It may be from a rocket's impact, an earthquake's tremors, or even simply from aging and decaying infrastructure. It makes no difference. If a building collapses in Israel, the Search and Rescue unit of the Israeli military's Home Front Command will be there.
The unit conducted a major drill this week, defined as the key drill for the Home Front Command in 2022.
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Israeli rescuers dispatched to help in search and rescue operations in the Surfside Condominium collapse in Florida last year
(Photo: AP)
“We need to be prepared,” says Colonel Golan Vach, the unit’s commander. “No one waits for us at the end with an ice cream cone, so we need to work hard constantly, and this is what we’re doing here today.”
The drill encompassed lectures and seminars but the highlight was a scenario in which a three-story building with 100 people inside collapsed. This is where Israeli expertise needs to be displayed, and the foreign observers admit they have much to learn.
“When we come and observe the other team doing their normal operation, we may find something that will make our operation better,” notes Brandon Webb, program manager for Florida Task Force 1.
Webb and his team are not at the drill by chance. Florida Task Force 1 developed very strong relations with the Israeli unit when it was dispatched to help in search and rescue operations in the Surfside Condominium collapse last year.
“We try to strengthen that relationship moving forward to develop operational capacity for Florida Task Force 1 and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces),” says Webb.
Israel has a long history of assisting countries following national disasters. Nations around the world already know that in such an emergency, you want the Home Front Command search and rescue team at your side.
“I am not sure that in all the events they know what we are bringing with us, but they know that Israel can do something, so they say, ‘let’s bring the Israelis,’” says Colonel Vach.
And all that begins with the drills. It’s where so much knowledge and experience are gained. Which saves lives in Israel and around the world.