Extensive experiments in animals and humans, as well as clinical experience in disaster areas, have shown that expensive devices and complicated inhalation narcotics are not suited for anesthesia under disaster conditions. Today, the most important drugs are intravenous and, in emergencies, also intramuscular preparations which do not cause any significant central respiratory depression:

1. Ketamine, suited for routine anesthesia under disaster conditions; and

2. Gamma-Hydroxy-Butyric-Acid (Somsanit), suited for poor risk patients with hypoxic injuries and/or shock.