title: Emergencies from hazardous materials. An overview.
abstract: Hazardous materials are ubiquitous in modern society. The weak link in the safety chain is transportation. Despite the remarkable safety record in the United States, the potential for disaster is real, as has been seen in Mexico, India, and the Soviet Union. Careful planning and cooperation between federal and local governments, industry, and healthcare providers will decrease the potential for serious accidents and also lessen the impact in terms of morbidity and mortality if disaster does occur.
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D002617:Chemical Industry; D003666:Decontamination; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D014186:Transportation; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States