b. Effective mass casualty management requires careful planning. The guide is designed to support such planning by providing medical planners and staff personnel with a systematic means for estimating the number, type, and time-related status of chemical casualties.
NOTE
Each user is advised to consult any available national military NBC defense doctrinal publications of similar nature.
c. Medical requirements during CW may be substantially different from those for the usual combat situation. There may be no indication of the presence of chemical agents in some tactical situations. Unprotected units downwind from an attack area, or those entering contaminated areas in an unprotected posture, may be unexpectedly exposed to chemical agents. However, casualty management also involves practice of self-aid and buddy aid, on-site medical triage and emergency care, transport to medical facilities, communications, health services, logistics, and evacuation by ground or air transportation.
d. The signs and symptoms of chemical agent exposure may be sudden and intense, or delayed and subtle, depending on the agent used and the level of exposure. Individuals may not reach the first level of care for 15 to 60 minutes after the onset of effects. Decontamination may delay medical treatment. Stabilization should occur before casualties leave emergency care areas, but contamination of these areas may delay the stabilization process. However, effects of decontamination or secondary contamination on estimated doses and effects are not considered in the guide. For medical planning, users of the guide need to consider the various qualifications of its casualty estimates, as discussed in paragraphs 3.4 and 3.4.2 of the guide.
e. A chemical burn caused by HD can require more care than a same-sized burn induced by conventional munitions. Therefore, the initial prognosis may require revision after treatment is underway, and estimates of percent capable by performance band may require adjustment.
D-21. Triage
Since a chemical attack may produce mass casualties, preparations for a triage system should be in place before the attack. Paragraph 2.5.1 of the guide describes patient categories by injury severity. For a particular described operational scenario, this information may be used to estimate the number of patients with specified levels of injury. The guide does not provide estimates of the number of patients by triage classification or usual medical and toxicological descriptions.