ATTACHMENT 1 SECRET 12 July 1951 04/73 MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD SUBJECT: Conference at OCAFF, Fort Monroe, Virginia, re past and Future Atomic Weapons Tests 1. Subject conference, held at Fort Monroe on 10, 11 and 12 July, was attended by representatives of AFSWP, technical services, service schools and Army Field Forces. 2. Only that portion dealing with the medical aspects was attended by the undersigned, on the afternoon of July 1951. 3. Four speakers presented material as follows: a. Brigadier General Cooney stressed the necessity for a positive offensive type of thinking in place of negative, defensive attitude towards the weapon. This is to be accomplished by: (1) Re-emphasizing the extreme unlikelihood of radiation injury from lingering radiation even from bursts close to the ground. (2) Familiarization of as many troops as possible with the weapon by active participation in future tests (for example, tactical exercises in burst area immediately following the explosion). (3) The orientation of radiologic defense thinking away from the infinitesimal "tolerance" doses used in industrial and laboratory practice and towards vastly larger military acceptable doses. (Later discussion urged acceptance of 100 roentgens for a single exposure and 25 roentgens weekly for eight weeks for repeated exposures. Doubt was expressed that even 25 roentgens could be attained by individuals working in the blast crater itself. (NOTE: The radiation rate for the common medical procedure of fluoroscopic studies of the upper abdomen (an extremely sensitive body area) is of the order of 20 roentgens per MINUTE)). b. Major Hartgering, MC, of the AFSWP, presented an explanation of the paucity of certain medical data from past tests and explained that more detailed data on degree of protection afforded by field fortifications would be available shortly. He described foxhole experiments with dogs, and amplified General Cooney's remarks on radiation. The Chemical Corps COPIED: 4/11/95 RECORD GROUP: #319 ENTRY: #243 BOX: #23 REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 1 representative requested the SGO establish "more realistic" tolerance levels for airborne radioactive materials. The position of The Surgeon General was that: Most of the tests to date have been close enough to the ground for the fireball to intersect the surface and therefore can be considered surface bursts. Except for the underground burst which has yet to be performed and evaluated, the following is true: (1) Hazards from ingested or inhaled radioactive material can be completed discounted. (2) The hazard of lingering radiation externally is insignificant. (Both remarks apply to any conceivable tactical situation.) It was generally agreed that radiologic protection measures (the use of sensitive detection devices, gas masks, disposable clothing) commonly used at prior tests did more to frighten the participants than to reassure them. The question of beta radiation detecting instruments was raised. General Cooney considers that gamma detectors of low sensitivity (and very few of them) are the only worthwhile instruments for field use. c. Dr. Everett evans presented currently accepted burn therapy including the use of plasma substitutes, explaining the physiology of the burned patient in simple terms. He stressed the fact that the poor results obtained by the Japanese (high mortality, excessive scarring) were largely due to poor treatment. He explained that non-medical personnel will become involved with treatment of burned patients in the event of atomic warfare and described simple measures that could be applied by lay persons to moderately severe burn cases. These included administration of salt and water by mouth, application, of the burn dressing currently being developed and observation of urine output as a criterion of shock (over one pint in 24 hours). He described an experiment in which moderate doses of ionizing radiation were combined with moderately severe burns (in dogs). It was observed that a marked increase in mortality rate, corrected with blood stream infection by meta hemolytic streptococci resulted. Dr. Evans regards this as a hopeful rather than discouraging result as he feels that proper antibiotic therapy will lessen greatly the mortality from borderline cases of combined radiation-thermal burn injury. d. Colonel Potter, MC, representing Plans and Operations, Office of The Surgeon General, discussed briefly medical logistical problems. He raised several questions: (1) It is the present medical organization adequate for the handling of large numbers of casualties? From a long range viewpoint, it probably is, but local medical installations and facilities will require help from non-medical sources. 2 SECRET (2) Evacuation and sorting are the chief problems rather than supply, because even a vastly increased tonnage of medical supplies will not nearly approach the tonnages of other supplies (Class V and I for instance). (3) Projected casualty estimates for tactical situations require the introduction into tactical problems and staff studies of a coordinated evaluation which considers troop disposition, theoretical kilo tonnage, height of burst and method of delivery of atomic weapons, the effect of large numbers of casualties on tactics (for instance the effect of large numbers of friendly or enemy casualties in an area which is to be defended or gained.) COMMENTS: 1. The informative and well-presented talks unfortunately resulted in no really lively or pointed discussion during the afternoon of 10 July. 2. The problems of defensive measures against the atomic bomb should be divorced from that of radiologic safety measures. 3. A great deal of attention should be directed toward: a. Tactical and logistical problems of mass casualties. b. Medical professional and logistical aspects of mass casualties. c. De-emphasizing the effects of lingering radiation and internally absorbed radioactive material following atomic bomb bursts. SIGNED SVEN A. BACH Major, MC Development Branch Research and Development Division 3 SECRET