Terrorist Chemical Releases: Assessment of Medical Risk and Implications for Emergency Preparedness

In the last few years, public health has played an increasingly important role in disaster management, particularly in biological terrorist event planning. However, little time or financial expenditure has been spent on preparation for terrorist-related chemical events. In addition, chemical hazardous material and industrial accidents are common occurrences in the United States and have significant public health and emergency preparedness consequences. This manuscript reviews previous terrorist-related and industrial chemical events, an assessment of the risk that these events have on the public health, and ways that hospitals and local, state, and regional public health agencies may plan for such an event.