Magen David Adom teams participated in a multi-casualty event drill to further improve medical response to events of great magnitude. MDA teams provided medical response to several simulated incidents in different locations in around the central city of Petach Tikva and smaller communities in which approximately 60 casualties were treated.
More than 100 MDA EMTs and paramedics participated in the drill alongside the police, fire department, IDF, Southern Command, Home Front Command, Gush Etzion security, and other local security forces. The exercise examined means of communication among the essential agencies and cooperation among them in order to assure the best possible response to a proposed complex scenario.
“MDA is better prepared to provide a medical response in a variety of security incidents or a “darkness” event,” remarked Felix Lotan, MDA’s director of emergency preparedness. “Findings that arose during the multi-array exercise will be integrated into the organizational work plan to improve the organization’s preparedness in cases of escalation and disaster.”
The drill was to prepare for the possibility of incidents taking place simultaneously in Petach Tikva, Moshav Nir Zvi, Gush Etzion, Neta, and Moshav Kmehin. MDA dispatched ambulances, intensive care vehicles, a Unimog, and command vehicles for the exercise.
In one part of the drill, MDA teams practiced arriving at the Colony Stadium in Petach Tikva during a soccer match to treat dozens of simulated wounded people. Another aspect of the drill simulated a missile landing in Neve Daniel, terrorists infiltrating the settlement community of Neta, and a shooting attack in the community of Migdal Oz in which 6 were wounded.
