Major biological warfare drill in Center begins

Normal activities in the three affected hospitals will be somewhat disrupted on Wednesday between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
311_MDA mobile unit inside (photo credit: Sasson Tiram / MDA)
311_MDA mobile unit inside
(photo credit: Sasson Tiram / MDA)
“Orange Flame,” a major exercise for coping with biological warfare in the Center of the country, will be held this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The main center of the activity, which will be managed by the Health Ministry and the Home Front Command, will be in Ramle, but other locales will be affected.
The three participating hospitals will be Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center in Tzrifin, and Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.
Magen David Adom, the Defense Ministry, the Israel Police, the L. Greenberg Center for Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir and other organizations will participate as well.
The IDF Spokesman said Monday that the annual drill, now in its fifth year, had been planned over a period of months to improve readiness for coping with such an emergency and for better coordination among the various authorities.
The exact scenario for the exercise has been kept secret so the participants will be surprised, as in a real emergency.
They will have to discover the biological agent and deal with it.
Hundreds of simulated injured have been designated for treatment after being “poisoned” by biological agents. Rescuers wearing special equipment covering their heads and bodies will “decontaminate” them before they are brought into the hospitals.
Normal activities in the three affected hospitals will be somewhat disrupted on Wednesday between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., as well as at special Mercaz Hapayis centers in Ramle and Kfar Saba.