Large-scale Beersheba toxicological drill to include 200 world experts
The meeting provides an opportunity for international professionals to share the latest findings on health system readiness for disasters and emergencies of all types.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHBen Gurion University(photo credit: WWW.PIKIWIKI.ORG.IL)
More than 200 emergency medicine experts from 30 countries around the world will come to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka-University Medical Center on Wednesday to learn from Israel’s best through a day-long, large-scale regional toxicological drill. The drill will simulate a chemical spill from a train.It will be the final event of the Fourth International Conference on Healthcare System Preparedness and Response to Emergencies & Disasters (IPRED) that began on Sunday at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv, hosted by the Health Ministry and the Home Front Command.The meeting provides an opportunity for international professionals to share the latest findings on health system readiness for disasters and emergencies of all types.Special attention is being devoted to emerging or re-emerging threats, such as the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) or the Ebola outbreak, as well as threats posed by natural or man-made disasters that present great challenges to human health and global stability.The drill will involve first responders of local and regional emergency systems, such as the police and paramedics and Home Front Command at the simulated event site, as well as Soroka’s emergency medicine department and the Prepared Center for Emergency Response Research, which is the country’s leading center conducting rigorous and quantifiable research on response to emergencies, ranging from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.
