Ecoterrorism and nontraditional military threats.
The menace facing U.S. service personnel from ecoterrorism and other nontraditional threats may increase as military deployments in war and peace increase, the availability of devastating biological, chemical, and radioactive agents increases, and adversaries or terrorist groups become more inclined to use them. A vital concern for field medical commanders is the requirement to understand the environmental issues associated with military deployment. More important is the need to recognize potential ecological threats to deployed military troops. The Gulf War was replete with numerous documented acts of ecoterrorism. The current world crisis from terrorism dictates that we be knowledgeable of the medical consequences of weapons of mass destruction and skilled in the management of casualties. The processes of human health risk assessment of deployed soldiers and ecological risk assessment are discussed as strategies to effectively prevent or reduce the health and medical consequences of ecoterrorism.
Alexander
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Detachment 3, Headquarters, State Area Command, Maryland Army National Guard, Reisterstown, MD 21136, USA.
D004194:Disease / Q000209:etiology; D004463:Ecology; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D011315:Preventive Medicine; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013812:Therapeutics; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence; D014857:Warfare
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants