Book Review of Medical Response to Terrorism: Preparedness and Clinical Practice, Keyes DC, Burstein JL, Schwartz RB and Swienton RE, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005, ISBN 0781749867

Ting, Joseph Y. S.

University of Queensland eSpace

Emergency Medicine Australasia (2005) 17 (5-6): 524–525. 
 
Medical Response to Terrorism: Preparedness and 
Clinical Practice 
 
Keyes DC, Burstein JL, Schwartz RB and Swienton RE, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005, 449 
pages, hard cover, RRP $A163.90, ISBN 0781749867. Distributed by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 
Australia, Sydney, telephone: + 61 2 9212 5955 or website: http://www.l-ww.com.au 
 
‘Medical response to terrorism: Preparedness and clinical practice’ is well timed (in the 
wake of the attacks on London), with seemingly unbridled escalation in terrorist activity, 
heightened societal awareness, and fear of, attack. Such attacks pose serious health threats to 
whole communities, overwhelm health infrastructures and lead to fracturing of social, 
economic and political structures. 
 
This excellent reference resource is of particular relevance to prehospital and ED health 
workers, who provide front-line medical response to victims of terrorist acts and are 
vulnerable to secondary harm from environmental contamination. The ED is the first point of 
arrival for those harmed by terrorist acts and will have the least time of any hospital care area 
to prepare for such surges. 
 
Part one provides encyclopaedic coverage of terrorist acts in their various forms, including 
chemical, biological, biochemical, nuclear, radiation and explosive attacks. Part two covers 
preparation, planning and rehearsal necessary to improve the capability, capacity and 
readiness of emergency and medical systems to respond to inherently unpredictable terrorist 
attacks. 
  
Section seven deals with prevention of health-care worker exposure to secondary 
contamination and contagion using personal protective equipment and decontamination, a 
particular hazard for emergency workers. 
 
Book chapters have a logical flow and consistent structure with comprehensive references, 
starting with an absorbing account of the historical evolution of the agent, followed by 
chemical and kinetic characteristics, leading logically to clinical effects and manifestations, 
and culminating in patient management. Most chapters end with a descriptive summary slide 
and a list of web-based resources. I would have preferred diagnostic and treatment algorithms 
that provide useful, rapidly accessible and understandable clinical information rather than a 
set of multi-choice questions to complete each chapter. 
 
This book provides a superb foundation upon which to base more practical, easy to use, site-
specific disaster algorithms and protocols for each jurisdiction or health-care facility. 
 
Joseph Ting 
 
MB BS (Qld), B Med Sci (Hons), FACEM 
Department of Emergency Medicine 
Mater Public Adult Hospital 
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 


Medical Response to Terrorism: Preparedness and Clinical Practice (Book Review)

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Medical Response to Terrorism: Preparedness and Clinical Practice (Book Review)

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