Chemical warfare agents: Emergency medical and emergency public health issues

The threat of exposure to chemical warfare agents has traditionally been co nsidered a military issue. Several recent events have demonstrated that civ ilians may also be exposed to these agents. The intentional or unintentiona l release of a chemical warfare agent in a civilian community has the poten tial to create thousands of casualties, thereby overwhelming local health a nd medical resources. The resources of US communities to respond to chemica l incidents have been designed primarily for industrial agents, but must be expanded and developed regarding incident management, agent detection, pro tection of emergency personnel, and clinical care. We present an overview o f the risk that chemical warfare agents presently pose to civilian populati ons and a discussion of the emergency medical and emergency public health i ssues related to preparedness and response.