A Turkish medical rescue team against nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons

Medical aid is one of the primary responses given in the deliberate release of weapons of mass destruction for both military and terrorist purposes. From this point of view, a nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) Medical Rescue Team was established in the structure of Gulhane Military Medical Academy. The staff in the team is composed of physicians, nurses, and paramedics who are assigned in Medical Intervention Units, Medical Nursing Units, and Decontamination Units, respectively. The main aim of this team is to give a medical response including first aid, airway, breathing, and circulation resuscitation, decontamination, and triage under any NBC attack. For this purpose, the communication and coordination between the team members were standardized. Moreover, the team was equipped with the required protective clothing, masks, antidotes, and other drugs and agents used for victims exposed to NBC weapons. Within this concept, the personnel in the team were trained with respect to first aid and treatment of NBC casualties in both theoretical and practical scenario. All of this background information was used in a practical operation held in Gulhane Military Medical Academy under a chemical attack scenario given.