Israeli Medics Teach Japanese Delegation Emergency Preparedness

The nine-member group learned how Israel prepares for and handles emergency situations and natural disasters, and related logistics.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

A delegation of medical personnel from Japan visiting Israel is learning about emergency preparedness from their Israeli counterparts.

The nine-member group learned about the Israeli health care system, how Israel prepares for and handles emergency situations and natural disasters, and related logistics.

Japan frequently suffers typhoons and earthquakes. An earthquake and resulting tsunami in 2011 killed over 18,000 people, injured another 6,100 and caused the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

The Japanese delegation also toured the new national blood bank in Ramla which opened its doors in May 2022. The facility is located deep underground and built to withstand rocket, chemical and biological attacks as well as earthquakes.

The delegation visited the Magen David Adom national call center in Kiryat Ono, near Tel Aviv, where they learned about the MDA’s technology, procedures and inter-organizational cooperation.

Prof. Tessuhiko Kobo, from the Department of Public Health at Hiroshima University, said, “The professional week of the delegation here in Israel gave us a great deal of new knowledge. The visit was excellent and we wish to maintain this relationship.”

Prof. Eilat Shanar, Vice President of MDA’s blood services, said that “Meetings of this type are very important, they allow one to learn from each other’s experience – and indeed we learned a lot from the lectures and methods of operation presented by the members of the Japanese delegation.”