Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareDR FREDERICK R. SIDELLPhysician, Teacher, ScientistJuly 27, 1934 – February 14, 2006No physician has contributed more to the US ArmyMedical Department’s chemical defense training andeducation programs than Dr Frederick Sidell. Dr Sidellgraduated from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio,in 1956, and also later from the New York UniversitySchool of Medicine. He completed his internship andresidency in internal medicine at Cleveland MetropolitanGeneral Hospital. Dr Sidell initially served 2 yearson active duty with the Army Medical Corps in therank of captain. He was stationed at Edgewood Arsenalin Maryland, an assignment that would determine hisfuture in medicine and lead to his subsequent employmentwith the Department of Defense. While with theDepartment of Defense Dr Sidell became one of theworld’s leading experts and educators in the field ofmedical effects of chemical warfare agents. He retiredin 1995 after 30 years in government service.In the late 1960s, when training in medical chemicaldefense was very limited, Dr Sidell and some of his colleaguesrecognized the need for specialty training anddeveloped a course for military medical personnel onthe medical management of chemical agent casualties.Dr Sidell guided the development of this new trainingprogram and served as the course director for manyyears. Eventually, such training was expanded to additionalcourses for nonmedical personnel and militaryleaders. Dr Sidell also prepared and updated detailededucational materials addressing nerve agents, vesicants,cyanide, and pulmonary agents, and providededucation and training for the Chemical StockpileEmergency Preparedness Program and the DomesticPreparedness Program.Dr Sidell’s expertise was nationally and internationallyrecognized, and he was often called upon forhighly sensitive assignments that required technicalexpertise. These included a trip to southeast Asia in1979 to investigate the alleged use of “yellow rain”against the Hmong in Laos. In 1988, he examinedKurdish civilian casualties who were victims of chemicalwarfare in their homeland. He traveled to Japan in1995 to assist and advise Japanese physicians on thecare of causalities from a terrorist-led sarin nerve agentincident in the Tokyo subway system.Dr Sidell was the lead editor of the first edition ofMedical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare, publishedin 1997, contributing to many of the chapterson chemical warfare agents. His research and studieshave been published in over 100 reports and articles,and he also wrote several handbooks on the treatmentof chemical casualties. Following his official retirement,Dr Sidell continued providing education and trainingin the management of chemical agents and casualtytreatment to civilian first responders, including manyemergency medical treatment units throughout theUnited States.In addition to the many achievement awards andcommander’s medals received by Dr Sidell, a newbuilding at the Edgewood area of the AberdeenProving Ground was named the Sidell LearningCenter in 2002 in recognition of his great contributionto medical education and training. In 2003 DrSidell was inducted into the Marietta College Hallof Honor, becoming one of only 24 people to be sorecognized at that time. Dr Sidell’s knowledge, experience,and dedication contributed greatly to thedevelopment of the outstanding medical trainingprograms throughout the Department of Defensetoday. His insight and pragmatic views have guidedthe development of medical policy against weaponsof mass destruction and medical research on safeand effective medical countermeasures against currentand future chemical threats facing the military.lxx