The medical center will continue to accept and treat patients as usual during the drill.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHHaifa’s Rambam Medical Center(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/RAMBAM MEDICAL CENTER)
Haifa’s Rambam Medial Center will hold a drill Thursday simulating a scenario in which the metropolitan area is under rocket attack, including by missiles carrying chemical warheads.The exercise, in cooperation with the Home Front Command, rescue forces and various government ministries, will take place from 11 am to 1 pm throughout the hospital with the participation of emergency hospital personnel and soldiers from the Home Front Command.The medical center will continue to accept and treat patients as usual during the drill.Medical practitioners will turn the underground parking lot into a below-surface hospital protected and equipped to deal with real-time casualties from the entire northern region. The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital – the most advanced of its kind in the world will be prepared to treat hundreds of “wounded,” some of whom were exposed to chemical substances.“As a trauma center and the largest hospital in the country’s North, we have a responsibility to provide treatment to soldiers and civilians in times of emergency,” said Rambam director-general Prof. Rafi Beyar. “The reality around us forces us to practice different situations and prepare ourselves for a reality that can occur. I hope we will never have to face the test of reality, but we are prepared for any scenario.”