Natural and other Biological Risks from a Medical Service Perspective

Abstract

In the days of the East-West confrontation, the possible use of nuclear and chemical weapons in a war could have caused losses that threatened life itself and the disastrous destruction of infrastructure among all the warring parties. This is why many people at that time questioned the benefit of medical NBC defense activities. The situation is quite the opposite today, where the chief risks emanating from NBC weapons are considered to lie in the exposure of a force contingent “out of area”. Hence, the benefit of medical NBC defense activities is now in an utterly different light, for national resources would be available for saving the lives of casualties.