Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T08:37:25.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rise of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: An Imminent Public Health Threat Mandating Counter-Terrorism Medicine Preparedness for Potential Mass-Casualty Attacks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2021

Derrick Tin Open the ORCID record for Derrick Tin [Opens in a new window] ,
Zachary Kallenborn ,
Alexander Hart ,
Attila J. Hertelendy Open the ORCID record for Attila J. Hertelendy [Opens in a new window]  and
Gregory R. Ciottone
Derrick Tin*
Affiliation:
Senior Fellow, BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship; Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MassachusettsUSA
Zachary Kallenborn
Affiliation:
Research Affiliate, Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division, START, University of Maryland; Policy Fellow, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Fairfax, VirginiaUSA
Alexander Hart
Affiliation:
Director of Research, BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship; Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Instructor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsUSA
Attila J. Hertelendy
Affiliation:
Faculty, BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship; Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MassachusettsUSA
Gregory R. Ciottone
Affiliation:
Director, BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship; Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MassachusettsUSA
*
Correspondence: Derrick Tin, MBBS, Senior Fellow, BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MassachusettsUSA. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The mass proliferation and increasing affordability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in recent years has given rise to weaponized UAV use by terrorists, leading to mounting and credible concerns this attack methodology will be the next terrorism modus operandi. Counter-Terrorism Medicine (CTM) specialists need to consider how UAVs alter or create new mass-casualty scenarios that can further exploit existing medical preparedness vulnerabilities. With an opportunity to be proactive in disaster prevention, mitigation, and preparedness, it is imperative this gathering storm be acknowledged and stakeholders explore how best to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the consequences of UAV incidents.

Keywords

counter-terrorism medicinedisaster medicinedronemass-casualty incidentprehospital medicine
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 5 , October 2021 , pp. 636 - 638
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Hunt, D. World War I History: The Kettering Bug—World’s First Drone. Owlcation. https://owlcation.com/humanities/World-War-1-History-The-Kettering-Bug-Worlds-First-Flying-Bomb. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Urcosta, R. The revolution in drone warfare: the lessons from the Idlib de-escalation zone. JEMEAA. 2020. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JEMEAA/Display/Article/2329510/the-revolution-in-drone-warfare-the-lessons-from-the-idlib-de-escalation-zone/. Accessed April 14, 2021.Google Scholar
Sayler, K. A world of proliferated drones: a technology primer. CNAS. 2015. https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/a-world-of-proliferated-drones-a-technology-primer. Accessed April 19, 2021.Google Scholar
Joshi, D. Future of drones: applications & uses of drone technology in 2020. Business Insider. 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/drone-technology-uses-applications?r=AU&IR=T. Accessed March 21, 2021,Google Scholar
Court, M, Edwards, B, Issa, F, Voskanyan, A, Ciottone, G. Counter-terrorism medicine: creating a medical initiative mandated by escalating asymmetric attacks. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2020;35(6):595–598.10.1017/S1049023X2000103XCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Center for Arms Control, Energy, and Environmental Studies at MIPT. Media Reports of Terrorist Attempts to Employ UAVs. 2005. https://www.armscontrol.ru/UAV/clips.htm. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Hubbard, B, Karasz, P, Reed, S. Two Major Saudi Oil Installations Hit by Drone Strike, and US Blames Iran. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/14/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-refineries-drone-attack.html. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Tin, D, Hart, A, Ciottone, GR. Rethinking disaster vulnerabilities. Am J Emerg Med. 2020;S0735-6757(20):30973–30976.Google Scholar
Braun, T, Fleiss, A. Miniature menace: the threat of weaponized drone use by violent non-state actors. Air University. 2020. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Wild-Blue-Yonder/Article-Display/Article/2344151/miniature-menace-the-threat-of-weaponized-drone-use-by-violent-non-state-actors/. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Bunker, R. Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College; 2015.Google Scholar
Arianti, V, Taufiqurrohman, M. Weaponized drones: the next terrorist modus operandi in Southeast Asia? The DIplomat. 2021. https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/weaponized-drones-the-next-terrorist-modus-operandi-in-southeast-asia/. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Drones are a looming domestic terrorism threat. 911Security. 2017. https://www.911security.com/blog/drones-are-a-looming-domestic-terrorism-threat/. Accessed March 21, 2021.Google Scholar
Emil, A, Yannick, VL. Drone imagery in Islamic State propaganda: flying like a state. International Affairs. 2020;96(4):955–973.Google Scholar
Gregg P. Risk in the Sky? https://udayton.edu/udri/news/18-09-13-risk-in-the-sky.php. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
US Attorney’s Office – Central District of California. Hollywood Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charge that He Recklessly Operated Drone that Collided with and Damaged LAPD Helicopter. https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/hollywood-man-pleads-guilty-federal-charge-he-recklessly-operated-drone-collided-and. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. The chemical and biological attack threat of commercial unmanned aircraft systems. Assoc United States Army. 2020. https://www.ausa.org/sites/default/files/publications/SL-20-5-The-Chemical-and-Biological-Attack-Threat-of-Commercial-Unmanned-Aircraft-Systems.pdf. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
Koblentz, GD. Emerging technologies and the future of CBRN terrorism. Washington Quarterly. 2020;43(2):177–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kallenborn, Z, Bleek, PC. Swarming destruction: drone swarms and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Nonproliferation Rev. 2018;25(5-6):523–543.10.1080/10736700.2018.1546902CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kallenborn, Z. A new age of terror: new mass casualty terrorism threats. US Army Mad Scientist Laboratory. 2019. https://madsciblog.tradoc.army.mil/179-a-new-age-of-terror-new-mass-casualty-terrorism-threats/. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
Michel, AH. Counter-Drone Systems. Second Edition. New York USA: Bard College Center for the Study of the Drone; 2019.Google Scholar
Cuffari, JV. DHS Has Limited Capabilities to Counter Illicit Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Washington, DC USA: Office of Inspector General, DHHS; 2020.Google Scholar
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Advisory on the Application of Federal Laws to the Acquisition and Use of Technology to Detect and Mitigate Unmanned Aircraft Systems. https://www.cisa.gov/publication/advisory-application-federal-laws-acquisition-and-use-technology-detect-and-mitigate. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
Kallenborn, Z. Build a national counter-drone network. Defense One. 2020. https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/07/build-national-counter-drone-network/166675/. Accessed March 23, 2021.Google Scholar
United Nations. Resolution 1540: International Instruments Related to the Prevention and Suppression of International Terrorism. New York USA: United Nations; 2008.Google Scholar
Kallenborn, Z. Are Drone Swarms Weapons of Mass Destruction? Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University – US Air Force Center Strategy Deterrence Studies; 2020.Google Scholar
Heszlein-Lossius, H, Al-Borno, Y, Shaqqoura, S, et al. Traumatic amputations caused by drone attacks in the local population in Gaza: a retrospective cross-sectional study. Lancet Planet Health. 2019;3(1):e40–e47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed