In this paper, I present additional information for policy-makers and researchers to consider in response to the view proposed by Potts et al that "the pill is mightier than the sword." I identify states with both high rates of terrorism and a youth bulge and discuss correlates of both these societal characteristics. The research examined supports the view that factors other than access to fami...

The authors of " The West Bank Barrier Decreases Access to Schools and Health Services " are to be congratulated for an insightful and informative paper. Indirect effects of terrorism on individual health and well being have received little attention in the disaster literature. The authors show that counter-terrorism measures can affect the health of a community. While a government's responsibi...

in the communities come in all the shapes and sizes. Some impact a small number of people and put intense demands on the health system for a short period. Others may involve a large number of casualties but reach a plateau only after a latent period, placing heavy continuing demands on the health system. For some natural disasters like hurricanes, floods and volcanoes-hospitals are likely to re...

Terrorism is an act whose nature and outcome is violence and fear. Regardless of the different forms of the realization of this act in the past, it has taken new forms in the contemporary era due to the advancement of sciences and technologies. To face this phenomenon, then, it is necessary to foresee and apply appropriate and favorable measures. As a victim of internal and external terrorism, ...

In the light of the known definition of mental health the fundamentalist attitude and associated acts of terrorism, sometimes in the form of suicidal attacks are not normal behaviours. Although they are complex phenomena, described by psychologists and sociologists , it seems that the essence of the causes of fundamentalist attitudes and acts of terrorism should also be discussed by psychiatris...

BACKGROUND In recent years, the perceived threat of chemical terrorism has increased. It is hoped that teaching civilians how to behave during a chemical incident will decrease the number of "worried well" patients at hospitals, reduce secondary contamination, and increase compliance with the instructions of emergency services. The governments of the United Kingdom and Israel sent booklets to e...

OBJECTIVE This article highlights the mental health consequences of a domestic terrorist incident involving chemical or biological weapons. METHOD The author reviews the literature on the neuropsychiatric effects of selected chemical and biological weapon agents, on the psychological sequelae of mass disasters, and on approaches to crisis intervention. RESULTS Disturbances of behavior, affe...

Chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA's) are diverse in nature; volatile acute low-molecular-weight toxic compounds, chemical warfare agents (CWA's, gaseous choking and blood agents, volatile nerve gases and blister agents, nonvolatile vomit agents and lacrymators), biological toxins (nonvolatile low-molecular-weight toxins, proteinous toxins) and microbes (bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae...

INTRODUCTION Only 4% of the United States Homeland Security funding for public safety terrorism preparedness is allotted to emergency medical services (EMS), despite the primary threat from a mass-terrorism chemical weapons attack (MTCWA) being personal injury. This study examines the preparedness of the EMS to respond to, treat, and transport victims of such attacks. HYPOTHESIS It was hypoth...

The US government considers cyanide to be among the most likely agents of chemical terrorism. Cyanide differs from many other biological or chemical agents for which little or no defense is available because its individual and public health effects are largely remediable through appropriate preparedness and response. Because the toxicity of the cyanide antidote currently available in the United...