Volume 13, Issue 12: Nerve agent poisoning – an incident that makes everyone nervous!

Nerve agent poisoning – an incident that makes everyone nervous!

It’s a grey and drizzly Tuesday morning, you are making your way back to the station for a much needed break when you receive a call for a ‘collapsed male in their 20s’ in an industrial estate. As you enter the unit you notice an unusual smell and three people lying on the floor…

CPD benefit

Nerve agents have been used in terrorist related incidents, such as the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, and the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 people in 1995. This article describes the different nerve agents and their action, including the signs and symptoms you might expect to find. There is also guidance on key aspects of the multi-agency response needed in order to save life and protect emergency service personnel. This is focussed on management of the scene and patients, from the initial operational response to ongoing management post decontamination.