Chemical Stockpile Agent Characteristics and Effects It
began in 1985, when the United States Congress mandated that the Army
destroy its stockpile of aging chemical warfare weapons stored in
the continental United States. Then, in 1990, came an international
bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the then-USSR, under which
both countries promised to destroy their stockpiles of chemical weapons.
Finally, in January 1993, countries began signing the landmark Chemical
Weapons Convention, which provides for the management of chemical
weapon precursors, the inspection of weapons manufacturing facilities,
and other controls and prohibitions on the development, production,
stockpiling, use and destruction of chemical weapons. The Convention
calls for total elimination of chemical weapons throughout the world
by the year 2005. The message is clear: the world will no longer tolerate
the existence of chemical weapons.
Both storage and destruction of chemical weapons pose risks to the safety of the general public. A healthy respect (read "fear") is accorded these agents of mass destruction...chemicals designed to maim and kill. The mystique surrounding them is enhanced by the fact that their very existence was (and, in some countries, still remains) a well-shrouded secret. In the U.S. their profile was raised and sharpened when Congress mandated that their elimination would be accompanied by a program to provide maximum protection to members of the communities adjacent to the storage locations. This extraordinary level of protection, unmatched in other U.S. public health and safety statutes, gave rise to a program known as CSEPP, the "Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program". Key to protection of the public, whether in the U.S. or abroad, is dissemination and comprehension of information about the characteristics and effects of members of this special category of hazardous materials (HAZMAT)...chemicals so deadly that a few grams on the skin or in the lungs can kill. Education, however, is complicated by the fact that the vast majority of individuals needing to learn about the chemicals are not professionally trained in medicine or the sciences. Technical details must be simplified without making their presentation simplistic, and audiences must be informed but not frightened. The U.S. has addressed the challenge by preparing an educational video, Chemical Stockpile Agent Characteristics and Effects, never before needed by or available to civilian populations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is the Army's partner in CSEPP and is responsible for civilian emergency planning, preparedness and response initiatives, has coupled adult learning principles with exemplary video techniques to produce a program that teaches sophisticated information about military chemical weapons in a manner every adult, not only those officially involved with CSEPP, can understand. The goal of this unique video, designed primarily for use in FEMA's technical training courses for state and local CSEPP personnel, is to help ensure that those responsible for protecting U.S. civilians in the event of an incident involving a chemical warfare agent are prepared to offer the aid that will be needed. Parties interested in obtaining copies of the video and information about FEMA's other CSEPP training materials may contact FEMA's Training Division by mail (National Emergency Training Center; 16825 South Seton Avenue; Emmitsburg, MD 21727), by phone during the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. EST (301/447-1286) or by FAX (301/447-1497).
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