Community coordination and information centers during the Persian Gulf war.

During a time of crisis, community information centers provide valuable data to the public and help to avoid confusion and misinformation. During the Persian Gulf war, Kupat Holim (sick fund of the General Federation of Labor) established a national casualty information center in Tel Aviv as well as numerous coordination and information centers throughout the country, which included district, geriatric, psychological and emergency centers, as well as one for new immigrants. These centers had not been planned in advance, but because of the obvious need, they were established in the few months prior to the outbreak of the war and during the war itself. The locations of the centers were publicized through the media. In this article we report on the different centers and their activities, and additional community measures are described. The plan of establishing information centers throughout the country proved itself a vital necessity and will be incorporated in future Kupat Holim plans for war or any other emergency situation.