Editing Triage (section)

=== Matsumato sarin attack (1994) ===
In June 1994, emergency crews began responding to calls related to symptoms of toxic gas exposure in a neighborhood. Without proper [[personal protective equipment]], more than 253 residents were evacuated and 50 were hospitalized.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kulling |first1=Per E. J. |last2=Lorin |first2=Henry |date=March 1999 |title=KAMEDO — A Swedish Disaster Medicine Study Organization |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1049023X0002851X/type/journal_article |journal=Prehospital and Disaster Medicine |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=25–33 |doi=10.1017/S1049023X0002851X |pmid=10537595 |s2cid=12078694 |issn=1049-023X}}</ref> 20 vehicles were called to the scene, and a mobile operating center was setup nearby, likely within the zone of contamination. Unaware of the presence of Sarin, triage was performed following the standard system of the time, which ultimately resulted in eight care givers experiencing mild sarin poisoning, and an unknown amount of additional staff experiencing general malaise.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Okudera |first1=Hiroshi |last2=Morita |first2=Hiroshi |last3=Iwashita |first3=Tomomi |last4=Shibata |first4=Tatsuhiko |last5=Otagiri |first5=Tetsutaro |last6=Kobayashi |first6=Shigeaki |last7=Yanagisawa |first7=Nobuo |date=September 1997 |title=Unexpected nerve gas exposure in the city of Matsumoto: Report of rescue activity in the first sarin gas terrorism |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0735675797902011 |journal=The American Journal of Emergency Medicine |language=en |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=527–528 |doi=10.1016/S0735-6757(97)90201-1|pmid=9270397 }}</ref>

At the time, no decontamination procedures or gas masks were available for incidents involving contaminants. In response, the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] created a decontamination team, which was then instrumental to the response of the Tokyo subway sarin attack which occurred only seven months later.<ref name=":3" />