HAGERSTOWN - Fearing that another terrorist attack or mass casualty in Washington, D.C., would drive people west, two local doctors recently traveled to a hospital in war-torn Israel to evaluate its trauma unit for war preparedness.
The trauma unit at the Hadassah Hospital can sustain nuclear attacks. In the event of an attack, the trauma unit can seal itself down and function for three weeks, Dr. John Caruso said.
"We wanted to compare that unit to the one we have here. We have to be just as prepared," said Caruso, a leading partner at the Parkway Neuroscience & Spine Institute off Western Maryland Parkway.
Caruso traveled with Dr. Marc Kross, trauma chief at Washington County Hospital.
"If Baltimore or Washington gets hit, people will come westward," Caruso said.
Washington County Hospital is the trauma center for Camp David.
Marine 1, the president's helicopter, needs to be able to land at the hospital even in the event of a storm or "mass casualty" in Washington, D.C., Kross said.
