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In 2011 Syria was felt to have had one of the largest and most operational CW arsenals in the world. They had mustard, sarin, VX nerve agents, and binary chemicals that could be combined to create various chemical weapons.
The first recorded use of Sarin nerve agent in Syria occurred in a suburb of Damascus in 2013. From 2013 to 2016 Sulfur Mustard, a vesicating chemical warfare agent was used throughout Syria.
Sulfur Mustard was used extensively from 1983 to 1988, by Iraq, during the Iran – Iraq war. It was felt to have generated 45,000 casualties during that conflict. It was the first intentional use of that agent since WW1. It was also used by ISIL from 2014 to 2017 in Iraq.
Though Sulfur Mustard causes few fatalities, 2 – 5% of all exposed during WW1 and 2 – 14% of Iranians, it remains a significant concern both on the battlefield and as a terrorist weapon.
During this webinar Jon Johnson a recently retired Special Forces medic (18D) will discuss his experience identifying these casualties while deployed to Syria in 2016. Though his presentation was planned to be delivered at the 2022 Special Operations Medical Association conference in May, it was cut short because of scheduling conflicts with a Ukrainian speaker.
Sean McKay of Element Rescue, a frequent contributor on the topic of asymmetric threats, chaotic environments, and volatile situations, as well as Mike Shertz, emergency medicine / EMS physician and former 18D will provide commentary.
Click the video below for a replay of the webinar.
This webinar includes an excerpt from the Vesicant Agent block of Crisis Medicine’s online Tactical-CBRN course.
