Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices
Use of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) or “car bombs” have increased in prevalence over the last several decades and most likely will continue to be a significant contributing factor…
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Chemical Decontamination
Decontamination is defined as the reduction or removal of chemical (or biological) agents by physical means or by chemical neutralization (detoxification) so that agents are no longer hazardous. The major…
Directed-Energy Weapons
A directed-energy weapon (DEW) emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. A DEW transfers the energy to a target for the desired effect. Most DEWs…
Military Lessons Learned for Disaster Response
Military medicine has often driven advancements in the provision of medical care in austere environments. Military medicine encompasses all aspects of health care required to keep the fighting force healthy…
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Quarantine
Although the term quarantine is familiar to most physicians, nurses, and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel from their core training, it may mean many different things depending on where, to…
Radiation Decontamination
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary , 10th edition, lists 1936 as the year of the earliest known use of the word decontaminate in English. Decontaminate is defined as follows: “to rid…
Future Biological and Chemical Weapons
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the previous contributions of James M. Madsen. Historical perspective Biological and chemical weapons have been used throughout history. For millennia, indigenous South American peoples deliberately…
Dirty Bomb (Radiological Dispersal Device)
A dirty bomb is a device that combines radioactive materials with conventional explosives. Global terrorist organizations are believed to be interested in and capable of constructing dirty bombs and launching…
Conventional Explosions at Mass Gatherings
Description of the event The magnitude and severity of primary injuries from a blast explosion are determined by proximity, the quantity and type of explosive, and whether the explosion is…
General Approach to Chemical Attack
The risk of chemical attack is no longer confined to the battlefield. The rise of asymmetric terrorist tactics, combined with the dual-use nature of technology and the proliferation of information,…
