Dayton area benefits from Wright State trip to Israel to gain international view on terrorism, emergency preparedness

Emergency preparedness leaders from Dayton are working to be among the best prepared in the country to address disaster situations because of a trip conducted by Wright State University.

A delegation from Dayton traveled to northern Israel in December to visit colleagues at the International School of Community Emergency Management (ISCEM), the Community Stress Prevention Center, the Western Galilee Hospital and various communities in northern Israel. This came about as a result of a first trip to Israel in May 2006 by faculty from Wright State and community officials.

The trip was coordinated through the Wright State University Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and Master of Public Health program. The Levin Family Foundation of Dayton funded the trip that included medical and psychology students and faculty from Wright State, as well as officials from Public Health–Dayton & Montgomery County and the U.S. Air Force.

“The Israelis have a very sophisticated emergency preparedness system that, unfortunately, is well tested and located in a country that reflects a modern, westernized society much like the United States,” said Richard Schuster, M.D., Oscar Boonshoft Chair and director of the Wright State center, who led the delegation to northern Israel.

The December trip came on the heels of the country’s involvement in the 2006 Lebanese War. According to officials there, the area was victim to more rocket attacks than bombings during the London Blitz of World War II.

“Many of us living in the United States didn’t realize how dramatic the Lebanese War was to the people living in northern Israel,” said Schuster. “It had substantial psychological effects on the population.”

“The Israelis place considerable effort on the psychological aspects of terrorism and mass-casualty tragedies. We believe the U.S. needs to focus more attention and resources on the prevention and treatment of psychological stress in emergency situations for both the affected public and emergency response professionals.”

In an effort to better assess psychological ramifications of emergencies, the trip included two doctoral students from the Wright State School of Professional Psychology (SOPP), along with Scott Fraser, Ph.D. Fraser, a psychology professor, took his evaluation team to study the Community Stress Prevention Center (CSPC) at Tel Hai College in Kiryat Shmona. The CSPC was opened in 1981 to help the population along Israel’s northern border deal with the stress of emergency situations and has assisted with disasters around the globe, in places such as Sri Lanka, Turkey and in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

According to Fraser, the Israeli officials possess “intensive and focused recent experience in the treatment of psychological trauma during war and terrorist attacks that we in the United States can learn much from.” Fraser, who has 14 years of experience directing a crisis and emergency shelter in Dayton, said the cross-cultural experience for the SOPP students was invaluable and the personal contact with Israelis who have hands-on experience in trauma and terrorism can’t be obtained at this level anywhere else the world.

Fraser, who also participated in the first trip with the Wright State center in 2006 to the same region, helped develop the current emergency plan for Dayton and Montgomery County. His team is currently studying how the Dayton region can model Israel’s psychological analysis and treatment: “With Montgomery County, we are looking into how you identify and triage those people who might surge into the emergency room and are not physically injured but are heavily impacted by terror, disaster, pandemic flu: how to serve them and not just send them away.”

Communication with the public is also a key to Israel’s highly successful crisis management, according to Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jim Gross, a key member of the group making the trip. Gross, the coordinator for emergency preparation for the nine-county region that includes Montgomery County, led a team studying community preparedness, mainly in Haifa, a city with a population similar to Dayton’s.

“Communication must be meaningful, immediate, and frequent,” said Gross. “You must tell what you know and what you don’t know. Instead of holding a press conference once a day, for example, provide updates throughout the day using several tools.”

In addition to visiting Haifa’s emergency command center, Gross’ team also had the opportunity to examine Haifa’s mobile command center, a traveling unit designed to communicate directly with segments of the larger community and reduce panic, which can be an issue in a big city setting, according to the team.

“This trip combines our efforts in emergency preparedness with our new global health systems program,” explained Schuster. “At Wright State, we are looking for the best practices around the world so we can enhance our efforts in working with local and regional public health officials in Ohio to improve emergency preparedness.”

According to Schuster, at least 15 different projects/programs have been set into motion as a result of the trip. In addition to current research like that of Scott Fraser, ongoing educational efforts include both doctoral students at Wright State’s SOPP and medical students seeking the dual M.D./M.P.H. degree as part of the Boonshoft Physician Leadership Development Program.

Health Commissioner Gross and area leaders continue to strengthen ties between Dayton and Israeli communities in efforts to improve emergency preparedness through what they call “real-world, real-time” activities. As part of that initiative, Dayton will welcome Ruvie Rogel, co-CEO of the Kiryat Shmona CSPC, in April to conduct a workshop for public health officials and first responders in dealing with the psychological stress of public health emergencies. Rogel has recently received a faculty appointment at the university.

“Our work is not done,” said Schuster of future efforts with Israel. “We need to learn from their preparedness before we have to test our own.”

For more information, contact Schuster at (937) 258-5555.