Yannis Galatas

Security experts worldwide keep on reminding us that a chemical or radiological terrorist attack is not a matter of "when" but rather a matter of "where". At the same time we all know that all casualties contaminated or not end up at hospitals. So why are hospitals and the health sector is not adequately prepared to counter mass contaminated casualties? Is it a matter of "it will not happen to us" attitude? Is it due to budget restrictions? Is it lack of knowledge and related education? Is it the hard training and time required to achieve an acceptable proficiency? These are some of the questions this publication is addressing based on the hands-on experience of the author who served as Commandant of the Olympic Hospital CBRN Response Unit deployed at the Army General Hospital of Athens, during the 2004 Olympic Games. Unfortunately the unexpected always happens and it is highly advised to remember that is was not raining when Noah build the Ark!

Being one of the sources of independent CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) expertise, the International CBRNE Institute Belgium (ICI) aims at promoting and developing best practices, standards and innovations in the CBRNE field.The ICI aims to enhance CBRNE risk mitigation at regional, national and international levels. It engages in a wide range of CBRNE-related activities including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research, organizing conferences, seminars and workshops as well as professional development programs for responders. In these activities, the ICI collaborates with other partners such as institutional, academic and corporate bodies and aims to be at the forefront of CBRNE-related activities, from policy to practical application.The Knowledge Centre (KC) is a body within the ICI that aims to provide leadership, best practices, research, support and/or training in the CBRNE area. The pallet of competencies includes techn...

A comparison of the date of birth of 1501 adult patients with severe seasonal respiratory allergy (allergic rhinitis or bronchial asthma) due to parietaria, olive, and grass pollens with the expected births within 2,020,420 births in South Greece during the same period, was performed. The relative risk for developing respiratory allergy was characteristically increased in those born in a specific period of time different for each pollen. The relative risk for parietaria was increased (1.47) in those born in March; for olive it was 1.6 for May; 1.2 for April; and 1.4 for March, while the relative risk for grasses was 1.2 in those born in June and July. These findings are indicative of the importance of the month of birth; that is, the early exposure to pollens, for the development of respiratory allergy to certain pollens during adulthood. Because our findings do not directly correlate completely with the aerobiology studies on pollen calculation in Athens' atmosphere, we supposed that other environmental factors, e.g., the local intensity of the first pollination or the influence of weather conditions, may contribute to the final development of respiratory allergy as well. The most impressive finding was the significant influence of the month of birth in the development of respiratory allergy due to parietaria and olive pollens during adulthood.