First responders sarin exposure

This incident was the first chemical terrorist attack in a large city. There were few first responders who could even have conceived of such an attack and would have been prepared to rapidly evacuate victims from the subway station premises. Many passengers who had difficulty walking rushed out of the trains and onto the subway platform and fell down, which in effect would have increased their exposure to sarin in the subway station. In addition, the site to which many of the victims were finally evacuated at ground level where they could lie down was in close proximity to an air exhaust vent from the subway below. 

In the Tokyo subway sarin attack, primary decontamination was not undertaken at the attack sites, and the first responders and healthcare workers did not wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Because of this, 135 of 1364 firefighters (9.9%) suffered from symptoms associated with secondary exposure. While the number of policemen who experienced secondary exposure has not been released, the proportion who suffered from secondary exposure is expected to be similar. Fortunately, no deaths were officially attributed to secondary exposure. If higher-purity sarin had been used in the Tokyo subway sarin attack, it is possible that some people might have died from secondary exposure. However, a pregnant nurse who was exposed to sarin at the hospital became concerned whether or not her child would be bom healthy, and after consulting with her doctor, she had an abortion. Therefore, while this was not officially recorded, one life may be said to have been lost due to secondary exposure. 

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