injuries and poisoning
Overview of Incidents Involving Mass Casualty Weapons
Recognition
Although incidents involving explosives, firearms, and transportation crashes are easy for doctors and first responders to recognize, incidents involving biological or chemical weapons are often much harder to identify. Recognition of an incident may come via intelligence or announcement by the perpetrators, environmental clues (such as dead or dying animals or unusual odors), or environmental monitors (chemical, biological, or radiation), which may not be widely available. In some cases, the only clue to a possible incident may be a large number of people affected with unusual symptoms or similar symptoms. As they evaluate casualties, doctors may recognize characteristic symptoms and signs that are typical of exposure to a certain substance or infectious organism. Ultimately, doctors may need to send clinical or environmental specimens to a laboratory. However, diagnosis and initial treatment are often urgent, especially for injuries involving certain chemical weapons that act very quickly. 