComms FZCO, a Dubai-registered crisis, risk and emergency communication consultancy. The zines, adapted specifically for US emergencies, agencies and regulatory stakeholders, are available now for purchase and digital download through EM Disaster Gaming's website.
The partnership brings a training format that has not existed for US public information officers and emergency communicators: narrative, role-playing-style tabletop exercises built around the specific failures that break down a crisis response, adding a communications-focused format to EM Disaster Gaming's tabletop training catalogue. Each zine runs as a self-contained scenario a small team can complete at a table, without a hired facilitator, external software or a dedicated training budget line.
"Most agencies run one full-scale crisis simulation a year, if that, and then don't think about it again until the next one," said Philippe Borremans, Managing Director of RiskComms FZCO and a crisis, risk and emergency communication consultant with 25+ years of field experience across 50-plus countries. "Resilience doesn't come from one exercise a year. It comes from practising regularly, in short sessions, until the response is automatic. These zines let a PIO or a two-person comms team run a full scenario in an hour, at a table, on a Tuesday afternoon. They're not a replacement for a full-scale simulation — those still matter, and there's still a place for them — but for agencies that can't afford one every quarter, this is the difference between practising and not practising at all."
"Most of the wargames and tabletop exercises we run are built around the operational core of a response — command structure, resource allocation, decision-making under pressure," said Dr. Arthur J. Simental, CEM, Founder of EM Disaster Gaming. "But the public never sees the incident action plan. They see what gets said, when, and by whom. RiskComms' zines are built entirely around that piece, which most exercises treat as an afterthought. Adding them to our catalogue means an agency can train the operational and communication sides of a response together, as one integrated exercise, instead of bolting communication onto the end of a wargame."
The six zines cover distinct crisis types, and each is built around a different operational failure point: coordination breakdowns across departments (The Severance Protocol), two competing information trackers pulling in opposite directions (Silent Intercept), a public trust metric the communicator cannot control (Boil Order), audience fragmentation during a prolonged incident (Dead Reckoning), operating under domestic extremism threat with utility infrastructure down (Dark Current), and a public health response that starts already behind on credibility (The Outbreak Floor). All six have been rewritten with US-specific incidents, agencies and regulatory context.
For state and local emergency management offices, public health departments and utility communications teams working with limited training budgets, the zines offer a lower-cost entry point into scenario-based exercises — a category of training historically reserved for organisations able to commission or run full-scale simulations.
About RiskComms FZCO RiskComms FZCO is a Dubai-registered crisis, risk and emergency communication consultancy led by Managing Director Philippe Borremans. The firm has advised organisations including the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the International Committee of the Red Cross on crisis, risk and emergency communication.