Terrorist Bomb Attacks Research Articles

The Pattern of Thoracic Trauma After Suicide Terrorist Bombing Attacks

The worldwide escalation in the volume of suicide terrorist bombing attacks warrants special attention to the specific pattern of injury associated with such attacks. The goal of this study was to characterize thoracic injuries inflicted by terrorist-related explosions and compare pattern of injury to penetrating and blunt thoracic trauma. Prospectively collected database of patients with chest injury who were admitted to Hadassah Hospital Level I trauma centre, in Jerusalem, Israel, from October 2000 to December 2005. Patients were divided into three groups according to the mechanism of injury: terrorist explosions (n = 55), gunshot wounds (GSW; n = 78), and blunt trauma (n = 747). There were many female victims after suicide bombing attacks (49.1%) compared with GSW (21.8%) and blunt trauma (24.6%; p = 0.009). The number of body regions injured was significantly higher in the terror group compared with the GSW and blunt groups (median, 4, 2, and 3, respectively, p < 0.0001). The pattern of chest injury after suicide bombing attacks was caused by a unique combination of the effects of the blast wave and penetrating shrapnel. More than half (52.7%) of the terror victims suffered from lung contusion and 25 (45.5%) required tube thoracostomy. Five patients (9.1%) underwent thoracotomy for lung lacerations (n = 3), injury to great vessels (n = 2), cardiac lacerations (n = 1), and esophageal injury (n = 1). Penetrating shrapnel was the mechanism of injury in all these cases. Injury inflicted by terrorist bombings causes a unique pattern of thoracic wounds. Victims are exposed to a combination of lung injury caused by the blast wave and penetrating injury caused by metallic objects.

An integrated human decision making model for evacuation scenarios under a BDI framework

An integrated Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) modeling framework is proposed for human decision making and planning for evacuation scenarios, whose submodules are based on a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN), Decision-Field-Theory (DFT), and a Probabilistic Depth-First Search (PDFS) technique. A key novelty of the proposed model is its ability to represent both the human decision-making and decision-planning functions in a unified framework. To mimic realistic human behaviors, attributes of the BDI framework are reverse-engineered from human-in-the-loop experiments conducted in the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). The proposed modeling framework is demonstrated for a human's evacuation behaviors in response to a terrorist bomb attack. The simulated environment and agents (models of humans) conforming to the proposed BDI framework are implemented in AnyLogic® agent-based simulation software, where each agent calls external Netica BBN software to perform its perceptual processing function and Soar software to perform its real-time planning and decision-execution functions. The constructed simulation has been used to test the impact of several factors (e.g., demographics, number of police officers, information sharing via speakers) on evacuation performance (e.g., average evacuation time, percentage of casualties).

Influence of venting areas on the air blast pressure inside tubular structures like railway carriages

In case of a terrorist bomb attack the influence and efficiency of venting areas in tubular structures like train carriages is of interest. The pressure–time function of an air blast wave resulting from a solid charge is first compared to that of a gas or dust explosion and the capability of a venting structure to fly away is assessed. Several calculations using fluid-structure interaction are performed, which show that after a certain distance from the explosion, the air blast wave inside a tubular structure becomes one-dimensional, and that the influence of venting areas parallel to the wave propagation direction is small. The pressure peak and the impulse at certain points in a tubular structure are compared for several opening sizes. The overall influence of realistic size venting devices remains moderate and their usefulness in mitigating internal explosion effects in trains is discussed.

Monitoring Beam-Column Joint in Concrete Structures Using Piezo-Impedance Sensors

Despite that piezoelectric ceramic lead zirconate titanate (PZT) has been used for structural health monitoring (SHM) in various engineering systems, limited work has been conducted on real size concrete structures. Beam-column connections are critical regions in reinforced concrete (RC) moment-resisting frame structures. The vulnerability of RC beam-column joints has been identified from structural damage investigations over the past decades, especially in the area of earthquake engineering. In the context of a terrorist bomb attack, the beam-column joints are very vulnerable, especially when the perimeter columns lose their load carrying capacity due to damage and the beam-column joints become one of the crucial load transfer mechanism of the structural frame. To avoid catastrophic failures, it is important to monitor beam-column joints under existing gravitational loads. In this paper, an experiment is carried out on four real size concrete frame structures with different detailing subjected to gradually increased loads. A number of PZT sensors are bonded to the frame structure to acquire PZT electro-mechanical (EM) admittance signature. The structural mechanical impedance (SMI) is extracted from the PZT EM admittance signature and its sensitivity is compared with that of the EM admittance. The relations between the damage index and the loading step and tip deflection of the concrete structure are obtained. Finally the sensitivity of the PZT sensors in detection of the critical loading level is discussed. The results show that the PZT sensors are capable of monitoring the integrity and behavior of the real size concrete structures.

Explosive loading of multi storey RC buildings: Dynamic response and progressive collapse

The resilience of a city confronted with a terrorist bomb attack is the background of the paper. The resilience strongly depends on vital infrastructure and the physical protection of people. The protection buildings provide in case of an external explosion is one of the important elements in safety assessment. Besides the aspect of protection, buildings facilitate and enable many functions, e.g., offices, data storage, -handling and -transfer, energy supply, banks, shopping malls etc. When a building is damaged, the loss of functions is directly related to the location, amount of damage and the damage level. At TNO Defence, Security and Safety methods are developed to quantify the resilience of city infrastructure systems (Weerheijm et al. 2007b). In this framework, the dynamic response, damage levels and residual bearing capacity of multi-storey RC buildings is studied. The current paper addresses the aspects of dynamic response and progressive collapse, as well as the proposed method to relate the structural damage to a volume-damage parameter, which can be linked to the loss of functionality. After a general introduction to the research programme and progressive collapse, the study of the dynamic response and damage due to blast loading for a single RC element is described. Shock tube experiments on plates are used as a reference to study the possibilities of engineering methods and an explicit finite element code to quantify the response and residual bearing capacity. Next the dynamic response and progressive collapse of a multi storey RC building is studied numerically, using a number of models. Conclusions are drawn on the ability to predict initial blast damage and progressive collapse. Finally the link between the structural damage of a building and its loss of functionality is described, which is essential input for the envisaged method to quantify the resilience of city infrastructure.

Ignoring the lessons of the past

Even though London had been the target of terrorist bomb attacks since the end of the nineteenth century virtually all of the political and media responses to 7/7 chose to ignore that previous expe...

Crowd simulation for emergency response using BDI agents based on immersive virtual reality

This paper presents a novel methodology involving a Virtual Reality (VR)-based Belief, Desire, and Intention (BDI) software agent to construct crowd simulation and demonstrates the use of the same for crowd evacuation management under terrorist bomb attacks in public areas. The proposed BDI agent framework allows modeling of human behavior with a high degree of fidelity. The realistic attributes that govern the BDI characteristics of the agent are reverse-engineered by conducting human-in-the-loop experiments in the VR-based Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). To enhance generality and interoperability of the proposed crowd simulation modeling scheme, input data models have been developed to define environment attributes (e.g., maps, demographics, evacuation management parameters). The validity of the proposed data models are tested with two different evacuation scenarios. Finally, experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effect of various crowd evacuation management parameters on the key performance indicators in the evacuation scenario such as crowd evacuation rate and densities. The results reveal that constructed simulation can be used as an effective emergency management tool.

The Effect of Single-Session Modified EMDR on Acute Stress Syndromes

A single session of a modified, abridged EMDR protocol was provided in a general hospital inpatient and outpatient setting to 86 patients with acute stress (AS) syndrome suffering from intrusion distress following accidents and terrorist bombing attacks. Fifty percent reported immediate fading of intrusive symptoms and general alleviation of distress, 27% described partial alleviation of their symptoms and distress, while 23% reported no improvement. Partial and nonresponders were provided with or referred for more comprehensive treatment. At 4-week and 6-month follow-up, the immediate responders in the terror victims group remained symptom free. The immediate responders tended to have uncomplicated AS symptoms with fewer risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while the nonresponders had higher exposure to former traumas and endorsed more risk factors for PTSD. These results support other anecdotal reports on the rapid effects of brief EMDR intervention on intrusive symptoms in early uncomplicated posttraumatic cases. Although more controlled studies are essential, this immediate method for symptomatic relief may be a potential addition for focused interventions in acute trauma victims.

Abdominal Trauma After Terrorist Bombing Attacks Exhibits a Unique Pattern of Injury

The recent growth in the volume of civilian blast trauma caused by terrorist bombings warrants special attention to the specific pattern of injury associated with such attacks. To characterize the abdominal injuries inflicted by terrorist-related explosions and to compare the pattern of injury with civilian, penetrating and blunt, abdominal trauma. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from 181 patients with abdominal trauma requiring laparotomy, who were admitted to the Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel, from October 2000 to December 2005. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to mechanism of injury: terror-related blast injury (n = 21), gunshot wounds (GSW) (n = 73) and blunt trauma (n = 87). Median injury severity score in the blast group was significantly higher compared with GSW and blunt groups (34, 18, and 29, respectively, P < 0.0001). Injury to multiple body regions (> or = 3) occurred in 85.7% of blast group, 28.8% of GSW group, and 59.7% of blunt group (P < 0.001). The pattern of intra-abdominal injury was different between the groups. Bowel injury was found in 71.4% of blast victims, 64.4% of GSW, and 25.3% of blunt group (P < 0.001). Parenchymal injury was found in one third of patients in blast and GSW groups versus 60.9% of patients in blunt group (P = 0.001). Penetrating shrapnel was the cause of bowel injury in all but 1 patient in the blast group (94.4%). Terrorist attacks generate more severe injuries to more body regions than other types of trauma. Abdominal injury inflicted by terrorist bombings causes a unique pattern of wounds, mainly injury to hollow organs. Shrapnel is the leading cause of abdominal injury following terrorist bombings.

Acute Hypoxia, Diabetes, and Neuroimmune Dysregulation: Converging Mechanisms in the Brain

Acute hypoxia is experienced by a variety of individuals (neonates to the elderly) and in an assortment of conditions and diseases (terrorist bomb attack to decompensated heart failure). Increasingly, elaboration of inflammatory cytokines appears key to the brain-based response to hypoxia, as evidenced by the biobehaviors of malaise, fatigue, lethargy, and loss of interest in the physical and social environment. These sickness symptoms implicate hypoxia-dependent activation of the neuroimmune system as a key component of acute hypoxia. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with increased incidence, severity, and delayed recovery from hypoxic events. Why T2D negatively affects acute hypoxia is not well understood. Recent work, however, reveals that anti-inflammatory pathways tied to the interleukin (IL)-1β arm of the neuroimmune system may be critical. In this review, the authors examine the link between acute hypoxia, T2D, and neuroimmunity. NEUROSCIENTIST 14(3):235–239, 2008. DOI: 10.1177/1073858407309544

Blast injuries from Madrid terrorist bombing attacks on March 11, 2004

Blast injuries after terrorist attacks are seen with increasing frequency worldwide. Thousands of victims were attended in the hospitals of Madrid, Spain, on March 11, 2004 after the bombing attacks against the commuter trains. Thirty-six patients were attended in our institution. Seventeen of them suffered from severe or life-threatening injuries, and 19 had mild injuries. The most common lesions were thoracic trauma and blast lung injury, acoustic trauma, and orbital and paranasal sinus fractures. Other findings were hepatic and splenic lacerations, and vertebral and limb fractures. Emergency radiology had an important role in the correct management of the victims. Prompt radiological diagnoses of these complex lesions are crucial to efficient treatment. Therefore, radiologists have to become familiar with the injury patterns and specific lesions caused by blast wave.

Successful Treatment of Burn and Visceral Injury Combined with Full-Thickness Loss of the Abdominal Wall After Blast Injury

A 29-year-old man was admitted to our institution 10 days after he had undergone an urgent exploratory laparotomy at a local army hospital after a terrorist bombing attack. On admission, deep second-degree and third-degree burns involving 25% of the upper and lower extremities were present, together with a 25 x 10-cm abdominal full-thickness blast injury defect on the left side, an infected eviscerated midline incision, and a colostomy on the right side of the abdomen. The patient underwent a second laparotomy, at which time the intraabdominal abscess was drained, and the abdominal cavity was irrigated with saline. A jejunal perforation was found and sutured. The abdominal cavity was left open and covered with a Bogota bag for temporary closure. On postburn day 18, the patient underwent débridment and grafting of the third-degree burns to the left and right arm and right lower extremities. After several débridment sessions (postburn days 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24), an abdominal skin release and reapproximation were performed (postburn day 26). On postburn day 36, split-thickness skin grafts were placed directly on the granulated tissue of the intestines and on a defect in the left flank and iliac regions. Postoperatively, the patient did well. He was discharged on postburn day 78 with all wounds well healed. In our opinion, temporary closure followed by direct application of meshed split-thickness skin grafts to exposed abdominal viscera represents a simple method of reconstruction that can be safely performed, with minimal risk, on critically ill patients.

Blast lung injury: clinical manifestations, treatment, and outcome

Background Blast lung injury (BLI) is a major cause of morbidity after terrorist bomb attacks (TBAs) and is seen with increasing frequency worldwide. Yet, many surgeons and intensivists have little experience treating BLI. Jerusalem sustained 31 TBAs since 1983, resulting in a local expertise in treating BLI. Methods A retrospective study of clinical and radiologic characteristics, management, and outcome of victims of TBAs sustaining BLI who were admitted to ICU during December 1983 to February 2004. Long-term outcome was determined by a telephone interview. Results Twenty-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Hypoxia and pulmonary infiltrates in chest x-ray were sine qua non for the diagnosis. Seventy-six percent required mechanical ventilation, all within 2 hours of admission. One patient died. Seventy-six percent had no long-term sequelae. Conclusions Most patients with significant BLI injury require mechanical ventilation. Late deterioration is rare. Death because of BLI in patients who survived the explosion is unusual. Timely diagnosis and correct treatment result in excellent outcome.

Terrorist attacks: learning from the past and planning for the future

Terrorist bomb attacks on the UK mainland are not a new phenomenon. However, since the IRA ceasefire, such incidents have been relatively few. Unlike IRA bombings, which generally targeted commercial property or military personnel and were often preceded by warning phone calls, the attacks in London and Madrid deliberately targeted civilians with no warning. The detonation of devices at multiple sites and in densely packed, enclosed areas was intended to maximize the number of fatalities and inflict severe injuries on survivors. Indiscriminate outrages such as those perpetrated in London on 7 July are unlikely to be ‘one offs’ and may be repeated in the near future.

Bombs, hurricanes and more chaos in Iraq

This section summarizes downstream developments of the previous month. Exploration &amp; Production are covered in 'Upstream Review'. The oil market's roller‐coaster continued into July with rising prices for US gasoline ahead of the 4th July holiday and a jump in prices for WTI on fears of hurricane damage to US Gulf production. August Nymex gasoline settled at a record $1.8056/gall on the 7th July as figures were released showing US demand at record weekly levels. On the same date, a series of fatal terrorist bomb attacks in London propelled IPE Brent to its highest‐ever level of $60.70/bbl whilst, in Asia, Dubai traded at an all‐time high of $55.80/bbl. The market's strength rapidly proved to be evanescent. Within hours of the London bombings, Brent had given up $5.00/bbl. Crude oil and gasoline prices eased in subsequent days and middle distillate lost some of its recent strength relative to gasoline as US stock figures showed a steady improvement in inventory levels. Volatility returned towards the end of the month on worries about gasoline shortages in both the US and Europe and more price records fell on 1st August on news of the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. WTI gained $1.00 on the day, settling at a record $61.57/bbl on Nymex, having been even higher during the day's trading, at $62.30/bbl. On the IPE in London, Brent rose to its highest‐ever intra‐day level of $60.98/bbl, before settling slightly lower. Some product prices also went into previously uncharted territory: notably jet fuel in North West Europe, which went above $600/t.

Retrofitting Existing Masonry Buildings to Resist Explosions

In recent years, many buildings around the world have had their windows protected or strengthened to resist the effects of explosions in an attempt to reduce the level of casualties associated with terrorist bomb attacks. While the windows form the most vulnerable parts of a building, occasionally it becomes necessary to strengthen the walls as well—particularly in older and weaker historical structures or where the blast loads are high. This paper highlights a number of different techniques available to the structural engineer and security specialist that can be employed to make existing masonry walls stronger and more capable of safely resisting the effects of explosions.

Historic Bronze Window And Frame BlastRetrofit: Concept Development, Analysis, DesignAnd Proof Test

As part of an ongoing renovation of an historic building in the US, a number of windows will be upgraded to improve their blast resistance and to reduce the number of casualties in the event of a terrorist bomb attack. The building owner’s desire was to retain both the architectural integrity of the exterior facade and the operability of the windows. Applied Research Associates (ARA) undertook this project in which the capabilities of the current frame and anchorage system were analyzed, identified shortcomings were addressed through retrofits to the frame and anchorage, and the whole system was optimized in terms of glass thickness, frame retrofit and improved anchorage. A proof test of the retrofitted system was performed on September of 2002. Essentially no debris hazard was created on the protected side of the window. The load (7.7 Psi, 68.4 psi-ms) was approximately 5x the original capacity of the window and frame (based on applied impulse). 1 Existing window configuration The current window system is composed of a frame with two operable sashes and two fixed transom windows, as shown in Figure 1. The sashes consist of bronze tubular members that are brazed/welded at the joints. The alloy and strength of the bronze is unknown. Each sash connects to the frame with three hinges. The hinge material is probably bronze and its mechanical properties are unknown. The existing glass is annealed, 0.2 12” thick and held in place with one removable and one fixed stop. The frame is composed of bronze extrusions with open cross-sections. A different cross-section is used for the side frame member in the transom region. The same cross-section is used for the top frame member. The connections at the joints are formed by either pegged tusk tenons or brazing/welding. The sides of the window frame are attached to the wall at four locations. A bent steel plate (or clip) is connected with screws to the frame and with a bolt to masonry anchors in the double wythe brick wall behind the marble. Also, the three lower clips are directly connected to the hinges that join the sash and frame. One leg of the bronze extrusion that forms the bottom edge of the frame is inserted and is caulked into a slot that extends the full length of the marble sill. Structures Under Shock and Impact VIII, N. Jones & C. A. Brebbia (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-706-X At the top of the frame, a single clip at midspan connects the top frame member to a grouted anchor in the terra cotta tile beam that spans the window opening. Figure 1. Supreme Court Window Figure 1. Historic building Window Figure 1: Existing historic window configuration 2 Performance goals for the historic windows The goal was to provide as large a level of blast protection as possible, without resorting to a completely new window system. The constraints dictated that: 1) the sashes must remain operable; 2) the existing hardware should be utilized as much as possible; and 3) any changes/additions should be visually inconspicuous.

Maxillofacial injuries caused by terrorist bomb attack in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract.Although military conflicts are common on the African continent, there is a paucity of data regarding bomb-blast injuries in this region and in Kenya in particular. This paper describes the pattern of maxillofacial injuries sustained after the August 1998 bomb blast that occurred in Nairobi, Kenya. A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out using hospital-based records of 290 bomb-blast survivors admitted at the Kenyatta National Referral and Teaching Hospital in Nairobi. Using a self-designed form to record information about variables such as the sex and age of the survivors and type of location of soft- and hard-tissue injuries, it was found that of the 290 bomb-blast survivors, 78% had sustained one or more maxillofacial injuries. Soft-tissue injuries (cuts, lacerations or bruises) were the most common, constituting 61.3% of all injuries in the maxillofacial region; 27.6% had severe eye injuries, while 1.4% had fractures in the cranio-facial region. This paper concludes that the effective management of bomb-blast injuries as well as those caused by other types of disaster requires a multidisciplinary approach. The high percentage of maxillofacial injuries confirm that maxillofacial surgeons should form an integral part of this multidisciplinary team.

Accidental Explosions Observed by Seismometers

A large explosion or shock in the air may excite ground motion that can be observed by seismometers. For example, early U.S. nuclear tests in the atmosphere were detected by seismometers of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Cherepanov, 1996), and a broadband seismometer recorded a terrorist bomb attack in Kenya (Koper et al. , 1999). Ground motions excited by shock waves from a meteorite and space shuttle were recorded in Japan and California, respectively (Nagasawa and Miura, 1987; Ishihara et al. , 2001; Kanamori et al. , 1991). An accidental explosion occurred on the evening of 10 June 2000 JST (Japan Standard Time, GMT+9 hours) at a chemical plant in Ojima, Gunma Prefecture, 80 km north of Tokyo, Japan. The explosion killed four employees and injured 27 people, most of whom were residents around the plant hurt by flying shards of glass ( Japan Times , 2000a). The ground motions excited by the explosion were recorded by a strong-motion instrument installed at the Ojima town office about three hundred meters away from the plant, and also by high-sensitivity seismometers at distances of several tens of kilometers. We can learn important lessons from this disaster if we can make precise quantitative determinations of certain variables. The origin time is one of the most basic unknown variables. The magnitude of the explosion is also required for estimating the scale of resultant disaster. However, neither of these was initially well known. In this study we analyze the seismic records to investigate the characteristics of the explosion including these variables. In addition, we will discuss seismic features of the chemical explosion by comparing them with seismic records of a gunpowder explosion in August 2000. The Nisshin Chemical Co. plant is located near the intersection of National Highway Route 17 from Tokyo and …

After Disaster: the role of surveying in the assessment of building structural integrity

Disasters, whether natural (such as earthquakes, typhoons, etc) or man-made (such as war bombardment, terrorist bomb attacks, etc) always leave building infrastructure in their wake destroyed or destabilized to a certain degree. The cost of subsequent recovery efforts can be minimized by rehabilitating as much as possible what is destabilized rather than rebuilding afresh, provided that the destabilized buildings still conform to the structural specifications in force. Surveying has an important role to play in the geometrical evaluation of such buildings before they are either condemned to demolition or recommended for rehabilitation. This paper describes the role that surveying played in evaluating Cooperative House, one of the taller buildings in Nairobi, Kenya, for rehabilitation following severe damage to it by a terrorist bomb blast at the neighbouring US embassy in 1998. (Journal of Civil Engineering, JKUAT: 2002 7: 133-136)