Overview of Blast Injury

Blast incidents and the resulting trauma are serious health threats. Blast incidents occur in military conflict, from both military and improvised munitions. Acts involving bombings and explosions are by far the most common types of terrorist acts. Blast injuries also result from nonintentional events, such as industrial explosions. Although blast incidents are rare outside of areas of military or social conflict, when they occur, the scale, in terms of number and types of injuries, can range from mild to catastrophic. This chapter briefly reviews the various types of injuries that result from blast trauma, introduces the settings in which blast injuries occur and the epidemiology of blast injuries in different settings, and provides a summary of health preparedness and response strategies for incidents involving blast trauma. These topics will be expanded upon in subsequent chapters.