Biochemical Attack: Necessary Citizen Response

Following the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, the use of chemical and biological warfare has been seriously limited. However, as recently as 2003 in the United States, individuals were affected by an insidious anthrax attack. While not conventionally deployed through a war effort, the anthrax scare terrified the country and forced a revamping of the postal system.

Accordingly, citizens must be wary of such domestic forms of chemical attacks through food products and mail. Food must be prepared in sanitary conditions and meat must be cooked thoroughly to destroy and render harmless any bacteria planted or sprayed by criminal hand. Mail must be opened with care and contents should be handled calmly so one can easily discern any foreign powders or objects within the parcel.

In terms of response to a biological attack, citizens should most importantly strive to remain within their house or office space, so as to, in essence, quarantine themselves. One of the most damaging aspects of a chemical attack is the toxin's ability to diffuse and permeate in myriad ways, ranging from the water supply to wind streams. After ascertaining a region "under attack" or hearing from news services that one's own or a nearby region is in jeopardy, citizens should immediately procure bottled water and canned or packaged food. In the event the toxins spread to one's community, most municipal districts would severely limit access to major publicly trafficked areas like grocery stores, banks and hospitals. Accordingly, the faster one ventures to obtain the aforementioned safety items, the greater the likelihood such areas will be accessible.

In addition to these precautions, citizens living in individual houses should take advanced measures to protect toxins from entering their abode. As a warning though, the following measures should only be undertaken in the actuality that a significant chemical assault has already occurred in the very near vicinity of your house or office space; these steps include adjusting and blocking several intake mechanisms on the outside of the housing structure.

First, any air conditioning outlets must be cut or shut off. This prevents poisoned or tainted air from being directly channeled into the air supply of one's building. Second, all windows must be securely fashioned, and if possible, towels or hand towels should be snugly pressed against the base of the windows so as to ensure that any drifting wisps of an entering toxin are muted against the applied absorbent. Third, water faucets should be marked, warning all nearby not to use tap water, but instead the previously purchased bottled water. This is to ensure that the proliferated toxins do not enter your fortified domicile through the water supply.

After securing their own houses, citizens should definitely focus on notifying their neighbors, public works officials and local media organizations about the occurred attack, its implications and how to prevent those implications from affecting the general populace.

Sources Consulted

Sources

  • "Eu Prepares Response to Biological or Chemical Terrorist Attack." European Public Health Alliance. 3 Mar. 2005. 19 Feb. 2006 <http://www.epha.org/a/1692>.
  • Karnad, Bharat. Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security. 1999.