Effects of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Guidelines for Dealing with Medical Consequences

This paper discusses the impacts of weapons of mass destruction, the various types of WMD and their associated delivery systems, and the medical procedures to be taken in treating the agents resulting from WMD. It also provides guidelines for dealing with the medical consequences of WMD.

Name of the Student
Name of the professor
City/State
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this paper is to understand the effects of the weapon of mass distraction and some
guideline lines of dealing with mass the medical consequences of a weapon of mass distraction(WMD).
The paper highlights various types of WMD and signs and symptoms associated with each one of them
and also the medical procedure to be taken in treating the agents resulting from weapons of mass
distraction.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………3
Types of Weapon of Mass Destruction……………………………………………………………………………………………….5
Risk Register……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
Risk Matrix…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6
Treatment plan………………………………………………………………....…………………………………………………………….6
Action plan…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………8
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………….9
Bibliography...………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………….10
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Introduction
A weapon of mass destruction is just a chemical, radiological, nuclear or biological that kill and bring
significant harm to a large number of humans or cause damage to structures made by humans such as
buildings. This term originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives.
Aim of the assignment
The aim of this assignment is to identify the numerous threats caused by the weapon of mass
destruction such as biological, radiological, chemical agents and various signs and symptoms associated
with them.
Impacts of the weapon of mass destruction
The weapon of mass destruction entails radiological, biological and chemical agents with the ability
to cause death at low doses and with serious long-term health side effects in survivors.
Psychological victims can manifest symptoms similar to those of exposure to chemical agents, posing
a diagnostic challenge for hospital care provider.
Weapons of mass destruction and their associated delivery system pose a threat to the national
security of the country and that is the reason why a number of activities are pursued to counter
paramilitary and terrorist threats from biological, nuclear and chemical agents (Kibaroglu, 2009, p. 233).
Weapons of mass destruction threats
 Threats concealed or overt.
 Strategic and economic targets for example crops, food, and animals.
 Delivery systems for example spraying, mines, bombs and hand grenades.
 More than one agent may be used in an attack.
In the weapon of mass destruction, there are routes of entry. These are ways in which the toxic and
hazardous materials can enter the body which include;
a. Absorption which can take place through the skin
b. Injection whereby the toxic materials enter the body via bloodstream in case one has a wound
or needle injection.
c. Ingestion and this comes as a result of taking contaminated fluid or food.
d. Inhalation whereby the toxic materials are inhaled into the mucous membrane of the nose,
upper respiratory tract and lungs via spray devices (Duncan, 2014, p. 34).
There are five categories of terrorist weapons of mass destructions and they include;
 Biological
 Chemicals
 Explosives
 Nuclear
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 Incendiary
Biological Agents
These are living organisms in form of liquid droplets or dry powders causing disease or harm. The
use of biological agents is attractive to terrorist since they are cheap and they do not require deep
technology to deliver produce. The signs and symptoms of diseases produced as a result of biological
agents can take a day or a week to develop. The following solutions should alert the worker of a health
facility to the possibility of bioterrorism event (Currance, 2007, p. 34).
o Group of patients from a single location.
o A large number of fatalities
o An unusual number of dead or sick animals or people.
o Uncommon disease among the patients
Types of Biological Agents
i. Bacteria such as plague, anthrax, and tularemia
ii. Viruses such as Ebola, Lassa, and smallpox
iii. Toxins such as ricin, mycotoxins, and botulism
Nuclear
This is an event whereby the nuclear agent is used as a weapon of terrorism and involve the
explosion of a nuclear bomb of a volatile device that includes nuclear resources. Food and other
products can be contaminated as a result of radioactive materials (Oday, 2009, p. 23).
The number of chemical agents was vesicants (mustard agent or blister), blood agents (cyanide) and
nerve agent (sarin, soman, and tabun), impairment to the respiratory tract, eyes, and the skin are
caused by the mustard agents and its longstanding effects such as damage to respiratory, blindness,
cancers, immune and reproductive system (Cordesman, 2007, p. 123).
Types of nuclear devices
i. Simple radiological devices which spread radioactive materials.
ii. Radiological disperse device which kills those closest to a bomb
iii. Reactor
Chemical Agents
The chemical agents act within a minute and people exposed to it will develop symptoms
immediately and this what makes the difference when compared to biological agents. The primary route
of the exposure of chemical agents is inhalation and its toxicity depends on the size of particles.
Types of chemical agent
i. Nerve agents such as tabun, soman, and sarin which affect the organs with cholinergic receptors
and its signs include increased secretions, runny nose, and others
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ii. Blister agents such as lewisite and mustard which cause burns to the eye, respiratory tract
tissues and skin. Its symptoms include swelling of the eyelids, skin itching, abdominal pain and
others (Terzuolo, 2010, p. 98).
iii. Blood agent for example cyanide which affects the ability of the blood to transport oxygen and
its symptoms include vertigo, respiratory distress, vomiting
Risk Register
Risk
no
Risk Risk impact Control measures Duration
1 Chemical
agents for
example
nerve
agents,
mustard
agents, and
blood agent.
 Blisters
 Irritation in the eye
 Abdominal cramp, increased
salivation and bronchial secretions
 Apprehension, headache, nausea,
vomiting, and diarrhea.
The antidote is
required for example
atropine and they
are applicable mostly
in bioweapons, nerve
and mustard agents.
I minute
2 Biological
agents, for
example,
viral and
bacterial
diseases
 Fever, weakness, cough, respiratory
failure and pneumonia.
 Water diarrhea, pain, and
headache.
 A pain headache, high fever, severe
ache, abdominal pain and high
fever.
 Hemorrhage
Vaccine resistance
antibiotics are known
as streptomycin but
the is emerging
resistance. Vaccine
for prompt
rehydration is also
needed and lastly
antibiotic known as
ciprofloxacin
gentamicin.
1 week
Risk Assessment Matrix
Casualty level Casualty speed Collateral
damage
Potential
Nuclear Very High High Indiscriminant
Chemical High High Indiscriminant
Biological High Medium to High Indiscriminant
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Treatment plan
This is a set of written instructions and records relating to the treatment of illness or ailment
a. Activation of the Emergency Response Plan
In case of biological or chemical situation, activation will be needed starting with the first patients and
early response is needed to keep the situation out of control. The health facilities must be familiar with;
o Hazardous material incidents
o Decontamination plan
o Facility lockdown
o Bioterrorism Response Plan
b. Decontamination
Weapon mass destruction terrorist event is hazardous in nature and depending on the exposure time,
biological agents’ events usually do not require decontamination. The victims need to be isolated and
protection of staff needs to be done until decontamination occurs. The hospital personnel primary
responsibilities are to (Barriot, 2008, p. 45);
o Recognize that particular hazardous material situation
o Protect him/herself
o Prevent contamination
o Make proper notification
o Isolate and relocate people who are not affected
o Increase security at the decontamination area
c. Treatment
Medical Intervention
Decontamination must take place first in case a patient is contaminated with a substance. The
patient should not come into contact with an unaffected person in case he/she is contaminated with
a harmful substance.
Diagnostic studies
The type of agent can be tested by carrying out the blood test, X-rays, and advanced test. A large
laboratory with enough equipment to run the test should be used.
Pharmaceutical
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In the treatment of these chemical or biological weapon victims; most frequent drugs such as
atropine, doxycycline and ciprofloxacin should be readily available.
Isolation and infection control
Biological agents cannot be transferred from one person to another but precautions need to be
taken All patients must be handled using standard universal precautions such as handwashing,
putting on gloves, wearing mask and gowns.
Resources
Planning to acquire resources needs to be done in case a large event occurs
Notification
If a healthcare facility suspects that a weapon of mass destruction event has occurred then they
should notify relevant agencies such as hospital administration, local infection control personnel,
and state health departments.
Cost-Benefit analysis
The decisions in the healthcare on weapon mass destruction are analyzed and the benefits of these
health actions and then the cost associated with taking actions of weapon of mass destruction are
subtracted.
Person responsible
The health facility should be responsible for taking care of those influenced by the weapon of
mass destruction agents which include biological, chemical and radiological agents which can cause
death
ACTION PLAN
An action plan will assist in providing a detailed outline of the task needed to be accomplished. It
will assist in breaking down the process into actionable steps based on the timeline given. The action
step is chosen, identifying the person responsible for the action and providing a clear schedule for
completing the action steps.
Objective 1 ACTION STEP
DESCRIPTION
PERSON
RESPONSIBLE
DATE TO
COMMENCE
DATE DUE
The goals
statement will
be written
Actions to be
taken to achieve
the goal
The person
responsible
The
commencement
of the action
The date the
action should end
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Conclusion
This particular study is very helpful since it helps in alerting the learner with complexities and issues
linked with community-wide weapons mass destruction terrorist events such as biological, chemical and
nuclear events
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Bibliography
Barriot, P., 2008. Treating Victims of Weapons of Mass Destructions. s.l.: Reed Elsevier.
Cordesman, A., 2007. Terrorism, Asymmetric Warfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction. s.l.: Random
House.
Current, P., 2007. Medical Response to Weapons of Mass Destruction. s.l. Haufe Gruppe.
Duncan, I., 2014. Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations. s.l. Adventure Works Press.
Kibaroglu, A., 2009. Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destructions. s.l.: Ridders Digest.
Oday, A., 2009. Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism. s.l. OLMA Media Group.
Tamsett, J., 2011. Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destructions. s.l. Sanoma.
Terzuolo, E., 2010. NATO and Weapons of Mass Destructions. s.l. Scholastic.
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