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Quietly and Deep Underground, Israelis Are Preparing for Another War
(Wall Street Journal) Carrie Keller-Lynn - Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa has set up four operating rooms, a maternity ward and a dialysis center three levels down in its underground parking garage, part of its plan to keep functioning in an all-out conflict with Hizbullah. Homeowners associations across Israel are clearing out dusty shelters in apartment buildings, fixing plumbing and stockpiling water and supplies to be ready for long stays underground. Some in Tel Aviv keep go-bags of essentials packed by the door. Emergency crews are being beefed up, and supplies of necessities such as blood are being secured. Magen David Adom, which manages Israel's emergency medical response, has been stockpiling field dressings, syringes and medications for the past few months in an underground facility. At the warehouse, the parking bay is packed with some of the 200 ambulances Magen David Adom has added to its fleet since the war in Gaza began. Magen David Adom also manages Israel's national blood bank, which moved underground in October. Israel's strategic blood reserve is guarded in a chilled vault three floors underground. Israel's Fire and Rescue Services is training more than 150 civilian response teams in communities within 18 miles of Israel's border with Lebanon. Haifa has created more than 100 new public shelters, outfitting them with generators and internet access.