Does anyone else find it annoying that Israel outfits their citizens with gas masks and anti-nerve gas shots (see http://www.israelinsider.com/views/article.../views_0073.htm ), while American are left to buy shoddy old gas masks from Internet scam artists and dusty old surplus stores and the only vaccination and antidotes for nerve gas and biological weapons are scarce and closely guarded by the Pentagon for use by the armed forces, and...get this...top federal officials!!! Outrageous!

 

When I join the Marines I'll have a gas mask worthy of keeping me safe... Hopefully we all are prepared for what could happen.

 

I'd probably consider buying a gas mask if things were looking bad but I'm doubtful about the usefulness of those bought from disposal stores. I mean... they could have been sitting around for so long that you wouldn't even know if the thing would protect you or not. How long do those canisters last for one thing?

 

Hmmmmm....so you buy a gas mask and (god forbid) there is an attack. How do you stop skin ingestion of the toxin ? wrap yourself in cling film ? I think not.
Even full biological suits have to be sprayed down with specific anti agents to combat the toxins before you can take it off.
Try not to worry about it, there really is little you can do.

 

Would you carry a gas mask with you at ALL TIMES? If not it would probably be no use anyway!!

As for anti-nerve gas shots, I wouldn't want one thanks. I have heard that they do very little good and can actually harm you themselves!!

 

The speed of nerve agents and some chemical munitions really mean that you either see someone drop dead and realise what killed them or you hear someone shouting "Gas Gas Gas" (and that person has probably snuffed it by the last one) and you get your respirator and suit hood up. If your not in NCB kit before the warning you're toast anyway.

All this "if you smell almonds then it's Cyanide" is bollox as by the time you've worked out what it is....

The UK respirators are a rubber compound that needs care to stop it perishing - I doubt it gets that sat on some shelf. The canisters have a relatively short shelf life (I can't remember the exact figures).

I've quit worrying about it and put my head back up my ar$e

 

Hmmm. Not very convincing arguments, guys. If they're so useless, why would the Israelis issue them to every man, woman and child? And what if you are downwind of an attack that is already on the news? And since people that got onto the Tokyo subway AFTER the Sarin was deployed survived, how can you argue that a suit and a mask would not save your life? And, no, I wouldn't take it with me everywhere -- I'd put it in my desk at work, where I spend 50+ hours per week.

Well, I guess the point was lost...

 

Depends on whether the munition is in droplet form (common)or vapour (rare). Vapour munitions aren't very stable and difficult to deploy. Droplets are more stable but again difficult to deploy. The Sarin attack was "effective" due to the closed environment that it was deployed in and the high speed of air in the enclosed environment. If memory serves me correctly the number of fatalities wasn't that high.

One of the main defensive problems of droplet based munitions is that they can have an area denial role. In otherwords the agent can remain effective while resting on clothing, vehicles & food. This is why everything must be dusted.

From an offensive point of view droplet based munitions need to be deployed in an air burst to be effective over any significant area. Climate conditions need to be right too - windy or stormy conditions drastically reduce the effectiveness of both vapour and droplets. Crop dusting planes could have deployed droplets effectively over a large area at low altitude. At high altitude I would be surprised if there was a significant amount of agent reached the ground....

Chemical & biological weapons were originally designed as a battlefield weapon of last resort, denying any hardened or armoured vehicle the vital infantry support needed to make any form of advance (think 80's Soviet tatics for Northern Europe where the Western forces could have been overwelmed in 48hrs if only conventional weapons were used). Most defensive equipment is designed to be used against low concentrations of agent normally found in a battlefield situation where the majority of the agent would have been dispersed. I wouldn't want to be in any enclosed environment with high a concentration of agent in normal NCB dress. You'd really need a "balloon suit" to survive that one.

I remember during the Gulf war when the first Scud fell on Israel. Civilians who had been issued with NAPS tablets started stuffing them in like crazy. More casualties through NAPS than Scud if I remember rightly....

Still think my strategy is the best, I'll keep my head up my arse

 

If you find Shergar, let me know

 

I really hesitate to ask, but who or what is Shergar? As for chem/bio preparedness, we're in bad shape. Our hospital staffs are neither trained nor equipped to diagnose and treat symptoms of many potential weapons (anthrax, for example). And one possible reason for the mass distribution of gas masks, etc. in Israel is to let the populace believe there is some way to protect themselves, when in all probability simply protecting one's airway will not help much.