Military Hygiene and Hygiene in Emergencies - K.O. Pashka 2005

Occupational Hygiene of Military Personnel During the Mitigation of Emergency Consequences and in Wartime
Organization and Execution of Sanitary Supervision over Working Conditions During the Mitigation of Emergency Consequences and in Wartime

Sanitary supervision over military working conditions (the work of emergency responders and the civilian population) is carried out by military medical and sanitary-epidemiological services (local management bodies and Ministry of Health institutions) to prevent or mitigate the NEGATIVE IMPACT OF harmful factors that may cause occupational diseases, injuries, and trauma to the health of formation personnel (affected populations), as well as to maintain the combat readiness of service members and the working capacity of responders and civilians.

During ongoing sanitary supervision, specialists from these services selectively monitor compliance with and enforcement of hygienic standards and environmental parameters for personnel (and the population) within weapons and military equipment sites, disaster-relief operation areas, or industrial enterprises.

They are required to regularly inspect the provision of personnel (shift workers at industrial enterprises) with special clothing and footwear, Skin, eye, and Hearing protection gear, and accordingly monitor their correct usage.

Specialists of the sanitary-epidemiological service of the Ministry of Defense (and Ministry of Health sanitary-epidemiological institutions) detect harmful chemical impurities in the air of military hardware objects (at industrial enterprises), monitor the efficiency and correct functioning of ventilation systems, determine the permissible duration of work in protective gear depending on climatic conditions and the season, as well as workload intensity and lighting adequacy. They also oversee the permissible levels of physical factors—such as electromagnetic fields, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, noise, and vibration—upon which the combat readiness of personnel and the operational capacity of emergency responders and the population depend.

Chiefs of the military medical service organize and conduct medical examinations of personnel during wartime (typically during inter-battle periods), supplemented when necessary with laboratory test data, to monitor their health status, identify patients, and provide appropriate Treatment (therapeutic and preventive measures). The Procedure for medical examinations and Laboratory tests depends on combat or emergency circumstances and is approved by an order of the military unit (formation) commander, drafted by the HEAD of the medical service.

Given that operating modern weapons and equipment and performing duties during training exercises, emergency response operations, or combat—which is frequently extremely complex, dynamic, variable, and life-threatening for service members (responders and civilians)—requires excessive physical and psychological strain, it is entirely logical that after a certain period, individuals will experience a sharp decline in physical combat readiness (performance capacity), heightened psycho-emotional stress, health deterioration, and, in some cases, the onset of illness.

As studies have shown, physical performance capacity significantly drops during mission execution among emergency rescue squad personnel, mobile military equipment crew members, pilots flying modern fighters, bombers, and long-range transport aircraft, sailors on long surface ship and submarine deployments, and deep-sea divers, among others.

Maintaining high physical performance capacity among personnel in normal and challenging environments, as well as alleviating physical fatigue after mission completion, is an essential duty of the medical service. Physical performance correction is carried out in three ways:

- developing willpower traits;

- utilizing specific and non-specific training;

- administering pharmacological agents with various Mechanisms of action.

The first two approaches are applied directly by commanders (supervisors) in cooperation with physicians, whereas the third falls entirely within the purview of medical personnel.

For instance, when detecting signs of neurotic conditions resulting from prolonged physical and psycho-emotional overexertion, The Use of tranquilizers is advisable: during the day—medazepam or rudotel, as well as chlozepid (elenium), sibazone (seduxen), phenazepam, nozepam, etc. Conversely, in cases of a sharp loss of combat readiness (performance), weakness, and apathy caused by simultaneous overwork, physical, and psychomotor strain, stimulants are indicated: meridil, sydnocarb, caffeine-sodium benzoate, tea, or coffee. There are also A number of pharmacological agents that the head of the medical service should recommend to the military unit (formation) commander for making decisions on group administration (Appendix No. 5.1). They are prescribed in doses according to their instructions for use.

The duties of the military medical and sanitary-epidemiological services of the Ministry of Defense (Ministry of Health sanitary-epidemiological institutions) also include developing proposals to ensure high operational effectiveness of service members across all arms and Branches of the military (as well as the efficiency of responders and workers) by improving working conditions (eliminating or reducing the negative impact of harmful and hazardous factors) and rationalizing the work schedule of formation personnel (workers). These proposals should be submitted after analyzing morbidity and injury rates among various categories and groups of service members (responders and workers) in the form of reports, memos, and official notes.

The working conditions of emergency responders primarily depend on The Nature of the emergency itself and the factors generated by its occurrence. According to the Emergency Classifier in Ukraine (1998), emergencies are classified by nature into technogenic, natural, and socio-political, and by scale into facility-level, local, regional, and national. Depending on the scale and complexity of the emergency, various formations are deployed with appropriate personal protective equipment and logistical support, which also impacts working conditions.

Technogenic disasters at radiation-, chemically, and biologically hazardous facilities will result in The formation of health-hazardous zones due to the contamination of terrain, air, and surrounding objects (items) with radioactive or chemical substances, or contamination by biological (bacteriological) agents. This compels rescuers to wear personal protective equipment, which significantly reduces the duration and efficiency of their work. Their work duration and health status will also be affected by radiation from radioactive substances present on the soil surface, in the air, and in Water. Mitigating accidents at fire- and explosion-hazardous facilities, including mines, will often be manageable only by rescuers protected against hazards such as high temperatures, flames, contaminated atmospheres, and dust.

As a result of natural disasters—depending on the cause, whether geological (earthquakes, landslides, ground subsidence, etc.), hydrological (floods, mudflows, flash floods, wind surges, etc.), or meteorological (storms, hurricanes, squalls, dust storms)—the working conditions of emergency responders may be affected by the following factors:

- performing a large volume of work in a short time to rescue victims trapped under building rubble or buried under earth or snow; - using personal protection equipment during fires and gas leaks caused by ruptured electrical and gas networks, or flooding from damaged water supply and sewage systems, etc.

Even climatic conditions frequently complicate the work of responders in emergency areas significantly.

Often, the intensity and neuro-psychological stress of peacetime military service approach the levels seen in emergency rescue personnel, and military units and subunits frequently perform rescue Functions and participate in disaster relief. However, military working conditions possess distinct characteristics.

Therefore, sanitary supervision over military working conditions will be effective only if specialists from the military medical and sanitary-epidemiological services thoroughly study such a specialized branch of military hygiene as Military occupational hygiene.