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Terrorism in France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Pierre Carli ,
Caroline Telion  and
David Baker
Pierre Carli*
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, SAMU de Paris, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France
Caroline Telion
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, SAMU de Paris, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France
David Baker
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, SAMU de Paris, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France
*
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, SAMU de Paris, Hôpital Necker, Paris, 75015 France
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Abstract

France has experienced two waves of major terrorist bombings since 1980. In the first wave (1985–1986), eight bombings occurred in Paris, killing 13 and injuring 281. In the second wave (1995–1996), six bombings occurred in Paris and Lyon, killing 10 and injuring 262. Based on lessons learned during these events, France has developed and improved a sophisticated national system for prehospital emergency response to conventional terrorist attacks based on its national emergency medical services (EMS) system, Service d' Aide Medicale Urgente (SAMU). According to the national plan for the emergency medical response to mass-casualty events (White Plan), the major phases of EMS response are: (1) alert; (2) search and rescue; (3) triage of victims and provision of critical care to first priority victims; (4) regulated dispatch of victims to hospitals; and (5) psychological assistance.

Following the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, a national plan for the emergency response to chemical and biological events (PIRATOX) was implemented. In 2002, the Ministries of Health and the Interior collaborated to produce a comprehensive national plan (BIOTOX) for the emergency response to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Key aspects of BIOTOX are the prehospital provision of specialized advance life support for toxic injuries and the protection of responders in contaminated environments. BIOTOX was successfully used during the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in France.

Keywords

biologicalchemicalEMS systemFrancehospitalsmedical carenuclearphysicianspreparednessradiologicalresponseSAMUterrorismtriage
Type
Special Reports
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 18 , Special Issue 2: Terrorism-I: Country Reports , June 2003 , pp. 92 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2003

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