Foreword

Article Outline

• Copyright

With the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 life in the United States of America changed forever. Before that date, terrorist activity was thought something that occurred elsewhere in the world, and there was little fear of a major domestic event, despite prior recent outbreaks of terrorist activity. Within an instant the international scope of terrorism became a reality, which has continued to express itself in a wave of attacks, not only in the Middle East, but on the European continent and in the United Kingdom. It is important that physicians and surgeons understand the types of civilian casualties that occur following detonation of explosive devices in crowded places and learn the process of triage and treatment of large numbers of severely injured patients. In this issue of Current Problems in Surgery Drs. Gidon Almogy and Avraham Rivkin, define the magnitude of the problem, portray the mindset of the perpetrators, and most importantly, discuss the injuries that occur with various blast devices and outline how to manage them. The authors speak authoritatively, and from great personal experience, as they and their colleagues at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem have cared for large numbers of civilian casualties resulting from terrorist attacks in Israel. Their excellent monograph “Terror in the 21^st Century: Milestones and Prospects” will serve as a standard resource for doctors who will care for civilian victims of these terrible acts.