Task Force Scorpio

<p>Task Force Scorpio was a United Nations biological and chemical weapons response team that was activated during the first Gulf War to respond to any reported use of weapons of mass destruction on civilians. The task force was composed of volunteer Swiss members of the Disaster Relief Unit and international specialists, equipped with the latest chemical and biological protection equipment, immunized against agents suspected for battlefield use and had its own jet transportation.  The members of the team were to travel under Swiss diplomatic passports anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours of need.
</p><p>The task of the force was to arrive on reportedly <a href="/facts/Contaminated_land/howElJxn">contaminated land</a>, assess the risk to the civilian population, respond to it and coordinate the response by other international relief agencies, telling them when it would be safe to send in their personnel. Task Force Scorpio was under the orders of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and was ready for active duty on the 28 February 1991, in time for the first Gulf War. It was not deployed. The Task force was founded by Dr Robert Steffen of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland and co-founded by <a href="/facts/John_%2522Jack%2522_P._Woodall/hLjXjgVU">Jack Woodall</a>, PhD, then at WHO/Geneva and leader of the WHO delegation to the Biological Weapons Convention.
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Task Force Scorpio