injuries poisoning
Incendiary Chemical Warfare Agents and Hydrogen Fluoride (HF)
Treatment
Treat as thermal burns For HF, topical and sometimes systemic calcium See Burns for the general management of thermal burns. For WP burns, the affected areas are flooded with water or smothered to avoid exposure to air. WP particles are removed mechanically (they often adhere tightly to skin) and placed in water. Smoking trails may be good indicators of the location of small particles. A bicarbonate solution may be used to flood the burns and to wet the burn dressings, but cupric sulfate (CuSO4) is no longer recommended for these burns. Magnesium reacts with water to generate highly flammable gas and with carbon dioxide to produce magnesium oxide and carbon. Burning or smoking magnesium particles in the skin or subcutis should be removed as promptly as possible. If not all particles can be removed at once (eg, because of the number of wounds), oil can be used to cover wounds until removal can be accomplished. paste is applied to local burns. Sometimes local injection of 10% Ca gluconate is also given; some clinicians give Ca gluconate intra-arterially. Patients with significant exposure are hospitalized to undergo cardiac monitoring and treatment with CaCl or Ca gluconate (see table Symptoms and Treatment of Specific Poisons ). The views expressed in this chapter are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government. 