Chemical Biological Warfare

Covers the history of this form of warfare, information on chemical agents themselves, as well as regulation, controls, and disposal policies. Scientific research on CBW, extending as far back as 1940 is organized under categories of CBW agents and their corresponding subheadings.

A HazMat team evacuates five square miles of a city business district in response to a chemical spill. Ten city blocks away, a police special response team forms a perimeter around an office building where a terrorist threatens the release of a deadly chemical agent. Meanwhile, paramedics administer first aid to victims exposed to a possible vesicant. In the real-life world of emergency response, nothing is more crucial to crisis personnel than quick and decisive action. D. Hank Ellison's Emergency Action for Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents tells police, paramedics, and firefighters just what actions to take in the event of a crisis involving hazardous materials. The book contains abridged versions of the class indices from Ellison's larger Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents. The indices deal with classes of agents (nerve, blister, etc.) instead of focusing on specific agents. Each index contains information on the toxicology/health impacts, physical characteristics, hazards from fire or reactivity, protection of personnel, and general first aid for that agent class. Designed to provide rapid access to critical emergency information at the scene of a release of chemical or biological warfare agents, this handy field guide is also ideal for facilitating the coordination with off-site personnel who have access to more comprehensive information in Ellison's larger Handbook. It differs from its larger companion, however, in that agent specific data, as well as information on evacuation distances, are listed in table format, making it the ideal tool for emergency responders deployed in the field.

The armaments of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) are now widely held not just by nation-states, but by terrorist and criminal enterprises. The weapons themselves are relatively inexpensive and very easy to hide, allowing organizations of just a few dozen people to deploy potentially devastating attacks. While in the twentieth century most arms-control efforts focused, rightly, on nuclear arsenals, in the twenty-first century CBW will almost certainly require just as much attention. This book defines the basics of CBW for the concerned citizen, including non-alarmist scientific descriptions of the weapons and their antidotes, methods of deployment and defensive response, and the likelihood in the current global political climate of additional proliferation.

Following the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax letters that appeared in their wake, the threat posed by the widespread accessibility of chemical and biological weapons has continually been used to stir public fear and opinion by politicians and the media alike. In Chemical and Biological Weapons, Edward M. Spiers cuts through the scare tactics and hype to provide a thorough and even-handed examination of the weapons themselves—the various types and effects—and their evolution from World War I to the present. Spiers describes the similarities and differences between the two types of weapons and how technological advancements have led to tactical innovations in their use over time. As well, he gives equal attention to the international response to the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons, analyzing global efforts aimed at restraining their use, such as deterrence and disarmament, and the effectiveness of these approaches in the twentieth century. Using Iraq as a case study, Spiers also investigates its deployment of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War and the attempts by the international community to disarm Iraq through the United Nations Special Commission and the United States-led war in 2003. A timely and balanced historical survey, Chemical and Biological Weapons will be of interest to readers studying the proliferation and use of chemical and biological warfare and the reactions of the international community throughout the last several decades.

An in-depth analysis of nearly all chemical and biological weapons, their effects, and the politics surrounding their deployment.

Handbook on Biological Warfare Preparedness provides detailed information on biological warfare agents and their mode of transmission and spread. In addition, it explains methods of detection and medical countermeasures, including vaccine and post-exposure therapeutics, with specific sections detailing diseases, their transmission, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, vaccines, prevention and management. This book is useful reading for researchers and advanced students in toxicology, but it will also prove helpful for medical students, civil administration, medical doctors, first responders and security forces. As the highly unpredictable nature of any event involving biological warfare agents has given rise to the need for the rapid development of accurate detection systems, this book is a timely resource on the topic. Introduces different bacterial and viral agents, including Ebola and other emerging threats and toxins Discusses medical countermeasures, including vaccines and post-exposure therapeutics Includes a comprehensive review of current methods of detection