Medical professionals from 20 countries recently attended an international course on the medical management of chemical casualties at the Air Force Medical University in Xi’an, China.
Participants were trained in the advanced hospital care of the victims of toxic chemicals or chemical weapons attacks, including medical countermeasures, triage, and mass casualty incidents, and learned how to use protective equipment. Additionally, participants conducted an exercise on emergency medical response to a chemical incident and attended an overview of chemical warfare agents and other toxic chemicals.
The training provides “an opportunity for medical experts to gain knowledge and improve their skills in providing timely and effective medical care to chemical casualties, ” Shahriar Khateri, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) International Cooperation and Assistance Division senior program officer, said.
The OPCW and the Chinese government jointly organized the training course.
The OPCW is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The convention was created in 1997, and its disarmament treaty has worked to eliminate an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. More than 97 percent of chemical-weapon stockpiles possessed by OPCW’s 193 member nations have been destroyed.