Massive Israeli Biological Attack Drill Begins

Almanar

13/01/2010 A two-day exercise simulating a response to a biological warfare attack will begin Wednesday in the Dan region. The exercise, which will be the largest of its kind in Israel's history, will be carried out in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan and Holon, seeks to evaluate the ability of the Home Front, medical services, rescue teams and municipal authorities to respond to conditions created by a biological catastrophe caused either by terrorists or by some kind of accident.

Code-named "Orange Flame," the simulation will be held Wednesday and Thursday. Rescue units from the Home Front Command and special hazard detection units from the Israeli Health Ministry will be tasked with locating the source of the biological hazard and dealing with hundreds of settlers exposed to the substance.

The hospitals - including Ichilov, Tel Hashomer and Wolfson - will not know who the impersonators are and will have to work to identify them as well as the cause of their symptoms. The scenario is a biological terror attack. The Israeli occupation army Home Front Command will work to clear the infected area together with the Israeli Police and Magen David Adom.

Israeli defense officials said Tuesday that Israel needs to be prepared for a biological attack. "We need to be ready for everything that can happen," said one senior official, who is involved in planning the drill. "There are crazy people running around the world who, with the right materials and access to the Internet, can carry out such an attack."

One example, the Israeli official said, was an anthrax attack which was not contagious and takes several days for symptoms to appear. The symptoms, the official said, included high fever and overall fatigue, very similar to the flu. "The trick is for the hospitals to be able to distinguish between the regular seasonal illnesses and the people who are suffering from a biological attack which requires special treatment," he said.

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