Raising awareness about terror medicine.

Terror medicine, which is related to emergency and disaster medicine, focuses on the constellation of medical issues uniquely related to terrorist attacks. It ranges from recognizing features of biologic and chemical agents such as Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and sarin to the treatment of multi-injury victims of suicide bombings. Medical personnel will be involved in rescue, diagnosis, treatment and recovery from a terrorist attack. Dermatologists could play a central role in diagnosis and treatment in the event of a biologic or chemical attack. The more that individuals and institutions become familiar with the issues concerning terror medicine, the greater the protection they can provide themselves and others.