General Guidelines for Mustard Gas Responses

• Dave Donohue, MA, MS, EMT-P
• 2008 Nov 1

Editor's note: This article is an online-exclusive supplement to "Not Just a Sunburn" by Dave Donohue, MA, MS, EMT-P, contained in Response Guide For Chemical & Radiologic Threats: Are We Prepared? , a supplement to November 2008 JEMS, FireRescue Magazine and Law Officer Magazine.

Mustard agents have been used as weapons since World War I. These materials are chemically bases and simpler than most nerve agents to manufacture. Patients who complain of mustard exposure symptoms likely won’t know when or where they were exposed because symptoms will appear hours after the initial contact has occurred. Some general guidelines for responding to mustard gas releases are:

• Stay safe.
• Identify that an incident has occurred and determine a safe area to work from.
  • Consult the Emergency Response Guidebook.      
• Establish command.
• Determine additional resource needs and request them, including:
  • Decontamination
  • Medical command
  • Crowd control
  • Media liaison
  • Investigation/law enforcement
  • Hazardous materials team      
• Identify and sequester potential victims.
• Begin decontamination of victims.
• Contact medical command for medical treatment orders if needed.
• Determine hospital capabilities and availability.
• Document the scene, treatment and patient information.
• Complete exposure reports as necessary.     

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