The United States Twenty-Year Experience With Bombing Incidents: Implications for Terrorism Preparedness and Medical Response

Abstract

Illegal bombings and related injuries commonly occur in the United States. Because of the easy availability of bombing materials, government agencies and healthcare providers should prepare for potential mass-casualty bombings.

Blast Injuries

“…Seventy percent of disasters causing >20 dead at the scene are secondary to explosions and fires from a variety of causes, and a 20-year retrospective analysis of bombing events by Kapur et al identified 36,110 bombing incidents, 5931 bomb-related injuries, and 699 bomb-related deaths in the United States during the study period between 1983 and 2002 (1)(2)(3)(4).…”

Primary Blast Injuries—An Updated Concise Review

“…In fact, in the last decade of the twentieth century, nearly five illegal bombing attacks occurred each day in the United States [2] (Fig. 1).…”

Civilian Preparedness and Counter-terrorism: Conventional Weapons

“…Between 1983 and 2002, 36,110 illegal bombing incidents occurred in the United States [7]. During this same period, there have been only two biologic terrorism incidents in the United States, and, fortunately, there have been no chemical or nuclear events [7].…”

“…United States than overseas [7]. Nonetheless, most American health care providers continue to consider terrorism and bombings an international rather than a domestic problem, and few have experience caring for victims of a true mass-casualty event.…”