The Kuwait Oil Fire Health Risk Assessment Biological Surveillance Initiative

An important environmental concern during the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) was assessing exposures and potential health effects in U.S. forces exposed to the Kuwait oil fires. With only 3 weeks for planning, a Biological Surveillance Initiative (BSI) was developed and implemented for a U....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2011-07, Vol.176 (7 Suppl), p.52-55
Main Author: Deeter, David P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Environmental Exposure - adverse effects
Environmental Exposure - analysis
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Fires
Fuel Oils - adverse effects
Fuel Oils - analysis
Gulf War
Health Status Indicators
Humans
Iraq
Kuwait
Military Personnel
Population Surveillance - methods
Risk Assessment - methods
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
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Summary:An important environmental concern during the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) was assessing exposures and potential health effects in U.S. forces exposed to the Kuwait oil fires. With only 3 weeks for planning, a Biological Surveillance Initiative (BSI) was developed and implemented for a U.S. Army unit. The BSI included blood and urine collections, questionnaire administration, and other elements during the predeployment, deployment, and post-deployment phases. Many BSI objectives were accomplished. Difficulties encountered included planning failures, loss of data and information, and difficulty in interpreting laboratory results. In order for biological surveillance initiatives to provide useful information for future deployments where environmental exposures may be a concern, meaningful, detailed, and realistic planning and preparation must occur long before the deployment is initiated.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED-D-11-00076