Intermediate in this progression is the tabletop exercise, which FEMA describes as a "facilitated group analysis of an emergency situation." As practiced in public health, there is considerable variability in how tabletop exercises are designed and conducted. Tabletop exercises may be structured discussions of evolving events or unstructured reactions to short scenarios; participants may be limited to public health staff or involve representatives from partner agencies or organizations; scenarios may range from simple to complex; and facilitation may range from being minimally directive, allowing participants to assume responsibility for managing the discussion through "role play," to highly directive, enabling the facilitator to assure that specific questions are addressed.