_d._ An index to essential information and four sample problems to illustrate use of this information are at the end of the guide (see Section 11). Section 11 provides a planning guide overview, describes applications, and presents a brief explanation of modeling methods used to prepare estimates.
_e._ The guide is subject to limitations of extent and content. Since there are many more possible attack variables than those considered, the guide presents a limited number of estimates. These estimates are based upon the best available toxicological values, but such values are qualified estimates. Therefore, medical planners and staff personnel should use FM 8-9, NATO Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations, AMedP-6 (B), Part III--Chemical, for more authoritative medical descriptions and information on effects of longer duration.
_f._ The guide is most value to the user who needs to know what kinds of casualties to expect, relative numbers of each, and the time frames in which they are likely to appear. To assist the user, who lacks experience in actual CW, the guide describes types of injury, relevant factors, general magnitudes of effects, and effects of time courses on chemical casualty numbers. The casualty estimates are appropriate for training exercises. However, this initial attempt to provide complex estimates has limitations for battlefield use. The limitations are described as follows:
· The guide provides estimates for a few of many possible chemical attacks. Each estimate is based upon computer modeling of the consequences of specified conditions. This is like saying that the numbers of men who sneeze, after inhaling an allergic flower pollen, might be predicted if specific information (EXAMPLE: The wind speed and direction, the current weather, altitude, time of day, and sites of concentrated flower growth) is known for the specific geographic location of a particular brigade on a given mountain. If such estimates are made for a few widely different mountains, a user of the estimates may be able to guess the numbers of sneezing men in his own brigade, located on a separate mountain. However, if the conditions on both mountains are not nearly identical, the user will need to estimate a scaling factor and apply it to adjust the number predicted for a different environment.