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United Hatzalah first response volunteers participated in a training drill with the Crossing Points Authority (CPA) security team and the Fire Department that simulated a series of terror attacks against the Tarkumiya checkpoint on Wednesday. The drill simulated a shooting attack against some of the personnel at the checkpoint, a concealed bomb planted on a truck, a suicide bomber, and a person who fell unconscious as well as numerous victims of shock.

During the drill, four members of the CPA simulated sustaining injuries in the combined attack. First Responders with an ambulance from United Hatzalah arrived and treated the patients while security personnel at the scene dealt with the terror threats. The CPA is a branch of the Defense Ministry which is run by the division for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

“This was the first drill of this nature that I have participated in and it was eye-opening for me,” said EMT and Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit volunteer Irit Ravid, who was one of the medical responders who participated in the drill. “There are very few instances when an EMT gets to practice serious trauma in the field without actually having to treat a trauma patient. It allowed me to learn a lot about how to deal with scenarios that involve terror threats and active-shooter scenes,” she added.

Ravid who lives in the nearby town of Nachala said that drills such as these are necessary in order to help first responders and security personnel prepare for a real-life scenario. “This was a terrific exercise in order to help us prepare for the real thing, which will hopefully never occur. Whenever a person has to deal with these things in real life, it is excellent to have these training experiences to build upon so that we can act more efficiently when needed. Today we had this drill, tomorrow we have an intensive training exercise for trauma incidents. United Hatzalah works hard to prepare its volunteers for any and all scenarios.”

Deputy Director of Operations for United Hatzalah Ofir Ben Yitzchak who oversaw the drill said: “Today’s drill simulated four different security threats at the Tarkumia checkpoint which sees a lot of traffic from Judea into southern Israel.”

According to COGAT’s website, some 8,326 people passed through the checkpoint daily in 2017, and more than 2 million people annually. The traffic includes many Palestinians who cross the checkpoint in order to work, and some 1,300 vehicles driving across the checkpoint on a daily basis, almost one per minute. The checkpoint is one of the main transfer points for goods and supplies to and from the Palestinian Authority and serves as one of two main checkpoints for the city of Hebron and the surrounding Palestinian towns.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: United Hatzalah)