On December 1, 2017, the Fuji factory of Arakawa Chemical Industries exploded. Dust that formed as a byproduct from the crushing and packing process of the resin for ink exploded at the facility. The Fuji City Fire Department requested the dispatch of 2 physician-staffed helicopters (known as a doctor helicopter [DH] in Japan). The first party of emergency services established a headquarters and first-aid station. However, this area was feared to be at risk of a second explosion. Physicians performed re-triage for all 11 burned patients. Three severely injured patients were transported to emergency medical service centers either by ground ambulance or the DH without undergoing any decontamination. The physician who escorted the patient by ground ambulance complained of a headache. One of the severely injured patients was treated at a local hospital and then transported to an emergency medical service center after undergoing decontamination and intubation. Fortunately, all patients who were transported to medical facilities obtained a survival outcome. Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive incidents are rare but can be fatal for responders to these types of disaster. Therefore, all who work in these settings should be prepared and trained adequately to ensure that they have the knowledge and skill to both manage patients and protect themselves from harm. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:799–805)

Invasive plants need to be managed after wildfire to suppress the invasive plant and to maintain or restore a desired plant community. Our study tested treatments that influence species availability and performance following a disturbance (wildfire). The overall objective was to determine the ability of herbicide and revegetation treatments to restore spotted knapweed–infested areas to desired plant communities after wildfire. The study consisted of a factorial combination of three herbicide application treatments (broadcast application, spot application, and no herbicide) and three seed mixture treatments (grass-only seed mix, a grass and forb seed mix, no seeding). Picloram was used for the herbicide. Both the broadcast and spot picloram application methods decreased spotted knapweed cover and density up to 80% while increasing desired grass cover and density up to 20% compared with the control. However, broadcast spraying picloram decreased species richness from 5.7 to 3.6 species 0.1 m−2 and decreased desired forb density and cover compared with spot-applied picloram treatment. Spot spraying resulted in an increase in other undesired forbs compared with broadcast spraying. Seeding with desired species had no effect on spotted knapweed cover or density. Spot spraying may help maintain desired species richness while managing spotted knapweed.

Background: Government reports have persistently indicated the intent of terrorists and hostile nations to acquire and “weaponize” nuclear materials for deliberate attack on a major US metropolitan city.

Methods: A modeling analysis of the effects of 20- and 550-kiloton nuclear detonations on the 2 major metropolitan centers of Los Angeles and Houston is presented with a focus on thermal casualties. Brode’s work as modified by Binninger was used to calculate thermal fluence, using thermal fractions. The EM-1 and WE programs were used to calculate blast effects. Fallout radiation was calculated using the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability V404SP4 with “urban effects” turned on. The ESRI ArcView program calculated affected populations from 2000 US Census block-level data for areas affected by thermal effects.

Results: The population affected by a 550-kiloton nuclear weapon detonated in Los Angeles and Houston is staggering: surviving thermal casualties are estimated at 185,000 and 59,000, respectively. Even the 20-kiloton detonations in Los Angeles and Houston are significant: the numbers of surviving thermal casualties requiring care exceed 28,000 and 10,000, respectively.

Conclusions: The surviving health care community postdetonation would be faced with an unprecedented burden of care for thermal casualties. A great expansion of personnel involved in emergency burn care response is critical. Bold, new approaches such as regionalization and predetermined medical air transport need to be considered. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2007;1:80–89)

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of a chicken-meat extract known as Essence of Chicken (EOC) on immune function in a normal and scalded animal model. In this experimental study, 120 rats were randomly allocated into three groups: a SHAM group (inflicted with a sham wound), a BURN group (inflicted with a full-thickness scald wound covering 30 % of total body surface area) and a CONTROL group. Rats in the SHAM and BURN groups were further divided into normal saline (NS)-fed and EOC-fed groups. They were fed by force-feeding with a feeding needle and blood samples were taken from each group on days 1, 8, 15 and 22 postburn. Serum IgG, IgA and IgM concentrations were determined by ELISA and the results of the EOC-fed and NS-fed cohorts of both the SHAM and BURN groups were compared. The level of significance was set at P<0·05. Serum IgG level of both SHAM-EOC and BURN-EOC cohorts showed significant elevation on day 8. IgA exhibited a significant increase in the SHAM-EOC group on day 15 and in the BURN-EOC group on day 22. A significant increase of IgM level was found on days 1 and 22 for the SHAM-EOC group and on day 15 for the BURN-EOC group. Conclusively, EOC was shown to have an enhancing effect on serum Ig levels for both normal and tissue-stressed rats. It is suggested that EOC may help improve immune function when the immune system is at normal status or when it faces a challenge.