A train has derailed near a populated area. Multiple people are reporting eye and throat irritation. One person, an elderly man working near the site, has been hospitalized with respiratory complications. What do you do?

Table-top exercises (TTX) are common in public disaster response. They help management teams check their plans. They verify that inter-agency communication and coordination works as expected. They teach team leaders to ask the right questions, and to respond dynamically under pressure. Like practicing forms in martial arts, they train a sort of muscle memory that takes over when it matters.