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International assistance for victims of use of nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical weapons: time for a reality check?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2009

Robin Coupland  and
Dominique Loye
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Abstract

The risks of the use of nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical (NRBC) weapons are heterogeneous. Each risk has its own implications for developing and deploying any capacity to assist victims of an NRBC event and, in parallel, for the health and security of the people bringing this assistance. At an international level, there are no plans for assisting the victims of an NRBC event which are both adequate and safe. Recognizing the realities of the contexts associated with each risk throws up numerous challenges; such recognition is also a prerequisite for addressing these challenges. The realities that have to be considered relate to:

  1. 1. developing, acquiring, training for and planning an NRBC response capacity;

  2. 2. deploying a response capacity in an NRBC event;

  3. 3. the mandates and policies of international organizations pertaining to NRBC events.

The challenges that will pose the greatest difficulty for a humanitarian organization are those for which the solutions are ‘non-buyable’ and which involve making extremely difficult decisions. Attempting to assist victims of an NRBC event without a reality-based approach might generate ineffective and unacceptably dangerous situations for those involved.

Type
War victims
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 91 , Issue 874: War victims , June 2009 , pp. 329 - 340
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2009

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References

1 Loye, D., Coupland, R., ‘Who will assist the victims of use of nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical weapons – and how?’, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 89, No. 866, June 2007, pp. 329–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 ‘An NRBC event’ means any use of a nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical weapon. It means also a situation in which there is a high probability of use of such weapons. It includes accidental release of NRBC agents in the event of an attack on a NRBC facility with conventional weapons as well as allegations of use. ‘Assistance to victims of an NRBC event’ means specialized (e.g. antidotes, agent specific antibiotics) and general (e.g. food, water) assistance to people who have been affected by NRBC weapons or agents; it also includes provision of general and specific means for the protection of people from potential exposure to the effects of NRBC weapons or agents.

3 The potential impact is estimated in numbers of direct death and injuries.

4 We reach this conclusion because claims of use of chemical and biological weapons are made in many conventional conflicts. Few such claims are ever verified.

5 See the Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2006; Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention) entered into force on 29 April 1997, Article X, Assistance and Protection against Chemical Weapons; Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (Biological Weapons Convention), entered into force on 26 March 1975, Article VII.

6 See World Health Organisation (WHO), Effects of Nuclear War on Health and Health Services, WHO, Geneva, 1988; World Health Organisation, Public Health Response to Biological and Chemical Weapons: WHO Guidance, WHO, Geneva, 2004.

7 United Nations Security Co-ordinator, Information Package for Staff on NBC Warfare Agents, March 2003.

8 See World Health Organisation, Global Alert and Response, available at http://www.who.int/csr/en/ (last visited 9 January 2009).

9 See WHO, Pandemic Preparedness of the World Health Organisation, available at: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic/en/ (last visited January 2009).

10 All hospital staff, first aid volunteers, ambulance drivers and stretcher-bearers would have to be trained in NRBC issues and personal protection in advance.

11 This space is frequently referred to as the ‘contaminated’ or ‘hot’ zone.

12 These agencies would, at present, rely on other States and on organizations providing generalized humanitarian assistance.

13 See UN Security Council Resolution 620, 26 August 1988.