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The Role of Emergency Medical Services in Earthquake Response: Integrating the ABC Approach of Israel’s Magen David Adom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2020

Eli Jaffe ,
Yehuda Skornik ,
Joseph Offenbacher  and
Evan Avraham Alpert Open the ORCID record for Evan Avraham Alpert [Opens in a new window]
Eli Jaffe
Affiliation:
Chairman, Committee for Earthquake Preparedness, Magen David Adom, Israel
Yehuda Skornik
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University School of Medicine; Magen David Adom, Israel
Joseph Offenbacher
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine at the Montefiore and Jacobi Hospitals, New York, NY
Evan Avraham Alpert*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Israel
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Evan Avraham Alpert, Department of Emergency Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, 12 Shmu'el Bait St, Jerusalem, Israel, 9103102 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Throughout history, earthquakes have caused devastation and loss of life. Emergency medical services (EMS) plays a vital role in the response to any mass-casualty incident or disaster. Magen David Adom, Israel’s premier EMS organization, has a unique strategy known as the ABC approach to earthquake response. It involves thousands of salaried workers and trained volunteers who are prepared to respond to an earthquake based on the extent of the disaster. Depending on the amount of destruction, they will be working locally or available to help in other areas. A Level A earthquake causes local destruction and minimal casualties. Any EMS responders in that area as well as in surrounding areas will be available to help. Furthermore, all responders will need to work automatically and autonomously. A Level B earthquake causes extensive destruction, and all responders in the region will be busy caring for the victims. Anyone available outside of the region will come and help. A Level C earthquake is completely devastating, and all workers nationwide will be involved in responding to the catastrophe. The role of EMS responders using the ABC approach to earthquake response, as described here, may be integrated in part or whole in other EMS systems.

Keywords

disastersearthquakesemergency medical services
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 15 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 770 - 776
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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