Chemical Threat

Chemical Threats

A chemical threat is the result of poisonous vapors, aerosols, liquids, and solids being dispensed into the air or water ways that has a toxic effect on people, animals, or plants.

Chemical poisons are primarily used in war, terrorism and riot control and can be dispensed through bombs, sprayed from aircraft, boats, and vehicles or shot out of some type of projectile.

Several things you should keep in mind about chemical threats:

While potentially lethal, they are difficult to deliver in lethal concentrations
Chemical agents are difficult to produce in large quantities
A chemical attack could come without warning
They dissipate rapidly outdoors
Chemical poisons may be odorless and tasteless and hard to detect

Types of Chemical Warefare Agents

A chemical warfare agents are substances intended for use in military operations to kill, seriously injure or incapacitate people because of its physiological effects. Excluded from this definition are riot control agents, herbicides, smoke, and flame.

Nerve Agents
The nerve agents are a group of particularly toxic chemical warfare agents. They were developed just before and during World War II and are related chemically to the organophosphorus insecticides. The principle agents in this group are tabun,
sarin and methylphosphonothioic acid.

Blister or Vesicant Agents
Blister or vesicant agents are likely to be used both to produce casualties and
to force opposing troops to wear full protective equipment thus degrading fighting
efficiency, rather than to kill, although exposure to such agents can be fatal. Blister
agents can be thickened in order to contaminate terrain, ships, aircraft, vehicles or
equipment with a persistent hazard.

Vesicants burn and blister the skin or any other part of the body they contact. They act on the eyes, mucous membranes, lungs, skin and blood-forming organs. They damage the respiratory tract when inhaled and cause vomiting and diarrhea when ingested. Types of vesicant agents are sulfur mustard and nitrogen mustard.

Choking Agents
Chemical agents which attack lung tissue, primarily causing pulmonary edema, are
classed as lung damaging agents. Types of chocking agents are phosgene, diphosgene and chlorine.

Chemical Agent Effects on People

They can have an immediate effect (a few seconds to a few minutes) or a delayed effect (2 to 48 hours).

Signs of a chemical release include people having difficulty breathing; experiencing eye irritation; losing coordination; becoming nauseated; or having a burning sensation in the nose, throat, and lungs.

Also, the presence of many dead insects or birds may indicate a chemical agent release.

Chemical Attack Survival

If you are instructed to remain in your home or office building, you should:

Close doors and windows and turn off all ventilation, including furnaces, air conditioners, vents, and fans.

Seek shelter in an internal room and take your disaster survivor supplies kit.

Seal the room with duct tape and plastic sheeting.

Listen to your radio for instructions from authorities.

If you are caught in or near a contaminated area, you should:

Move away immediately in a direction upwind of the source.

Find shelter as quickly as possible.

After a Chemical Attack

Decontamination is needed within minutes of exposure to minimize health consequences. Do not leave the safety of a shelter to go outdoors to help others until authorities announce it is safe to do so.

A person affected by a chemical agent requires immediate medical attention from a professional. If medical help is not immediately available, decontaminate yourself and assist in decontaminating others.

Decontamination guidelines are as follows:

Use extreme caution when helping others who have been exposed to chemical agents.

Remove all clothing and other items in contact with the body. Contaminated clothing normally removed over the head should be cut off to avoid contact with the eyes, nose, and mouth. Put contaminated clothing and items into a plastic bag and seal it.

Decontaminate hands using soap and water.

Remove eyeglasses or contact lenses. Put glasses in a pan of household bleach to decontaminate them, and then rinse and dry.

Flush eyes with water.

Gently wash face and hair with soap and water before thoroughly rinsing with water.

Decontaminate other body areas likely to have been contaminated. Blot (do not swab or scrape) with a cloth soaked in soapy water and rinse with clear water.