Well said, Dr. Leap. During Army residency I was sent to Fort Detrick for the Chemical Casualty Course. Learned how difficult it would be to decontaminate and treat large numbers of soldiers who were exposed to nerve agent, and while fumbling about in full MOPP gear. When the Gulf War was about to begin, we were expecting Saddam to use chemical weapons. Had he done so, there would have been mass casualties despite all of our preparations. Obviously, nukes and biological weapons pose their own hellish challenges. Dr. Strangelove was not such a complete fantasy!
Thanks Dr. Hager! I actually took that course as a civilian contractor when the Domestic Preparedness Program was ramping up. It was fascinating and informative, but as you say it illustrated the incredible difficulty of working in that environment.
Well said, Dr. Leap. During Army residency I was sent to Fort Detrick for the Chemical Casualty Course. Learned how difficult it would be to decontaminate and treat large numbers of soldiers who were exposed to nerve agent, and while fumbling about in full MOPP gear. When the Gulf War was about to begin, we were expecting Saddam to use chemical weapons. Had he done so, there would have been mass casualties despite all of our preparations. Obviously, nukes and biological weapons pose their own hellish challenges. Dr. Strangelove was not such a complete fantasy!
Thanks Dr. Hager! I actually took that course as a civilian contractor when the Domestic Preparedness Program was ramping up. It was fascinating and informative, but as you say it illustrated the incredible difficulty of working in that environment.