ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses malicious intent and chemical warfare agents (CWA), the reality is that there are approximately 125,000 industrial chemicals produced in the United States that are toxic. It examines highly technical, discussing major chemical toxins, their physiologic and health consequences, and how to manage the toxins with antidotes and decontamination. With lung-damaging CWAs, this damage begins in the lower airway and then progresses into the upper airway only as the dose increases to large quantities of agent. The intent is to create a framework whereby the emergency medical community can understand, and then employ, the basics of a large-scale chemical event. Once the initial response determines that a chemical event has occurred, a coordinated secondary response will take place, keeping in mind the pitfalls mentioned. The chemical effects of several other substances produce it in the bloodstream. These include amines, nitros, nitrites, and nitrates.
