Minefield Safety and Clearing

Civil wars and internal conflicts, like those in Bosnia and Afghanistan, have left millions of mines scattered around the world. Every day US forces help foreign countries plan, train and carry out demining operations. In all demining operations, whether during combat operations or humanitarian operations, safety is paramount.

Hazard Avoidance

"Visually Detecting Mines in Likely Areas" (video)

"Locating and avoiding tripwires" (video)

"Marking areas to avoid mines and tripwires" (video)

(Source: Department of Defense (DoD) Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program Office)

Dealing with Landmine Casualties

Land Mine Casualties: An authoritative 1998 US Army Medical Department Journal article on landmine injuries suffered by Soviet soldiers, killed and wounded, in the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War. According to this article, "The Soviets learned that the killer was not the patient's loss of a limb to mine blast, but rather shock and a combination of injuries to the internal organs once the bleeding was stopped."

(Sources: Foreign Military Studies Office, Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program Office, Mercury, U.S. Army Medical Department publication, November 2001)

Other Safety Topics

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): A stark, professional look at how the US approaches the design of PPE for demining operations. Described are efforts by DoD to draw on information about demining injuries gathered from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia and Laos. Analysis of such information is being incorporated into future PPE designs and the modification and testing of existing equipment.

Reducing Accidents in Demining - Afghanistan: This "Journal of Mine Action" article compares landmine accidents among deminers in Afghanistan to those in Cambodia. The article attempts to explain the differences and makes some recommendations based on the author's observations.

(Sources: Journal of Mine Action, United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations Mine Action Service)