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Shiver Me Timbers! Exercise Materials

The Shiver Me Timbers! earthquake exercise comprises a series of three compounding segments with increasing complexity. The level of involvement is determined by the participating organization. This exercise has been designed specifically for long-term care, skilled nursing facilities and in-patient hospice to help meet CMS Emergency Preparedness Guidelines and other regulatory requirements. This exercise is designed to coincide with the annual “Great Shakeout” exercise but may be held at any time. 

The Great Shakeout exercise is held on the third Thursday in October with the time of the exercise matching the date. In 2026 the Great Shakeout exercise is held on Thursday, 10/15/2026 starting at 10:15 am.

The Shiver Me Timbers! exercise materials are prepared and ready for any facility to pick up and run. The materials contain everything needed to run an exercise for any skill level from no experience with holding exercises to simple unit-based exercises to demonstrate skill up to facility level initial management of a disaster. The segments may be run individually or sequentially at the same time depending on the desires of the organization. No matter what your facility’s level of expertise in conducting exercises there is an exercise for your facility built into the Shiver Me Timbers! exercise materials!

For partners wanting to participate in this exercise, START HERE. This document will lead you through the process of choosing the level of skill for your exercise and then all the activities and materials needed for the exercise level you have chosen.

Supporting documents for each skill level segment for this exercise can be found below:

Exercise Skill Level Segments
Segment 1: This is the entry level segment exercise. This segment may be run independently by each department possibly during a staff meeting or other similar gathering of staff. It is led by the manager or lead person to facilitate an earthquake preparedness discussion with staff to discuss earthquake knowledge and expectations when at work and at home. Staff also find and review the emergency supplies for the department. Segment 1-specific documents and links include:
 
Segment 2: This is the second skill-level exercise within Shiver Me Timbers!. In Segment 2, staff will physically demonstrate their response to ‘simulated’ earthquake shaking followed by self- and department-assessments for damage from the shaking. This is a fun exercise in which staff act out what they would do if this were a real earthquake. Facility patients or residents are also invited to participate in this exercise, if they wish. The department manager then prepares a department status report of the impact of the earthquake on their department. Segment 2-specific documents and links include:
 
Segment 3: This segment allows facility leadership to gather the department status reports that have been received from departments that have run Segment 2. It is the executive participation level of the Shiver Me Timbers! exercise. Exercise participants are to develop an overall view of the earthquake impact on the facility and determine what resources might be needed based on the impact. This functional component of the exercise includes demonstration of decision-making capabilities by organization leaders. Segment 3-specific documents and links include:
 
Supporting Documents for Exercise Leaders: 
 

For any questions regarding the Shiver Me Timbers@ Exercise, please email training@nwhrn.org.