Israeli Mass Casualty - Terror Workshop: Training Day 3
By Greg Friese, MS, NREMT-P, WEMT, Emergency Preparedness Systems, LLC
EMSResponder.com Contributor
On Day 3, Greg’s training group attended a presentation by the Israeli Defense Force’s Homefront Command, the military division responsible for coordinating responses within the country during an emergency.
Greg explains the roles and responsibilities of this Command, and how it compares to services in the U.S. The Command assists with activating reserve medical staffing, covering fire departments, responding to damage to facilities, etc. – whatever is needed in an emergency situation.
Greg’s training group also received a second presentation about the Command’s capabilities to perform national or international search and rescue. They have a force on call, similar to FEMA’s urban search and rescue teams. However, the members work full time on the force, and can be rolling in 15 minutes to natural disasters, acts of terror or war. Greg shares examples of some of the international responses they have performed.
Greg also discusses how this Command is activated, and how even this elite response system faces limitations. During the brief Lebannon war in the summer of 2006, as missiles were being sent into Israel, politicians did not activate the Command, which has caused much debate. They explained that the reasons were political as well as economic, and there is always a balance in making these decisions. Greg said they put their hosts in a delicate position to explain this without sharing their opinions, but said it was interesting to see other responders facing frustration with their political process.
Good going Greg,
Curiously, has Command activation procedures been improved upon? Economic issues aside and political issues be damned - it seems to this humble writer that the budget has to be improved upon so that “economic” issues are eliminated. Be well!!