Disaster Preparedness and Response in Israel

Six weeks of learning about the infrastructure,

policy, and culture of preparedness in Israel

Heidi Moline June/July 2009Emory Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center

Visiting student with the the Ben Gurion University PReparED Center (research of Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters).

Field Experience Timetable

Week Work/Activities Location

1 Turning Point 3 National Drill Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ramla, Kiryat-Gat

2 ICS writing, Hospital Preparedness presentation

Beer-Sheva, Tel Aviv

3 ICS writing, WHO training exercise Beer-Sheva, Netanya

4 Resilience writing, Visit to a community clinic

Beer-Sheva, Dimona

5 Resilience writing, Resilience meeting Beer-Sheva, Jerusalem

6 Wrapping up, Hospital Radiologic Drill Beer-Sheva

Week 1

Turning Point 3 Israel's National Emergency Exercise

Turning Point 3 – NEMA Exercise

June 1-4, 2009 Emergency management

Representatives from 30 countries

Witnessed parts of the national drill for various emergencies, including: missile attacks collapsed buildings a terrorist with a car

bomb

Turing Point 3 – Day 2

Missile siren @ 11:00 Elharizi Elementary

School, Tel Aviv School drill procedures,

3 minutes to get all children in to shelters

Scenario had the missile striking the building, Police, Fire, and MDA were on site

Turning Point 3 – Day 2

Turning Point 3 – Day 2

Home Front Command headquarters in Ramla

Toured the: Emergency Operations

Center Call Center Media Room Medical Coordination

Turning Point 3 – Day 3

Resilience exercise in Haifa

Showed us the use of community resilience centers during events

Individuals are provided coping and resilience activities and live there until they were able to return to their homes

Turning Point 3 – Day 3

Turning Point 3 – Day 3

Destruction site rescue, near Beer-Sheva

Turning Point 3 – Day 3

Turning Point 3 – Day 4

Building evacuation, 6,000 people in downtown Tel Aviv

Scenario: a terrorist drives into downtown suspected of carrying a car bomb

Police, fire and MDA work together for this event.

Turning Point 3 – Day 4

Week 2

Hospital Preparedness Presentation

Hospital Visit, Tel Aviv

Ministry of Health presentation on hospital preparedness

Chief of ED talked about what really happens at the hospital when they get casualties from an MCE

Hazard suits available to staff near ambulance by – with picture directions of how to put suits on!

Hospital Preparedness

Weeks 2 & 3

Incident Command Systems: Comparing Israel and Atlanta

Comparing Incident Command Systems Comparing the incident command response

to similar a similar blast in Atlanta and Israel, specifically: Who takes command Communication between agencies Speed of recovery Population characteristics

Atlanta metro area was chosen because of similar population size to Israel

Comparing Incident Command Systems

Findings: Responses are similar Geographic scope and population differences

affect the application of Israeli methods in the US

Practice, practice, practice… with practice comes efficiency

Weeks 4 & 5

Examining aspects of Community Resilience

Resilience Work (cont)

Definition Psychological aspect Role in disaster preparedness Personal vs Community How can it be measured? Israel actively tries to improve resilience:

Public education Resilience centers

Would this work in the US?

Resilience Work (cont)

The more I worked on resilience, the more confused I became – meeting with the clinical psychologist really did shake what I had come to believe about resilience

I’m starting to think there is just one general type of community resilience (based largely on social capital), and then event-specific preparedness (which after-the-fact would give the appearance of event-specific resilience)

Week 6

Hospital Radiologic Exercise

Hospital Radiologic Exercise

A Ministry of Health evaluation of Radiological Event procedures at Soroka Medical Center

First of this type of drill at the BGU teaching Hospital

3 hour event Began preparing 5

months before

Hospital Radiologic Drill

Summary of Experience

1. Beginning my stay here with the Turning Point exercise was a perfect introduction to disaster response in Israel It also allowed me to see the role of the

military during disasters – I don’t think I really understood how intertwined and essential it is in disasters

It provided a context for my research – the size of the country and type of infrastructure cannot be overlooked when comparing the US to Israel

Summary of Experience

2. My experience was greatly enhanced by being apart of a close student community where we had very honest discussions about: What it’s like to live in Israel How the war affected their lives The role of religion and regional history Cultural norms

Summary of Experience

3. I find the level of national pride to be just amazing. Seeing Israeli flags flying off balconies is a reminder of how connected the population is to the country. I was later told that the flags were just left

there from old Independence days because people were lazy, but either way, it’s cool to see

I felt like I was able to get a feel of the culture

Summary of Experience

4. I did not expect the structure of the government and healthcare systems to be such a hindrance in adapting preparedness measures for the US The government role in hospital operations The role of the military in response

5. I underestimated the importance of the size difference between the countries I’m beginning to think that the our geographic

size and population, US preparedness and response isn’t too bad

Summary of Experience

6. I wish I had attended a FEMA drill or hospital drill in the US before I came – I think this way I would have a better understanding of how to compare what I saw

7. I wish I would have had a more specific and defined research goal and deliverable before I arrived

8. I really can’t imagine having the opportunity to do everything I did in Israel in the US – just a truly amazing experience!

The End.