D-10. Medical Force Planning
The assignment of medical support is normally based upon the total military population and the expected conventional casualty rate. The data provided in the guide may be used to assess the requirement for additional medical units. The planning guidance presented in this document can (and should) be modified to reflect the needs of the anticipated operation, including operational tempo, national/coalition priorities, medical resource allotment, and so forth. When trying to augment personnel, consider that the use of a nuclear weapon in a tactical situation could be an indication of an increased tempo of warfare. Therefore, even though a unit may be targeted with a nuclear detonation, that unit may not be the site where the highest numbers of casualties are being produced, and another unit may have priority of support.
This Section Implements STANAG 2476.
Section III. MEDICAL PLANNING GUIDE FOR THE ESTIMATION OF NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL, AND CHEMICAL BATTLE CASUALTIES (BIOLOGICAL)—AMedP-8(A), VOLUME II
D-11. General
The guide, AMedP-8(A), Volume II, provides estimates of casualties, and remaining operational strength, after single BW attacks on tactically deployed, brigade-sized land force units, offshore naval and marine forces, and selected strategic targets in rear areas. These worst-case casualty estimates are for personnel within both the targeted and the downwind hazard areas of the attacked forces. They assume that all affected personnel will be unsheltered and unwarned. To further estimate worst-case outcomes, the guide assumes that exposed individuals have not been vaccinated against any of the evaluated agents, nor have they undergone any type of medical prophylactic treatment prior to exposure. The tables included in the guide are designed to show numbers of expected casualties; expected fatalities; personnel at different performance levels; and times after exposure. In selected scenarios, the guide provides a method for estimating casualties among collocated civilians based on local population density.
a. The guide presents casualty estimates for all possible combinations of the following conditions:
- Eleven operational scenarios.
- Seven biological agents.
- Four types of delivery systems.
- Three attack intensities.
b. The guide is subject to limitations of extent and content. Since there are many more possible attack variables than those considered, the guide presents a limited number of estimates and provisional guidance for estimating cases not modeled. These estimates are based upon the best available medical data, but such data result in qualified estimates. Therefore, for more authoritative medical descriptions, medical planners and staff personnel should use FM 8-9, NATO Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations, AMedP-6(B), Part II—Biological. Users of the guide must amplify or modify these estimates to meet emergent requirements such as injuries resulting from combined biological and conventional attacks.
c. Computer models that integrate available information have been used to predict the effects of future biological attacks. These resultant estimates may include substantial uncertainties when applied to specific situations. However, they provide the best estimates available to date.