Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare 2 INTRODUCTION " Gas! Gas! " This warning cry, so common in World War I, almost became real to U.S. forces again as they prepared to liberate Kuwait in late 1990. The threat of chemical, and even biological, warfare was foremost in the minds of U.S. military personnel during Operation Desert Shield, the preparation for the Persian Gulf War. Ira...

INTRODUCTION The threat of mass casualties caused by an unconventional terrorist attack is a challenge for the public health system, with special implications for emergency medicine, anesthesia, and intensive care. Advanced life support of patients injured by chemical or biological warfare agents requires an adequate level of personal protection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the person...

Nuclear, biological and chemical warfare have in recent times been responsible for an increasing number of otherwise rare dermatoses. Many nations are now maintaining overt and clandestine stockpiles of such arsenal. With increasing terrorist threats, these agents of mass destruction pose a risk to the civilian population. Nuclear and chemical attacks manifest immediately while biological attac...

Sulfur mustard has been used as a vesicant chemical warfare agent. To investigate the ocular damage it causes, we studied the effects on chemical casualties in the Iran-Iraq War. The patient population consisted of more than 5,000 chemical casualties, both military and civilian. The range of ocular damage was wide. The most common ocular effects were conjunctivitis and photophobia. Patients wit...

Iraq has used extensively chemical warfare agents in recent Iran-Iraq conflict (1980-1988) and it is believed about 450,000 people were exposed to this agents. Long-term effects of chemical warfare agents, particularly mustard gas, on pulmonary function tests (PFT) (VC, FEV1 , FVC, FEV/FVC, PEF, MEF50%, MEF25%, MEF25-75% , ERC and IC) are estimated during 7.7 [standard deviation (SD)=l.2] years...

It is especially appropriate that a paper originating from the Medical Division of the Army Chemical Center be included in this anniversary volume of the Yalc Journal of Biology and Medicine. Dr. Winternitz has been actively connected with chemical warfare medical research from the beginning and particularly during the two wartime periods of greatest activity. During the war against the Central...

Civilian populations are at risk from exposure to toxic materials as a result of accidental or deliberate exposure. In addition to industrial hazards, toxic agents designed for use in warfare now are a potential hazard in everyday life through terrorist action. Civil emergency medical responders should be able to adapt their plans for dealing with casualties from hazardous materials (HazMat) to...