Medical support in a nuclear/biological/chemical threat environment

This account shows how military personnel deployed abroad are often exposed to particularly stressful events and how they must cope with enormous challenges. Shortly after the ground offensive started in Iraq, 109 soldiers were deployed, at very short notice, from Germany to Kuwait on March 21, 2003, as Extending Operation Forces in the area of operations. They reinforced the German NBC defense battalion that was already stationed on the Persian Gulf. From March 21 to May 6, 2003, I was assigned to Camp Doha, Kuwait, as the senior medical officer of the German contingent participating in Operation Enduring Freedom. The situation changed drastically when Operation Iraqi Freedom started on March 20, 2003, when the camp was attacked by Iraqi missiles. Medical support was then provided under the conditions of an acute conventional and NBC threat situation. Providing medical support in multinational operations is one of the tasks specified in the operational spectrum of the Medical Service. As a result of the growing threat posed worldwide by terrorist acts involving the use not only of conventional weapons but also of NBC agents, it is becoming increasingly important for medical personnel to receive appropriate training in how to behave and in how to treat patients in a NBC threat environment. We must make every effort to fully understand this new type of threat environment and to address it effectively.