Landmines And Explosive Remnants Of War Flashcards
Learning Objectives
- Understand the different categories of landmine and their military utility
- Define the 3 patterns of anti-personnel landmine injury
- Understand the cause and extent of the “global landmine epidemic”
- Understand the threat posed by the Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) in the form of unexploded ordnance and abandoned ordnance.
List some countries where epidemics are occurring
Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Kuwait, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Yugoslavia, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Laos, Vietnam, Peru, Honduras
What are landmines?
- They’re Explosive traps
- A mine comprises a quantity of explosive material contained within some form of casing (typically metal, plastic or wood), and a fusing mechanism to detonate the explosives
What are the different categories of Landmines?
- Intended target: Anti-personnel, Anti-vehicle
- Type of explosion
- Typw of manufacture
- Mode of activation
What are the different types of explosives?
- Blast
- Fragmentation
- Directional fragmentation
- Bounding fragmentation
How are landmines utilised in the military?
- Landmines are usually not laid randomly
- They have specific military objectives
- Offensive, Defensive and Nuisance minelaying
Describe the use of landmines in Afghanistan
- One of the most heavily mined countries in the world
- Approximately 10 million mines
- 210,000 ppl disabled by landmines
- Jan - April 2000: There were 2004 injuries (50% children)
- Mostly in Kabul & Balkh provinces
Describe the patterns of injury from these landmines (3)
- Type 1
- From standing on a buried blast mine
- Amputation of the detonating limb
- Contralateral soft tissue injury
- Perineal injury
- Hands / eyes
Describe the patterns of injury from these landmines (3)
- Type 2
- From fragmentation mine or if victim is in vicinity of a blast mine explosion
- Multiple fragment wounds, esp to the lower limbs
Describe the patterns of injury from these landmines (3)
- Type 3
- When detonation occurs whilst handling mines or in mine clearance attempts
- Uppel limb amputation, fragment wounds to face, neck, trunk
What are the different types of Traumatic blast amputations? (2)
- Small volume of explosive converted into large volume of gas
- Explosive event < 2 ms
- Sharp rise of pressure (shock front)
- Mass movement of gas molecules , dynamic overpressure or “blast wind” responsible for bone destruction
What are the different types of Traumatic blast amputations? (2)
- Massive contamination by foreign material propelled along tissue planes deep into the leg
- Deeper muscle damage than is initially apparent
- Delayed swelling of muscles days after injury
- Always Delayed Primary Closure
- Fashion skin flaps & myoplasty at time of primary surgery
What are the Humanitarian Mine Actions?
- 5 Pillars:
- Humanitarian Demining
- Mine risk education
- Victim assistance
- Advocacy towards a ban on anti-personnel mines
- Stockpile destruction
How is humanitarian landmines clearance carried out?
- Methods: manual, dogs, mechanical
- Manual most effective, but slow
- Injury rate: 1 fatality & 3 injuries per 1000 man years
- Protective equipment
What are cluster bombs?
- Controversial weapons
- Canister which breaks open
- Releases cluster bomblets which impact over a wide area
- Deployed in Kosovo & Afghanistan
- ? Bomblets which fail to detonate represent a potential hazard to civilian populations
