MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91

File: 123096_sep96_decls2_0039.txt
Page: 0039
Total Pages: 57

Subject: MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91       

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box  ID: BX303801

Folder Title: VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6                                                                

Document Number:          2

Folder Seq  #:         10









                 chemical-agent penetration. Methods included sealing the base of the shelters with
                 earth, sealing the joints and fabric overlays and securing entrances. Other proce-
                 dures to increase protection, such as shutting down air conditioning, would interfere
                 with patient cm or access. Further research needs to be conducted to develop SOPs
                 for fleet hospital operations in the presence of a chemical threat.

                 Individual Protective Equipment

                      MTFs must provide individual protective equipment both to the staff of the
                 facility and to patients. Shortages of IPE initially esisted throughout the theater.
                 USNS Comfort began the deployment with 75 chemical protective suits, but the only
                 available boots were size small. FH-5 also deployed with inadequate and limited
                 mventones of IPE. Although IPE was obtained for medical staff and support per-
                 sonnel at the MTFS, not all patients had equivalent protection. Injured and
                 wounded patients may be unable to don the standard protective suits.
                 USNS Comfort reported that cheynical-agent casualty bags, intended to protect a
                 decontaminated patient from further exposure were ordered but never arrived.


                 Patient Decontamination


                      At the onset of Desert Shield, the hospital ships and fleet hospiws had no
                 doctrine for the mmipt and treatment of chemical casualties. Initially, B
                 proposed that chemically contaminated patients not be routinely evacuated to the
                 hospital slnps. Over the course of the deployment, the ships worked to overcome the
                 lack of        g for decontaminating patients, the paucity of space provided, and
                 difficulties obtaining supplies of bleach or liquid chlorine, which was required for
         decontamination operations, and was unobtainable through standard supply sources.

                      Although hospital ships eventually attained the capability to decontaminate     a
                 small number of chemical casualties, fundamental issues in the care of chemical
                 casualties remain unresolved. For ex=ple, if a hospital ship closes its single
                 helicopter pad for decontamination, the ship loses its evacuation capability. The
                 hospital ships lacked supplies, space, and the capacity to deal with even moderate
                 numbers of chemical casualties. Doctrine for use of the hospital ships should con-
                 sider their inherently limited ability to deal with mass chemical casualties.   I

                      FH-5 developed a patient decontamination system and operating procedures and
                 provided plans to FH-15 and FH-6. Patient decontamination and procedures need to
                 be incorporated into the fleet hospital system along with      g and supplies.





                                                          -30-

Document 57 f:/Week-37/BX303801/VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6/medical operations during operation desert storm:1217961126393
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-37
Box ID = BX303801
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6
Folder Seq # = 10
Subject = MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 17-DEC-1996