Shaare Zedek has launched an ambitious and critical project to prepare the Hospital and the citizens of Jerusalem for all types of mass casualty events – The Matloff Family Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Center. This comprehensive disaster management center serves as an urgent medical care facility for mass casualty events as well as an educational resource for medical professionals and first responders throughout Israel and the world. In the event of a national emergency or mass casualty attack, the entire second floor of Shaare Zedek can transform quickly into a fully functioning underground medical facility.  This floor presently houses the emergency departments, pharmacy, surgical operating complex, medical imaging facility, key communications facilities, and other core operations. It also includes a large, protected facility of approximately 15,000 square feet which will have 150 beds to accommodate newly admitted patients and/or patients already admitted to the Hospital who could not be otherwise relocated. It will contain a treatment and decontamination unit with specialized isolation areas to deal efficiently with large numbers of patients and a comprehensive computerized system to permit patients to be tracked and directed for appropriate treatment.