Marine Corps NBC Warfare: Determining Clinical Supply Requirements for Treatment of Battlefield Casualties from Chemical and Biological Warfare

摘要

The growing threat posed by the possible use of biological and chemical agents by terrorists or renegade nations increases the need for Marine Corps and Navy health care providers to be prepared to treat victims of biochemical agents on the battlefield. This study reviewed Marine Corps medical supply blocks for biological and chemical warfare casualties - Authorized Medical Allowance Lists (AMALs) 687 and 688. Treatment profiles were created for 42 biochemical patient types using the Joint Readiness Clinical Advisory Board treatment briefs as a guide. Those treatment profiles were then assigned medical supplies, establishing the clinical requirements for the proposed AMAL updates. In November 2002, a panel of 30 subject matter experts was convened to review and validate the recommended changes. As a result of this review, three new items were added to AMAL 687, the NBC Individual Kit, and one item deleted. Four items were removed from the existing NBC Unit AMAL 688, and 17 new items were added. Included among the items added to both AMALs were new antibiotics to combat the threat of bacterial-based biological agents, such as anthrax and plague.