A joint exercise was held on Wednesday, December 15, by Magen David Adom, the Israeli Police, Israel Fire and Rescue, and the Israel Railways. The goal was to practice emergency response and coordination during a complex incident.
The simulation included evacuating multiple casualties from a fire in a passenger train stuck in a tunnel on the way to Jerusalem. MDA’s 101 Emergency Dispatch Center managed the complicated event and coordinated the teams in the field.
“This was a complex and important exercise that presented unique challenges to the emergency service organizations,” says Eli Bin, MDA’s director-general.
The simulated cause of the fire was a malfunction in an electric bicycle battery. Since the train was in a tunnel, the only way for the MDA teams to get there was by train. They boarded trains from two designated stations, carrying their medical equipment. At the scene, they treated dozens of injured passengers and evacuated them by train, where they were met by ambulances and driven to hospitals.
“This drill strengthened our teams’ knowledge and gave them the opportunity to put their training and lifesaving resources into practice, while maintaining critical cooperation among the various security and rescue organizations,” says Bin.
Dozens of MDA EMTs and paramedics participated in the exercise, activating 15 Life Support ambulances, four Mobile Intensive Care Unit ambulances, a multiple-casualty response vehicle, and an all-terrain response vehicle, collaborating with all rescue and security forces.
MDA performs routine emergency drills on a regular basis to improve their capacities and response times as much as possible.
