Biological defense equipment

Non-Medical S T Finding Lack of Realistic Testing and Evaluation for Accepting Chemical and Biological Defense Equipment... 

Edgewood Arsenal was designated as the Army s commodity center for all chemical weapons and defense equipment research and development. In this category, the Arsenal s former administrative control over the hiological laboratories at Fort Detrick, Md, was relinquished and Fort Detrick was established as a separate commodity center for biological weapons and defense research and development... 

The toxicity associated with SM is quite profound. The Army s Chemical Defense Equipment Process Action Team estimated in 1994 that a 900 mg-min/m SM vapor exposure would be lethal in 2-10 min, based on animal studies (National Research Council Review, 1997). Fortunately, in the battlefield, lethality has been limited. Only 1-3% of exposed soldiers died from SM exposure after WWI, and mortality mostly was not a direct consequence of SM, but rather the indirect effect of secondary respiratory infections. The 1999 Material Safety Data Sheet, put out by the US Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, USA Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, has estimated the LD50 of a skin exposure to sullur mustard as lOOmg/kg. This roughly translates into as little as 7 ml of neat SM (i.e. 8.9 g) spread over the skin resulting in the death of a 80 kg adult (Department of the Army, MSDS, 1999). The cornea, of course, is more sensitive than the skin. Below we review three chief toxic effects of severe SM exposure to the cornea. 

General Accounting Office. 2000. Chemical and Biological Defense Units Better Equipped, But Training and Readiness Reporting Problems Remain, GAO-Ol-27, Washington, D.C., November, p. 17. Available online at . 

The next two chapters present specific findings and recommendations related to the equipment, materiel, and skills required for effective chemical or biological defense. Chapter 4 deals with non-medical science and technology and Chapter 5 with medical chemical and biological countermeasures. Both near- and longer-term research and development efforts are addressed. 

Brletich, N. R., Waters, M. J., Bowen, G. W., and Tracy, M. F., Worldwide Chemical Detection Equipment Handbook, Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, 1995. 

The Board recommend that OCDM, preferably by contract with an outside research agency of recognized repute, collate and evaluate available data on biological and chemical warfare, and, by the wargaming technique, search for solid projections of typical feasible attacks with these agents against this country in order to determine reasonable estimates of necessary defense equipment, medical, and other supplies for citizens (June 6, 1959). 

Biological Defense (BD). Biological defense includes methods, plans, and procedures to establish and execute defensive measures against biological attack (e.g. vaccination, equipment to mitigate exposure, and training)... 

ACE Directive 80-14. Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Equipment Operational Guidelines. 

Title XIV of the Defense Authorization Act of 1997 (PL 104-201), championed by Senators Nunn, Lugar, and Domenici, directed the Defense Department to assist federal, state, and local officials with training, technical advice, equipment, and other actions necessary to increase the local response capabilities to respond to and manage the consequences of a WMD terrorist incident. Specifically, the Defense Department was directed to assist civilian officials in developing chemical and biological defensive programs, and to help the Public Health Service to organize Metropolitan Medical Strike Teams. 

Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center, Worldwide Chemical Detection Equipment Handbook, Gunpowder Branch, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 1995. 

This chapter focuses primarily on the development of chemical and biological weapons and countermeasures to them, thus setting the stage for Chapter 3, Historical Aspects of Medical Defense Against Chemical Warfare, which concentrates on medical aspects of chemical warfare. To avoid excessive duplication of material, protective equipment of the modern era is illustrated in Chapter 16, Chemical Defense Equipment.—Eds.]... 

Fig. 2-37. The M5 Combat Service Mask, the first U.S. mask with the canister placed directly on the cheek. The M5 mask was part of the personal equipment of the troops who landed at Normandy on 6 June 1944. Postwar tests indicated that it might have protected against respiratory exposure to the nerve agent tabun if the Germans had chosen to use it against the invasion armada. Photograph Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

The following sections address each of the protection areas described above in detail, with the current equipment items featured and items in development that are designed to overcome the deficiencies of present equipment briefly described. Sufficient technical data are included to allow the healthcare professional to become familiar with the operation, components, and the limitations of the present chemical defense equipment. Should the interested reader desire more detail on chemical defense equipment, several sources are available. First, the written references and expert consultants to this chapter are sources of vast amounts of information. Possibly of more value to the healthcare professional is the nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) officer who is an integral part of each combat element and who is available to provide detailed advice as well as hands-on assistance. 

Fig. 16-24. M8 Chemical Agent Detection Paper. A drop of mustard (H) simulant from the vial has turned the paper red. Reprinted from Brletich NR, Waters MJ, Bowen GW, Tracy MF. Worldwide Chemical Detection Equipment Handbook. Edgewood, Md Chemical Warfare/Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center October 1995 407. Photograph Courtesy of US Army Edgewood Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

The sources for this discussion are experts at the U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command,34 and Collective Protective Equipment, U.S. Army Training Manual 34240-338-10,35 which interested readers can consult for greater detail. Medical Collective Protection Systems... 

Zajtchuk, R.M.C., Bellamy, R.F. (1997) Chemical defense equipment, in Textbook of Military Medicine Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare, Office of the Surgeon General. 

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