Summary: The augmented risk of incidents involving CBRNE agents as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and possible terrorist activities requires the proper preparation of Polish medical personnel to provide specialist medical care. The research conducted by the authors in 2021-2022 uncovered inadequate readiness of the Emergency Medical Services and the Health Care System in Poland for CBRNE threats. The urgent need to address this grave problem inspired a specialist educational program for medical personnel, the CBRNEmedicine (Real Action) Training Project. The agenda of each two-day workshop (dedicated to biological, chemical, and radiation/nuclear agents) focused on three key areas: pre-hospital care, medical decontamination, and in-hospital treatment. The CBRNE medicine (Real Action) Training Project offered comprehensive training in emergency and disaster management, CBRNE triage and initial treatment, rapid detection and identification of CBRNE agents, the use of personal protective equipment, and providing advanced (CBRNE) life support. A vital element of these workshops involves acquiring the capacity to rapidly detect and identify CBRNE agents in direct proximity to the patient, “CBRNE Point of Care Testing initiative”. Currently, rapid detection and identification are unavailable within EMS, medical hubs, and the healthcare system. Between 2022-2023, twenty-three specialist training workshops were run for the benefit of selected EMS and hospital personnel. Medical teams participating in the simulations successfully conducted the fast bedside detection and identification of CBRNE agents procedure for triage and initial treatment, thus confirming their capacity to perform this task. The availability of easy-to-use mobile measuring devices enabled and greatly facilitated these procedures directly at the patient’s bedside. Overall, the CBRNEmedicine (Real Action) Training Project shaped a new perception of CBRNE threats by the medical staff, set a new direction in the education of civilian medical staff and military professionals, and proved invaluable in the preparation of specialized CBRNE medical procedures.
Łyziński et al. (Sun,) studied this question.