The Dead Sea Ordinance–Response to an MCI Event in a Remote Geographical Location with Limited Emergency Services

Summary: Following the 7th of October and the Iron Swords war, over 10,000 displaced people are located in the Dead Sea hotel complex, which is far from settlements and health services, and where emergency services are limited. The lack of health infrastructure and the long evacuation distances to the hospitals require a unique operating model. For this purpose, an assessment of the area and capabilities was carried out. A preparedness ordinance was written for the activation of the response in an MCI in the Dead Sea area, which includes: A primary triage site will be operated near the event site with the help of the medical teams stationed in the hotels, and they will undergo a refresher on the principles of trauma care. Placing EMS, including an incident commander, and deploying rescue vehicles to their crews, with civil-military cooperation to evacuate casualties. The hospitalization complex at the MOH will determine evacuation targets: Urgently injured patients will be transferred to the hospitals by airplane and ICU ambulance. Non-urgent casualties will be held at the site until an additional evacuation force, such as a bus or an ambulance, is assembled. An exercise was held to test readiness and determine the factors involved in MCI. The Ministry of Health’s hospitalization complex led the exercise, which aimed to create a working language and cooperation between the parties and work on the operational concept according to the order. Points to save: • Cooperation between all the factors in the field and hotels Points for improvement: • Due to travel distances, car evacuation is less realistic; therefore, there is a need for air evacuation. • Accuracy of the role of the hospitalization complex /EMS/Home Front Command • Training and equipping the medical and nursing staff on MCI