CBRN

In the last decades, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats have become serious risks prompting countries to prioritize preparedness for such incidents. As CBRN scenarios are very difficult and expensive to recreate in real life, computer simulation is particularly suited for assessing the effectiveness of contingency plans and identifying areas of improvement. These computer simulation exercises require realistic and dynamic victim profiles, which are unavailable in a civilian context...

OBJECTIVES: Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents are those that involve chemical or biological warfare agents or toxic radiological or nuclear materials. These agents can cause disasters intentionally or accidentally. Hospitals play a crucial role in handling CBRN disasters. This study aimed to assess the CBRN preparedness of government hospitals in Riyadh. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted across government hospitals in Riyadh...

INTRODUCTION: The use of chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons is not new, and though rare, it is an issue of concern around the world due to their ability to cause large-scale mass-casualty events and their potential threat to global stability. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of CBRN weapons by non-state actors through analysis of the Violent Non-State Actor (VNSA) CBRN Event database, and aims to better inform health care systems of the potential risks and consequences of such events...

Aerosolized anthrax ( Bacillus anthracis ) spores are of extreme health concern and can remain airborne for hours and contaminate all kinds of surfaces, constituting reservoirs from which resuspension is easily produced. The assessment of decontamination techniques must therefore consider both air and surfaces. In the present study, several kinds of disinfecting fogs were experimentally tested against Bacillus thuringiensis spores, which served as a surrogate for Bacillus anthracis , both as aerosols released into the air and spread on porous and non-porous surfaces with different positions and orientations...

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A full-scale exercise designed to test emergency plans, large-scale simulation in the face of nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical and explosive (NRBCe) risks also contributes to the health response and the organization of the health system. For future caregivers working in hospitals, it allows them to take into consideration the impact of an event outside the hospital on their hospital care. It enables them to pool their responses to a possible disaster, in particular by identifying the health response (Health Response Organization) and the security response (Civil Security Response Organization)...

One of the important indicators of increasing the capacity of the health system and the chances of survival of patients and injured immediately after chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear (CBRN) accidents is rapid access to medical services. Establishing prehospital health response teams is one of the main strategies to improve the capacity and ability to respond to unusual events. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the formation of rapid response teams in the field of health in response to chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear accidents (CBRN EDMRT)...

The present work describes the synthesis of new versatile polyurea (PU) and polyurethane (PUR) matrices, including different chain extenders, which facilitate the design of distinct, tunable properties, and high-performance derivatives. These polymers can be used for various defense and security applications, such as coatings for ballistic protection, CBRN protection, binders for energetic formulations, etc. Combining aliphatic and aromatic molecules in PU or PUR structures enables the synthesis of polymers with improved and controllable thermo-mechanical properties...

BACKGROUND: Exposure to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats and hazards can have fatal or disabling consequences. One of the most risky groups in terms of secondary contamination in CBRN exposure is healthcare workers. Nurses need to have several competencies to be able to respond correctly to people exposed to CBRN agents and to protect themselves from secondary contamination. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a Bloom's Mastery Learning Model-based Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Threat and Hazards Preparedness Program for nursing students (MLM-CBRN Preparedness Program) as a means for improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy and skills...

Specialty certification for burn nursing will be available in 2023. This review outlines the path taken from specialty recognition by the American Nurses Association to the Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) certification. Clinical expertise, knowledge, skill, mastery of professional issues, and competence are hallmark features of a nurse specialty certification. A review of resources will illustrate the evolution of burn nursing practice with the development of burn nursing standards, competencies, and characteristics of the professional burn nurse...

In 2019, a federal contractor accidently breached a 2,900 Ci 137Cs sealed source while decommissioning it from a University of Washington research building, releasing a single digit curie of its contents. This event contaminated 13 people as well as all seven floors of the research building, which housed the radiation source. Estimates for clean-up costs and lost revenue exceeded $150 million. The magnitude of this cost prompted licensees in possession of such radioactive sources to question whether their insurance coverage is adequate to cover a large-scale incident and if coverage for such exposure even exists...

Rapid and accurate reconnaissance in the event of radiological and nuclear (RN) incidents or attacks is vital to launch an appropriate response. This need is made stronger by the increasing threat of RN attacks on soft targets and critical infrastructure in densely populated areas. In such an event, even small radioactive sources can cause major disruption to the general population. In this work, we present a real-time radiological source localization method based on an optimization problem considering a background and radiation model...

In terms of civil protection, there is nothing against self-critical reflection of events, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and learning lessons from them. In the past, however, this has often not led to anticipating future situations, their consequences, and better preparation. To some extent, this seems like a Greek tragedy: conscious disregard-except that this must not be fate. In addition to pandemics, important scenarios for which civil protection in Germany is inadequately prepared, according to the author's assessment, include attacks and accidents involving CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) hazardous substances, mass casualties in the event of a terror attack with hospitals or rescue services as the target of the attacks, as well as prolonged power or drinking water failures, and disruptions in information and communication structures following cyberattacks...

BACKGROUND: Emergency-use-authorization (EUA) is the representative biodefense policy that allows the use of unlicensed medical countermeasures or off-label use of approved medical countermeasures in response to public health emergencies. This article aims to determine why the EUA policies of the United States and South Korea produced drastically different outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these outcomes were determined by the originations and evolutionary paths of the two policies...

The versatility of nanofibrous polymeric materials makes them attractive for developing respiratory protective equipment. Ultrafine nanofibers effectively trap the most penetrating aerosols and exhibit consistent performance compared to conventional electret filters. Advanced nanofiber manufacturing technologies such as electrospinning can functionalize filter materials, enhancing them with unique antibacterial, catalytic, sensory, and other properties. Much of the current research in nanofibrous air filtration focuses on using nanofibers for lightweight personal protective equipment such as N95 respirators, but their use for higher levels of respiratory protection required for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) protection has not yet been comprehensively explored...

Increasing research capacity in community-based organizations (CBOs) can equip the organizations to be more equal partners in academic/community partnerships and can help them be more accountable to their clients and funders. In this study, we report on findings from four years of data collected from the Community Research Scholars Initiative (CRSI) in Cleveland, Ohio. CRSI provided intensive research training over two years to two cohorts (N = 9) of frontline workers ("Scholars") from CBOs focused on health disparities...

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with increased response readiness to CBRN threats of paramedics in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: An internet-based survey was distributed via email and delivered at the start of each shift presentation during October, 2019. The target population was active-duty paramedics in the Ontario region of Canada. The survey was comprised of 6 sections pertaining to demographics, attitudinal components of risk perception, self-efficacy, deployment concerns, and resilience...

Background: Hazardous Material-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (HazMat-CBRN) incidents, though infrequent, are environmentally precarious and perilous to living beings. They can be deliberate or accidental or follow the re-emergence of highly contagious diseases. Successful management of such incidents in pre-hospital settings requires having well-trained and prepared healthcare workers. Aims: This study aimed to explore the reliability and validity of a satisfaction survey, answered by Specialized Emergency Management (SEM) personnel from a national Middle Eastern ambulance service, with a "Hazardous Material Incident Management" course offered to them as a continuing professional development activity and seek their opinion regarding Hamad Medical Corporation Ambulance Service personnel needs for other HazMat-CBRN related training topics...

INTRODUCTION: Recent disasters emphasize the need for disaster risk mitigation in the health sector. A lack of standardized tools to assess hospital disaster preparedness hinders the improvement of emergency/disaster preparedness in hospitals. There is very limited research on evaluation of hospital disaster preparedness tools. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the presence and availability of hospital preparedness tools across the world, and to identify the important components of those study instruments...

Following a chemical incident involving chemical warfare agents or more broadly, chemical weapons, there are two possible approaches in dealing with the traditional forensic analysis of contaminated exhibits. The first is to analyze the contaminated items under safe conditions (i.e. in laboratories dedicated to the handling of such substances), while the second relies on item decontamination prior to processing them in traditional forensic laboratories. One of the main limitations of the latter is the possible degradation or destruction of traces caused by the decontamination process...