Explosive Devices and Their Effects on the Government Essay

“I have never seen anything like this in my life,” said Istar Mohamed, a mother of three who was penetrated with shrapnel in her arm hip and leg.” “You can’t imagine the devastation that happened there. After a few moments I fell unconscious from the impact of it all.”

Homemade explosives are the arsenals of choice by the terrorists not just around the world but also in their own backyards as seen in the recent war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to the hard work of our Department of Defense, many of our soldiers are surviving these blasts due to improvements made to their uniforms and armor. Even though, we have been able to quickly identify and treat their visible injuries; we tend to overlook the more traumatic brain injuries and disorder these soldiers face when they return home to their families. However, the U.S. department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration have raised the awareness of promptly identifying the disabling symptoms of these injuries that may negatively affect the quality of life of our brothers and sisters that sacrifice their lives for our freedom. PTSD is a complicated disorder that affects veterans in general. The department of Veterans Affairs is devoted to provide the best care for our veterans that are diagnosed with this terrible disorder.

The response to a terrorist attack is very different from that of a typical natural disaster. Unlike a natural disaster that just happens, a terrorist attack is caused by a person or particular group; therefore, the scene is viewed as a crime scene and treated as such. Medical responders must answer to police authorities and follow their protocols in assisting victims

Secondary explosive devices are usually placed to cause casualties among emergency personnel and law enforcement responding to an incident. The delay in detonation following the primary explosion are designed to draw in and then target those who respond, to maximizes injury and damage. Even though the U.S. is a relatively low risk country we have seen an increase in bombing incidents, “36,110 bombing incidents occurred between January 1983 and December 2002, resulting in 5,931 injured and 699 deaths” (Thompson, Rehn, Lossius, & Lockey 2014). During the Madrid train bombings of 2004, repeated evacuation of the incident site and rapid evacuation of casualties was necessary due to the discovery of four undetonated explosives. These were cited as an attempt to target the emergency response teams at a later time.

In the aftermath of a terrorist attack, local law enforcement is often the first responders on the scene. First responders have the most dangerous job of all since they can not always be sure that the threat is over when they enter a scene. These law enforcement officers, as first responders, have the responsibility of coordinating emergency services within the area and restoring the site. They do this by establishing an emergency command center in which they coordinate their efforts with local emergency personal such as paramedics and firefighters. They are responsible for anything that happens at the scene, including damage, until they have secured the scene (Maras, 2013).

In responding to a suicide bomber, members are reminded to keep paramount the safety of the public safety responders and by-standers, that may be impacted by the threat. Members must realize that deadly force may have to be deployed immediately to prevent the bomber from detonating an explosive device. Members responding to the scene will notify communications of their location and request immediate dispatch of supervisor and a bomb technician. Seek appropriate cover and be aware of blast concussion from rebound and shrapnel effects. Responding officers shall keep a minimum safety distance of 680 feet in all direction. Do not get close to the bomber, if the suspected bomber is unable to reach its target, he may detonate to avoid arrest, and in the process, kill many law enforcement officers. Even if the bomber wants to surrender, is wounded or dead, maintain the safety distance, since he may be carrying a secondary command detonated devices. At no point will a member approach the suspect until a bomb technician has examined the suspect and rendered any located material safe. Just like responding to a bomb threat, Command will be established. Command post should determine the resources needed, including the assistance of other

Once physical wounds were discounted, emotional and mental disorders were responsible for one-third of injury and illness (Bourke). Corporal Henry Gregory who served with the one nineteen machine gun company says, “As soon as the first shell came over, shell shock went nearly mad...it took eight men to hold him down...it is heart breaking.” Most casualties were from larger caliber artillery. These shells caused concussion, which is where the term “shell shock” is derived (Bentley). Shell shock is psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare. Brutalities from the shells resulted in over eighty thousand psychologically wounded (Bourke). Unfortunately, all that was learned before World War I about psychological and emotional injuries had been forgotten. This became a massive crisis. Arthur Hubbard suffered this psychological trauma and records he was unable to sleep or eat. He continually had nightmares with a bayonet in his face. In the winter of 1914 British doctors were struggling (Jones). Doctors and nurses did not obtain adequate

During an emergency, large quantities of multifaceted information should be gathered, examined, interpreted and handled to control incident factors. Information is required for accurate determination of patient numbers and distribution, the range of illness and injuries, recommendation for treatment and evaluation, and post-impact conditions of the medical assets and public health.

This event goes to show how a simple truck hijacking could have produced a large amount of materials for several dirty bombs. Fortunately in this case law enforcement acted quickly detaining the individuals and recovering the radioactive waste. The explosive component is no impossible task to attain either, gun powder from Wal-Mart will do. There have been documented occurrences where the exploding component of a simple dirty bomb was comprised of traditional dynamite (King, 2004). That shows, that any terrorist organization with the least amount of motivation could easily gather the materials required to cause destruction. The ease of acquiring materials for a dirty bomb is dwarfed by the simplicity that it takes to construct the device.

Terrorist attacks have the aim of causing disruption and widespread fear. In recent years, such attacks have increasingly been designed to cause maximal casualties, and sometimes emergency responders may be targeted. Early in the emergency response to a terrorist attack, the exact intent, scale, and hazards of an incident may be unclear. Emergency medical service (EMS) responders have occupational fatality rates that are comparable to those

Throughout history different terrorist groups have used a variety of methods to attack innocent civilians and infrastructures. Groups such as Aum Shinirikyo, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other domestic terrorists have been known to attack innocent communities by using IEDs, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Attacks, such as the Sarin Attack in Tokyo in 1995, is a prime example in which a terrorist group, Aum Shinirikyo, used a chemical nerve agent to attack citizens in Japanese subway. These chemical attacks as well as other WMDs pose unique threats for first responders. It is important to consider these threats as well as the time, location, number of anticipated causalities, and the type of chemical agent used when responding to a chemical attack. It is the responsibility of officials on a local, state, and federal level to facilitate not only the initial response in a chemical attack but also the recovery and cleanup efforts weeks after.

The first thing to examine is what was the definition of shell shock. According to some online research, shell shock was defined as: "psychological disturbance caused by prolonged exposure to active warfare, especially being under bombardment."(1)(Googlecom, 2016)

Any patient that has experienced traumatic physical injury may be seen by a trauma specialist. Upon arrival to the emergency room, patients are quickly assessed to identify the extent of the injuries and which are the most threatening to function and life. Resuscitation and stabilization are key priorities prior to surgical operations if urgent surgery is not necessary to save the patient’s life. This is then followed by definitive surgical

The late 18th and the early 19th century saw the rise of the Industrial Revolution. The transcontinental railroad across the USA was being built; in Australia and California, gold-rushes were driving people crazy trying to get rich; in Seuz, a great canal was being dug through the earth; and in England, London’s famous Underground Railroad system was being built. For these engineering projects to be made possible—for all the blasting, tunneling, trenching, mining, and excavation to be made possible—we needed explosives.

Since man’s first experiences with fire we have longed to control it and we wished to will it to do our bidding. For very long we failed mostly, and we still do sometimes, but with the trials and experiments we have done and died doing, we succeed now, mostly. The first formula that is still written down of an “explosive or pyrotechnic composition” are the three examples of gunpowder in the 1044A.D. Chinese military guide Wujing Zongyao which showed a few uses of this powder they had experimented with for near a hundred years. The most used formula from it was approximately 50% KNO3, also known as Saltpeter in those times, and formally called Potassium nitrate today, ~25% S, Sulfur, and ~25% carbonaceous matter (mostly charcoal and