Evaluation and Treatment of Nuclear Casualties. Part 1. Acute Radiation Syndrome and Triage
Abstract
The medical officer in support of the operational commander carries the dual responsibility to provide medical care for combat casualties andto advise the commander on the operational capabilities of his troops. With conventional combat injury the mission, while demanding, is accomplished according to relatively established triage and patient care procedures. In the case of the nuclear battlefield, however, we are less certain of the adequacy of current triage and patient care procedures. Also on the nuclear battlefield the medical officer will be asked to judge the operational capabilities of troops that are free of signs or symptoms yet have suffered potentially lethal Injury, a scenario quite unlike conventional warfare. Any lack of operational readiness of medical support units to function in a nuclear environment is due largely to three factors. First and foremost there is admittedly a reluctance on the part of all people including military medical personnel to contemplate nuclear warfare, much less medical operations on the nuclear battlefield. By extension, the enormity of nuclear war has clouded the whole issue of medical preparedness in a "nuclear environment." By "nuclear environment" we mean the world we live in today; a world of nuclear energy, nuclear waste, accidental radiation exposure, and the increasing possibility of nuclear terrorism. Furthermore, radiobiologic research has not kept pace with this expanding nuclear environment. Development of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic regimens for radiation injury has slowed in recent years due to a perceived lack of requirement. Thus, we are left with concepts of radiation injury and treatment essentially unchanged since the 1950s and 60s. Finally, training of military medical personnel for medical operations in the nuclear environment has been woefully Inadequate in recent years.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA138826
Entities
People
- Dennis L. Kelleher
- James J. Conklin
- Richard Walker
Organizations
- Naval Medical Research Center