The context was the Black Cloud 1 national emergency drill, which tested the response readiness of medical and non-medical systems to the simulated explosion in a city center of a "dirty bomb" or Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD).

The Black Cloud 1 national emergency drill at RHCC Pioter Fliter

The exercise took place under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Home Front Command and with the participation of Haifa’s three general hospitals, Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israel Police, and the Haifa Municipality.

The Black Cloud 1 national emergency drill at RHCC Pioter Fliter

The nationwide drill presented the first opportunity for Rambam Health Care Campus to test an advanced information and control system developed in-house for the purpose of managing a major medical center during a national emergency.

The "emergency System" was developed by our Division of Information Technology & Communication Services under the direction of Ms. Sara Tzafrir.  The innovation enables the hospital leadership to make intelligent decisions based on an integrated flow of information received in real time. 
 
The system automatically reports on such crucial aspects of hospital functioning as excess demand and bottlenecks – for, example, indicating the number of blood portions on hand or the number of available operating theaters. Simultaneously, it controls security cameras, disseminates e-mail notifications, and runs the public address system. It also automatically documents all developments and decisions in a computerized events journal that will enable production of an investigative report and the drawing of conclusions after the event.

The hospital’s response to the national-level emergency scenario was observed by delegates to the Second Israeli International Conference on Healthcare System Preparedness & Response to Emergencies & Disasters (IPRED II). The visitors were hosted by Rambam's Teaching Center for Trauma Emergency and Mass Casualty Situations.