Terrorists Use of Ambulances for Terror Attacks: A Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory N. Jasani ◽  
Reem Alfalasi ◽  
Garrett A. Cavaliere ◽  
Gregory R. Ciottone ◽  
Benjamin J. Lawner
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Event Time ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
Improvised Explosive ◽  
Explosive Devices ◽  
Global Terrorism Database ◽  
Health Experts

Abstract Introduction: Using an ambulance as an attack modality offers many advantages to a terrorist organization. Ambulances can carry more explosives than most vehicles and can often bypass security. Yet, studies examining how terrorist organizations have incorporated ambulances into their attacks are lacking. Study Objective: This article seeks to identify and analyze known instances in which an ambulance has been used in a terrorist attack. Methods: The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) was searched for terrorist events that involved the use of an ambulance from the years 1970-2018. Variables of event time, location, and loss of life were analyzed. Results: Twenty instances where an ambulance had been used in a terrorist attack were identified from the GTD. Fifteen of the attacks occurred in the Middle East, while the remaining five occurred in Southeast Asia. All attacks except one had occurred after 2001, and 13 had occurred within the past decade. Most attacks (12/20) resulted in up to three people killed, while six attacks had 10-20 casualties. The deadliest attack occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2018 and caused over 100 casualties. One event did not have casualty information in the GTD. In all cases, ambulances were used as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) by terrorist organizations. Conclusion: This study shows that terrorists are increasingly acquiring and utilizing ambulances in their attacks, often with deadly consequences. Security and public health experts must be aware of this hazard and work to deny terrorists access to these vehicles.

scholarly journals Challenges Faced by the Intensive Care Unit during a Terrorist Attack: The Riyadh Experience

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Abdullah Al-Shimemeri
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
News Media ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
Health Institutions ◽  
Improvised Explosive ◽  
Explosive Devices ◽  
The City

Background. Globally, we are facing a “terror epidemic” with incidences of terrorist attacks on innocent civilians increasing worldwide. The volume and nature of injuries resulting from such attacks challenge even the most sophisticated and well-prepared trauma systems and health institutions. Over seventy percent of terror attacks involve bomb explosions with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) resulting in a unique pattern of injuries to the victims. Here, we present data on the terrorist attacks on the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March 1991 to the present and discuss in retrospect the event outcomes and features which may be useful for the preparedness of the intensive care unit (ICU) in the wake of future attacks. Methods. Data from nine hospitals in Riyadh that catered to patients during terrorist strikes were collected retrospectively. Details of the incidents were collected from news media archives. Results. The majority of terror strikes (~80%) involved a bomb blast with the use of explosives. The victims included 148 casualties, 45 hospitalizations, 103 discharges after first aid, and 3 incidences of admission to the critical care unit. Conclusion. Using the Riyadh experience, we analyze data and the series of events in the ICU following terrorist explosions. The analysis provides important insights for the trauma unit so that it is better prepared and organized for such incidents in the future.

Knowledge Extraction on the Nexus Between Terrorism Criteria and Attacks on Private Citizens and Property

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30
Author(s):  
Donald Douglas Atsa'am ◽  
Ruth Wario
Keyword(s):  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Terror Attack ◽  
Social Goal ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
Private Citizens ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Global Terrorism Database

This study extracted knowledge on the association between terrorism inclusion criteria and one of the terrorism target/victim types known as “private citizens and property.” Three criteria determine what constitutes a terror attack: Criterion 1: the action is done with intention to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal; Criterion 2: the action is done with the intention to coerce, intimidate or publicize to larger audience(s); Criterion 3: the action is outside international humanitarian law. Literally, all terror incidents satify Criterion 3. As for Criteria 1 and 2, the odds ratio was deployed on the global terrorism database, consisting of 170,350 records of terrorist attack incidents, to evaluate the nexus between each of these criteria and terror attacks on private citizens and property. The results showed that any terror attack on private citizens and property is 2.2 times more likely to have been perpetrated by a terror group in order to achieve Criterion 2 than to achieve Criterion 1. The implications of the outcome in counterterrorism are discussed.

scholarly journals Quantitative Research on Global Terrorist Attacks and Terrorist Attack Classification

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueli Hu ◽  
Fujun Lai ◽  
Gufan Chen ◽  
Rongcheng Zou ◽  
Qingxiang Feng
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Network Models ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
Terrorist Organization ◽  
Global Terrorism ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Terrorism Database

Terrorist attacks are events which hinder the development of a region. Before the terrorist attacks, we need to conduct a graded evaluation of the terrorist attacks. After getting the level of terrorist attacks, we can fight terrorist organizations more effectively. This paper builds rating models for terrorist attacks, hidden or emerging terrorist organization classification discovery models, terrorist organization alliance network models and more, through quantitative research of the Global Terrorism Database, which solved the event classification. Through studying relevant literature and the variables of the Global Terrorism Database, this paper sorted out 25 observation variables related to the impact level (level of harm) of terrorist attacks. By establishing a mathematical model of factor analysis, 11 factors related to the impact level (level of harm) of terrorist attacks were constructed, and the variance of the contribution of each factor was used as the weight to calculate the comprehensive rate of the impact level of each terrorist attack. Finally, K-means clustering method is used to cluster and analyze the comprehensive rate of impact level, and the top 10 terrorist attacks with the highest impact level in the past two decades were obtained.

Peacekeepers suffered combat-related injuries in Mali: a retrospective, descriptive study

2018 ◽  
Vol 166 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-166
Author(s):  
Zhao Yongqiang ◽  
H Dousheng ◽  
L Yanning ◽  
M Xin ◽  
W Kunping
Keyword(s):  
Damage Control ◽  
Damage Control Surgery ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Medical Treatment Facility ◽  
Chinese Military ◽  
Overseas Operations ◽  
Minor Injuries ◽  
Improvised Explosive ◽  
Explosive Devices

PurposeTo describe the combat-related injuries cured by Chinese Level 2 medical treatment facility (CHN L2) in Mali from 1 March 2016 to 1 March 2018, including type of weapon, mortality, nature of injuries, degree and location of injuries and surgical procedures.Methods A retrospective, descriptive study of 176 injured cases that met the terrorist attacks was conducted. The medical data were collected by an electronic database system. All collected data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet for calculation.ResultsWe found that improvised explosive devices (114/176, 65%) were the most commonly used weapons of attack in Mali. 68.75% of the injuries (121/176) were classified as 'minor injuries according to Abbreviated Injury Scale score. As one patient may suffer multiple injuries, each location and nature of injuries was counted separately. Surface injuries were the top (116/197, 58.88%), followed by orthopaedic injuries (52/197, 26.39%) and internal injuries (29/197, 14.72%). The extremities were the most frequently injured body parts (144/197, 73.09%). We operated 175 surgeries to deal with the 176 combat-related injuries, which accounted for 40.05% of all 437 surgeries. The surgical debridement to remove fragments of explosive was the most frequently performed surgery. We also admitted 20 cases (18/176, 34%) into intensive care unit and transferred 40 cases to Level 3 medical facility.Conclusion Peacekeepers taking protective measures for head and trunk frequently got surface injuries. And their unprotected extremities often got injured. The fragment removal was the top surgery and the damage control surgery was the highly technical nature surgery we performed. Chinese military should offer advanced surgical training course to military surgeons who carry out overseas operations.

Four years of orthopaedic activities in Chinese Role 2 Hospital of eastern Mali peacekeeping area

2018 ◽  
Vol 166 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei Zhang ◽  
Z Li ◽  
X Cao ◽  
B Li
Keyword(s):  
Damage Control ◽  
Damage Control Surgery ◽  
Treatment Facility ◽  
Improvised Explosive Devices ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Medical Treatment Facility ◽  
Chinese Military ◽  
Surgical Teams ◽  
Improvised Explosive ◽  
Explosive Devices

IntroductionThe Chinese Role 2 Hospital (CHN-Role 2H) Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) was founded in July 2013 as part of the Chinese commitment to Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). It provides medical care for approximately 5200 personnel of the whole Sector East of MINUSMA including UN military personnel, UN police and UN civilian staff. The aim of this study was to determine the orthopaedic surgical activity over a 4-year period to facilitate the training of future Chinese military surgical teams.Materials and methodsSurgical records of all patients operated on at the CHN-Role 2H between 28 March 2014 to 28 March 2018 were identified, and all orthopaedic activity were analysed.ResultsDuring this period, 1190 patients underwent 2024 surgical procedures. Orthopaedic procedures represented 961/2024 (47.5%) of all the procedures. Battle injury (BI) represented 43% of patients. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were responsible for 15.8 % casualties. Fractures (49%) and soft tissue injures (43%) were the most common injuries, with 61% of the fractures being open. Damage control surgery including debridement (23.52%) and external fixation (17.90%) were the most frequently performed interventions.ConclusionOrthopaedic surgery is the most frequently performed surgery in the CHN-Role 2H in Mali. The complexity and severity of injuries demonstrate the urgent need for tailored training and extended skill sets for deploying military orthopaedic surgeons.

scholarly journals Frequency of Improvised Explosive Devices and Suicide Attempts in the U.S. Army

2017 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. e1697-e1703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Ursano ◽  
Ronald C. Kessler ◽  
James A. Naifeh ◽  
Holly Herberman Mash ◽  
Carol S. Fullerton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
Improvised Explosive Devices ◽  
Improvised Explosive ◽  
Explosive Devices ◽  
The U.S
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