The 2018 National Mass Care Exercise will be held May 21-24, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. The scenario involves a large evacuation to Arizona from California after a catastrophic earthquake.

The five strategic goals of the National Mass Care Strategy seek to move the nation in a direction that increases the capabilities and capacities of the Whole Community across the range and scale of disasters to which this country is vulnerable. One of the tasks in this Strategy was to conduct an annual national mass care system exercise that focuses on establishing state-to federal coordination systems and integrating staff from key NGOs, faith-based organizations, and the private sector into an effective mass care multi-agency coordination structure.

The National Mass Care Exercises commenced in Florida. Then additional states followed which include: Texas, Missouri, Utah, and now Arizona.  No two NMCE’s are the same, the scenarios vary, the objectives are based on what the state would like to test, and the players vary based on the FEMA Region and the focus of the exercise. The exercise provides an excellent opportunity to build relationships, provide needed Mass Care/Emergency Assistance training, and a chance to strengthen and develop task force criteria.

AAR’s on past exercises are available on the National Mass Care Strategy website.