Civ-Mil Collaboration to Prepare Community-Health and Extended Care Facilities in Israel for Disaster Management–an Exemplary Model

Summary: Over the last few decades, the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) Disaster and Emergency Division has employed a unique model of military-civilian collaboration to amplify efforts to prepare the Israeli health system for disaster management in all scenarios - both in general hospitals and in community settings. The MOH and Home-front Command (HFC) implement a joint annual preparation program, incorporating civilian training with military-led drills and exercises, in an all-civilian health system. The MOH Disaster and Emergency Division’s Community Health Department and the HFC Community Health Branch jointly prepare all community health organizations: Health Districts, Health Funds, Geriatric and Mental Health Hospitals. The ongoing “Iron Swords” war, following years of COVID, impacted workforce involvement in emergency preparation and management at all organizational hierarchies. This year, an HFC survey was conducted to assess this impact on perceived readiness for emergencies (PRE), including respondents’ self-perceived awareness of their role in emergencies, ability to implement this role, and belief that their facility can successfully manage emergencies, using a 31-item questionnaire sent to community health and extended-care organizations in Israel. Significant variance was found between organization types in overall PRE, as well as between employees at different managerial levels and general employees. PRE was also significantly higher in scenarios where preparation included training and exercises. Utilizing MOH-HFC teams to prepare an all-civilian health system is unique in that it enables the incorporation of a military approach to disaster and emergency management in civilian organizations. This significantly contributes to a “uniform language” of emergency management, and through this, enhances community health organizations’ self-perceived readiness for emergencies. Examples of issues faced and coped with, such as responding to prolonged power outage scenarios, evacuating patients with special medical needs from war zones, providing military aid to hospitals, and more, will be presented.