Chemical Terrorism

By James A. Geiling, MD, FCCP

Print This | TOC | Previous | Next

Personal Protection

The most effective personal protection is avoidance of the agent. Although an obvious concept, medical providers often put themselves in danger in an effort to reach and treat persons who have been harmed or injured. Unfortunately, entering the "hot zone," whether it is a contaminated environment or an unsecured, unsafe area, may jeopardize the personal safety of medical providers. If they become injured, the rescue effort deteriorates because of the need to care for an additional casualty, and the operation has lost a valuable health-care worker. For the most part, only experienced prehospital providers should perform rescue efforts and treatment in a hot zone.

Masks provide the standard protection against chemical agents and can be extremely effective alone against volatile agents. The standard issue M17A2 or variant serves the US military well and has been adapted for many civilian agencies. Other masks include air-purifying respirators, full-face respirators, Quick Masks (Survivair; Santa Ana, CA), powered air-purifying respirators, and the self-contained breathing apparatus. Many other gas masks have appeared on the market in response to recent terrorist events. These may include expired or malfunctioning former military equipment or uncertified masks that may result in further injury to the provider if used in a contaminated environment.

Protective clothing in the military includes the battle dress overgarment containing activated charcoal, with rubber gloves and boots. Many varieties of this clothing are available; the most common ones used for short-duration exposure are disposable Tyvek® (DuPont; Wilmington, DE) suits.

Print This | TOC | Previous | Next

3300 Dundee Road • Northbrook, Illinois 60062-2348 • (847) 498-1400 • (800) 343-2227
Copyright ©1999-2009 American College of Chest Physicians. All Rights Reserved.
ACCP Privacy Policy | ACCP Web Site Terms of Use