Citation

Haslam JD, Russell P, Hill S, Emmett SR, Blain PG. Br. J. Anaesth. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1016/j.bja.2021.10.008

PMID

34794766

Abstract

On March 4, 2018, two casualties collapsed on a park bench in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK. They were later discovered to have been the victims of an attempted murder using the Soviet-era Novichok class of nerve agent. The casualties, along with three further critically ill patients, were cared for in Salisbury District Hospital's Intensive Care Unit. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Salisbury and Amesbury incidents were the longest-running major incidents in the history of the UK National Health Service. This narrative review seeks to reflect on the lessons learned from these chemical incidents, with a particular focus on hospital and local organisational responses.

Language: en

Keywords

mass casualty incident; CBRN incident; major incident; nerve agent; Novichok; organophosphate poisoning