Chemical disasters responses

Okumura, T., Ninomiya, N., Ohta, M. (2003). The chemical disaster response system in Japan. Prehospital Disaster Med. 18 189-92. 

Emergency Medical Services Committee, American College of Emergency Physicians. (2001). Disaster response and biolog-ical/chemical terrorism information packet. Dallas American College of Emergency Physicians. 

Military support to civil authorities is the final tier in the nation s disaster response system. Federal resources that may be implemented in the event of a major biochemical or radiation disaster are the U.S. Army Special Medical Augmentation Response Teams. The mission of the SMART teams is to provide short-duration medical liaison to local, state, federal, and DOD agencies responding to disasters, civil-military cooperative actions, humanitarian assistance missions, weapons of mass destruction incidents, or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive incidents. There are 37 SMART teams, including two burn SMART teams operated by the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical... 

Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number CAS 14277-97-5. Domoic acid, a glutamic acid analog that is resistant to temperature extremes, is an excitatory neurotoxin produced by a diatom and concentrated in shellfish. Ingestion leads to amnesic shellfish poisoning, which can also include seizures. Its relevance to use in warfare and terrorism, apart from its being unfamiliar to most disaster-response personnel, is that it is also easily absorbed by inhalation and across mucous membranes. No specific antitoxin is available, and treatment is supportive. 

Overall, there is a general agreement that local preparedness of medical professionals for chemical terrorist incidences, as well as the levels of organization and systemic preparedness required and available are nominal. Although there are some highly trained personnel available and excellent capabilities in many consequence management organizations to respond to a domestic chemical disaster, chemical response personnel and equipment are everywhere limited compared to the potential threat, and there is still much room for improvement. 

Regardless of the chemical or radiation involved, acute and chronic stress reactions to perceived exposures have universal similarities (Table 2-2). The array of acute responses to such events was shown after a chemical disaster at Norway s largest paint factory in 1976 (Weisaeth 1989). Many victims completely lost the capacity to think and perceive. Some became stupified, torpid, and completely motionless. Others ran in uncontrolled flight or developed stereotyped actions. A few became leaders and led terrified victims to safety. 

With the constant threat of accidental releases of hazardous materials and the potential use of chemical weapons by terrorists, local emergency response providers must be prepared to handle victims who may be contaminated with chemical substances. Many local jurisdictions have developed hazardous-materials (HazMat) teams, usually composed of fire and paramedical personnel who are trained to identify hazardous situations quickly and to take the lead in organizing a response. Health care providers, such as ambulance personnel, nurses, physicians, and local hospital officials, should participate in emergency response planning and drills with their local HazMat team before a chemical disaster occurs. 

Identify resource material on chemical/biological agents, stress reduction after other traumas, and disaster response services, and enlist the help of mental health professional societies in developing a training program for mental health professionals. The key to success in this attempt will be offering continuing education credits and certification for mental health providers trained in chem/bio attack response. 

Since the appearance of the first edition, toxic trauma from deliberate exposure to chemical warfare agents has continued in the Syrian Civil War, causing many thousands of casualties. The fear of further use of chemical weapons by terrorist organisations continues, and thus readiness to deal with chemical casualties in the urban civil setting remains more important than ever. In industrial and domestic settings, the accidental release of toxic chemicals continues and no hospital department can afford not to prepare for such incidents, both in daily practice and as part of disaster-response planning. The hazards of toxic trauma remain therefore as real as ever, and I hope that the new edition of this book will help to inform and to prepare responses accordingly. 

In Delaware, the Regulation for the Management of Extremely Ha2ardous Substances Act, developed in response to the Bhopal disaster and several chemical-release incidents in Delaware, became effective in 1989 (27,28). The regulations Hst 88 toxic substances, 32 flammable substances, and 50 explosive substances. A sufficient quantity is specified for each of these materials, based on potential for a catastrophic event at a distance of 100 m from a potential source of a 1-h release. 

A plant team working with the Pampa fire department brought the fire under control. The Chemical Manufacturers Association s Community Awareness Emergency Response Program (CARE), developed after the Bhopal disaster was credited with effectiveness of their efforts in putting out the fire. 

D. Hank Ellison served in the United States Army as a chemical officer and has worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as both a remedial project manager and federal on-scene coordinator under the Superfund Program. He currently is president of Cerberus Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in response to technological disasters. 

DOD Marine Corps Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, DOD Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, DOD Naval Medical Research Institute, HHS National Medical Response Teams, HHS Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, HHS Metropolitan Medical Strike Teams, HHS Experts from Public Health Safety agencies, DOE Radiation Emergency Assistance Center and Training Site. 

Emergency response plans (ERPs) are nothing new to chemical industries, since many have developed ERPs to deal with natural disasters, accidents, violence in the workplace, civil unrest, and so on. Because chemical industries are a vital part and ingredient of our way of life, it has been prudent for chemical industries to develop ERPs in order to help ensure the continuous flow of water to the community. However, many chemical industry ERPs developed prior to 9/11 do not explicitly deal with terrorist threats, such as intentional fire, explosion, or contamination. Recently, the U.S. Congress and federal regulators have required chemical industries to prepare or revise, as necessary, an ERP to reflect the findings of their vulnerability assessment and to address terrorist threats. 

VI Hazard-Specific Procedures Procedures that explain the actions to be taken in response to a specific emergency, such as credible incidents (fire, chemical spill, etc.) and natural disasters. 

If an attack on a chemical asset or by a chemical or biological agent does occur, it is essential that the damage be contained, neutralized, and remediated as expeditiously and safely as possible. Most chemical production and storage facilities already have disaster recovery and containment plans in place in case of an accident. These plans are also generally applicable to intentional attack. By design, damage to production facilities and the potential for massive chemical release, especially outside the plant boundary, is expected to be limited. An industry-wide system is also in place for response to transportation accidents,... 

The workshop identified the area of preparation, or pre-response, in terms of the following qnestion What can be done prior to a terrorist event to improve our capability to limit the effects of a disaster The answers to this question encompass an enormous range of activities relevant to the chemical sciences. These challenges have been grouped into two subcategories process engineering and chemical synthesis. Several issues that can be broadly classified under infra-stmcture also emerged in our discussions. These are treated separately below. 

In contrast, Professor Kletz documented that more people have been killed by the collapse of dams than by any other peacetime artifact. [28] He explains that in August 1979, a dam collapsed in India killing a large number of people. Various reports gave various counts of fatalities, between 1,400 and 25,000. This collapse could be responsible for more deaths than the dreaded Bhopal Tragedy. Kletz asked the question why people were more concerned about chemical engineering disasters than civil engineering disasters. It could be that water is a familiar chemical and pesticides or radioactive menaces are both poorly understood and not detectable by the man on the street. 

---