Cs. Fullerton et Rj. Ursano, HEALTH-CARE-DELIVERY IN THE HIGH-STRESS ENVIRONMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE, Military medicine, 159(7), 1994, pp. 524-528
Understanding health care delivery in high-stress environments, such a
s the chemical and biological warfare (CBW) environment, is important
to developing better procedures for providing health care to individua
ls and groups exposed to this and other traumas and disasters. Little
is known about the behavioral and psychological responses affecting he
alth and performance in the CBW environment. In this paper, we report
preliminary observations of the behavioral and psychological responses
of a health care delivery exercise occurring over 1 week in a simulat
ed CBW environment. Results suggest that responses to the CBW environm
ent will include: claustrophobia, difficulties with masks, overheating
, feelings of having failed, increased risk associated with dedication
to the group, dehydration secondary to alcohol use, failure to recogn
ize danger, and anxiety.