CBRN and Hazmat Incidents at Major Public Events: Planning and Response

APPENDIX A

Glossary of Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms

ABCDD: Airway, breathing, circulation, drugs, and decontamination. Abbreviation used as a mnemonic for the field treatment of chemical casualties.

AC: Hydrogen cyanide

ALS: Advanced life support. Medical term for prehospital medical interventions that require a level of sophistication, training, or equipment more advanced that basic life support. For example, in many places, administering intravenous medicines is considered an ALS skill.

Antiterrorism: Broadly, actions taken to prevent the occurrence of acts of terrorism.

Autoinjector: Medical device designed to allow the layperson to administer an injection of a premeasured amount of pharmaceutical. Usually designed to perform an intramuscular injection. A common example is the “EpiPen®” commonly given to people with severe allergies. Autoinjectors with atropine and oximes are commonly fielded in militaries as nerve-agent antidotes.

Biological-warfare agent: A pathogen, parasite, or toxin, normally found in nature but developed and/or modified for use as a weapon to kill, incapacitate, or cause damage to agriculture.

Blister agent: A family of chemical-warfare agents, also known as vesicants, that cause injury or death by producing irritation and blisters on exposed tissues. Examples include mustard and lewisite.

Blood agent: Obsolete term, referring to cyanide gases, which can cause death in humans. The principal example is hydrogen cyanide.

BLS: Basic life support. A medical ...