Medical care in civil disorder

Abstract

Civil disorder may be defined in widely differing terms, depending largely on the political and legal system prevailing in a given country. The way in which the authorities manage disorder has important implications for both internal stability and the country’s international image, and to a great extent the number of injuries will also depend on the effectiveness of this management. For the police, ambulance service and hospitals, civil disorder will often necessitate the invocation of their respective major incident plans. Since the response requirements may be very different from other disasters, such plans need to address civil disorder specifically. This paper reviews the various wounding agents that may be used by participants in civil disorder, and by security forces in their response. The issues of personal safety for emergency service staff are reviewed, and the organizational aspects of medical care emphasized.