VAN M. SIM

Chemicals Used as Weapons in War

~

Despite the fact that lethal chemicals have not been
used by the United States since the First World War, it is
known that some foreign powers give great emphasis to
both civilian and military training in defense against
chemicals. New compounds with greatly increased
potency have been developed both here and abroad.
Indeed, the speed of action and potential lethality of the
‘newest compounds place them among the most toxic
materials known to man. In addition, over the past 3
years, riot control agents have been used extensively in
Viet Nam, and there has been increasing acceptance of
their use in emergency situations by both civil and mili-
tary authorities. There is a clear obligation to both med-
icine and society to prepare to cope with the con-
sequences of chemical attack.
How valuable are advance knowledge and prepara-
tion is evident from history. The first large-scale use of
. Chemicals in warfare occurred April 22, 1915, when the
Germans unleashed clouds of chlorine on French and
Canadian troops near Ypres, Belgium. ThesFrench and
Canadians were taken completely by surprise and were
_ without protection. They sufiered 20,000 casualties,
Later, when the United States entered the war, We were
at least partiaily prepared for this new weapon. AS a

result, less than 2 percent of the casualties produced by
chemicals were fatalities, and only a small number of
those injured sustained permanent injury. More than
25 percent of the casualties from other weapons died,
and an additicnal 2 to 5 percent sustained permanent
injury.

Effective protective devices such as alarms, shelters,
masks, and clothing have been developed. This
chapter, however, will be concerned with therapy
alone. “Anyone can be trained to recognize the signs
and symptoms produced by chemicals and to institute
lifesaving measures.. Perhaps intensive training should
have been instituted in medical and dental schools some
time ago so that we would have a nucleus around which
to create and develop a civilian information and training
program.

Chemical agents are militarily classified as_either
lethal or incapacitating, The essential difference”
between the two is arbitrary. A fethal agent is one for
which there is very little difference between the dose
required to produce incapacitation and that which kills.
On the other hand, incapacitating compounds are
thought of as those which cause incapacitation from
which the victim would recover without treatment when

e. {A3BX