title: [Availability of antidotes in the event of accidents or attacks with chemical weapons].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this report, we aimed to determine the availability of six antidotes for victims of accidents or attacks with chemical weapons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Telephone interviews with 6 Catalan hospitals and 8 hospitals from the community of Castilla y León. We evaluated the availability of antidotes in the hypothetical event of a massive intoxication with 600 affected people.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 3 out of the 14 hospitals had all 6 antidotes. Only atropine and, in Catalan hospitals, sodium thiosulfate were available in enough quantities to treat all victims. With regard to the remaining antidotes, the percentage of treated patients would have been fewer than 50%. The less available antidote was hydroxocobalamine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We have found both qualitative and quantitative deficiencies of antidotes for the treatment of people intoxicated by chemical weapons.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Toxicología Clínica y Servicio de Farmacia. Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, Spain. SNOGUE@clinic.ub.es
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nogué Xarau
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dueñas-Laita
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nigorra Caro
authors.forename: Sonsoles
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: García Rodicio
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D000931:Antidotes / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000506:poisoning*; D003625:Data Collection; D006761:Hospitals; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D000931:Antidotes; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents