WMD Training Urged for All Anesthesiologists

Although a recent poll has shown that more anesthesiology residency programs now have mandatory training in treating victims of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), all programs are being urged to offer WMD training.

Of the 135 anesthesiology residency programs in the United States, 90 responded. Of these, 37% had a formal WMD training program and 42% of those made the training mandatory. The training programs were concentrated east of the Mississippi River, and all programs began their training after the terrorist attack on New York on September 11, 2001. The findings of the poll were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Las Vegas (NV, USA) in October 2004.

"While there has been a marked increase in the training of anesthesiology personnel to deal with WMD, due to the apparent threat, it seems prudent to have this type of training available in all anesthesiology programs,” stated Keith A. Candiotti, M.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology and internal medicine, University of Miami (FL, USA), who conducted the poll.

In many models of mass casualty management, anesthesia personnel are responsible for treating patients immediately on arrival at the hospital. If the hospital does not have a patient-management system that ensures decontamination or protective gear for doctors to wear, they can be exposed to toxic substances.

"Even though such terrorist events are rare, when they do occur they can rapidly overwhelm the existing medical services,” noted Dr. Candiotti. Healthcare workers may fall victim to WMD if they are not adequately prepared. For better preparation, improvements in education and training are needed.” The ideal checklist for expanding WMD programs includes a patient-management program, a decontamination area with shower facilities, chemical protective gear with a breathing device, and a stockpile of antibiotics and medications to treat WMD exposure, according to Dr. Candiotti.





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