United Hatzalah is sharpening its readiness for the kinds of large-scale emergencies Israel has faced repeatedly over the past year.
In a conversation with ILTV, Rachel Zubeda, Emergency Department director at United Hatzalah, explained how mass casualty incident (MCI) drills prepare volunteers for real-world crises.
Zubeda defined a mass casualty incident as “when there is more victims and more people that got affected from an emergency incident than the amount of responders that can help come and help those incidents.”
She noted that Israel experiences emergencies constantly, but MCIs involve especially large numbers of victims. Preparing for these drills is a major undertaking.
“It takes us around two months of preparedness for an MCI drill,” she said, adding that United Hatzalah, the IDF, and police work together and incorporate lessons from real events, including the October 7 attacks and the war with Iran.
With thousands of new volunteers since 2023, the organization now trains more people than ever before.
“Since October 7 and now we have over 8000 volunteers,” Zubeda said, noting that every responder receives mass-casualty training tailored to scenarios across Israel, from earthquakes to floods to fires.
Watch the full interview:
TRAINING FOR MASS CASUALTY RESPONSE
