On Tuesday, a joint training drill practicing the combined response of emergency services to a major fire was conducted near the villages of Kfar Oranim and Lapid.

Large teams from the Israeli Police, the Fire and Rescue Department, and United Hatzalah participated in the drill, which simulated a fire breaking out in a wooded area and progressing toward nearby houses.

Modi’in Branch Operations Coordinator for the organization Shay Panek said: “We practiced a scenario whereby firefighters pulled the injured from a burning building, and our ambulances with doctors, paramedics, and EMTs as well as volunteers from our jeep unit provided them with initial medical treatment in the field and transported them to nearby hospitals.”

United Hatzalah’s Director of Emergency Operations Rachel Zubata added: “The organization holds drills such as this one regularly in order to train thousands of volunteers around the country to respond to mass casualty incidents, and perfect our collaboration with other emergency agencies in an effort to cut down on our combined response time and save more lives.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)