SEVERAL people have collapsed at an airport terminal, showing signs of nerve agent poisoning. Responders in hazmat suits arrive and must urgently determine what chemical people have been exposed to and prevent further casualties.
Thankfully, this wasn鈥檛 a real attack, but a test of a suite of new tools for responding to chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear events (CBRN) near Athens in Greece last week. Following the Novichok attack in Salisbury, UK, this year, experts gathered at the Hellenic Air Force Academy in Tatoi to test the latest advances in diagnostic and tracking technology.
The field trial is part of the European Commission鈥檚 TOXI-Triage project, and it was the first time so many unproven technologies have been tested in a simulated CBRN event. Tools ranged from miniature chemical analysers to social media trackers.
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The scenario was a simulation of a sarin attack, the nerve agent that killed 12 people in a terrorist attack in Tokyo, Japan, in 1995. The 鈥渃asualties鈥� 鈥� played by 50 Greek air force cadets 鈥� held cards describing their symptoms, including loss of sight, inability to walk and convulsions, while a specialist Greek military unit used the tools to try to contain the hypothetical attack.
One such device was an ion-mobility spectrometer. This ionises chemicals and assesses how quickly they move in an electric field, enabling the identification of the substances. Ion-mobility spectrometers were first described in the 19th century, but only now are detectors small and sensitive enough to be held in a hand or embedded into detectors that work like smoke alarms. In the simulation, responders used handheld versions to detect a harmless chemical that shares some physical similarities with nerve agents on the skin and clothes of casualties.
鈥淎nything that would improve the ability to have detection happen at the site would change the way we prepare and add to our resilience significantly,鈥� says Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for 午夜福利1000集合 Security in Maryland, who isn鈥檛 involved in the project.
The responders also tested an electronic tagging system for tracking each casualty鈥檚 status, location and treatment. This would be very useful, says Ralf Trapp, a chemical and biological weapons consultant in France, who also isn鈥檛 involved in the project. 鈥淚t would free medical-response personnel in the field from admin tasks, so they can focus on dealing with victims.鈥�
Instant analysis
As the simulation continued, the team analysed the breath of the two most severely affected casualties using a tabletop machine. In 40 seconds, the device can detect the metabolites our bodies produce if we ingest certain substances, including sarin or, in this case, capsules of peppermint oil. It then automatically updates the electronic tag on the tested person鈥檚 wrist.
Chemical detectors were used to ensure decontamination showers were effective, while an overhead drone used ion-mobility spectrometry to map how far the chemical had spread. A social media tracking tool pulled together relevant posts from tweeting participants.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got eyes and ears on the ground at extraordinary detail that has never been available to incident commanders before,鈥� says Paul Thomas, lead scientist on TOXI-Triage, and at Loughborough University, UK.
All the technologies developed by the project have been designed to have other uses too, otherwise they would seldom be used. The breath-analysis kit could be used in hospitals to detect intoxication from alcohol, date rape drugs or pesticides, for example.
鈥淧reparation for chemical attacks has been neglected recently, but the threat may be increasing鈥�
The tools worked well on the day, but there were problems. One of the main lessons from the trial is that the tools need to be easier to use when wearing protective equipment. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sweltering hot. You have sweat running down your face. Your gas mask is fogging up 鈥� you need better ways of enabling them to use that kind of kit,鈥� says Thomas.
The TOXI-Triage team is now analysing the data collected during the exercise to calculate how best to deal with real casualties in such a scenario.
Preparation for biological and chemical attacks got a lot of attention after 9/11, but has been neglected recently, says Adalja. 鈥淚 think the threat is still there and maybe even getting larger.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭echnology versus nerve agents鈥�
