Racal suit

Racal suits used at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Racal suit (also known as racal space suit or AIT field-protective suit)[1][2] is a portable personal protective equipment that consists of plastic suit and a battery-operated blower with HEPA filters to supply filtered air to a positive-pressure hood (also known as racal hood). Racal suits are used by Aeromedical Isolation Team (AIT) to evacuate patients with highly infectious diseases for treatments.[3][4]

Components

Protective suit

The main body of the protective suit consists of a lightweight coverall that is made of polyvinyl chloride, rubber gloves, and rubber boots.[2][5] Originally, the coverall was in bright orange color, and the Racal suit was known as the orange suit.[6]

Details of the suit components

Hood

The hood is a separate component from the protective suit. Racal hood is a type of powered air purifying respirator that consists of a transparent hood connected to a respirator that is powered by a rechargeable battery. The respirator has three HEPA filters that are certified to remove 99.7% of particles with the sizes of 0.03 to 3.0 micron diameter. The filtered air is supplied at the rate of 170 L/min to the top of hood under positive pressure for breathing and cooling. The air is forced out through an air exhaust valve at the base of the hood. A two-way radio system is installed inside the hood for communication.[2][3]

Originally, the hood was manufactured by Racal Health & Safety, Inc. located in Frederick, Maryland, the same city that the AIT unit of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases was based.[4] Racal later became part of 3M, and the respirator product line was branded as 3M/Racal.[7][8] The AIT later changed from using transparent bubble hoods to butyl rubber hoods.[5]

Procedures

The main purpose of the AIT was to evacuate a patient from the field to a specialized isolation unit. AIT members were trained to take a bathroom break before suiting up because the time that they would be in the suits can be 45 minutes for a training or up to 6 hours in a real mission.[9] The patient is put in a mobile stretcher isolator during the transit. After the patient was delivered to the isolation unit, the members would leave the unit and entered into an anteroom with an airlock. They would then be sprayed with glutaraldehyde solution to disinfect before the suit was cut away and sent to an on-site incinerator for complete destruction.[10]

Similar suits

Racal suit is similar to other positive pressure personnel suits such as Chemturion in that there is an air supply to provide positive pressure to reduce the chance of airborne agents to enter the suit. However, there are a few components that are different. The positive pressure section for the racal suit is only available at the hood.[2] The air supply for Racal suit is from a battery-operated blower which makes the suit portable whereas other suits require to be connected to an air hose that is part of the building such as in biosafety level 4 laboratories. The main body part of racal suit is also different. It is more lightweight and can be disposed by burning after use.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Racal space suit". McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Christopher, George (April 1999). "Air Evacuation under High-Level Biosafety Containment: The Aeromedical Isolation Team". Emerging Infectious Diseases 5 (2): 241–246. doi:10.3201/eid0502.990208. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The threat to the United States from Emerging Infectious Diseases, Hearing before the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives". 30 July 1997. p. 9. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sidell, Frederick R.; Takafuji, Ernest T.; Franz, David R., D.V.M. (1997). "19". Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare. Office of The Surgeon General Department of the Army, United States of America. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marklund, LA (2002). "Transporting patients with lethal contagious infections.". International journal of trauma nursing 8 (2): 51–3. PMID 12000908.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Preston, Richard (1994). The Hot Zone. Anchor (Random House). ISBN 0385479565. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Racal Health & Safety to be sold to 3M for GBP432 mil". Telecompaper (5 December 1997). Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "NIOSH Respirator User Notice". The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL). 12 June 1998. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Fleming-Michael, Karen (28 September 2005). "Training Day". Comprint Military Publications. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  10. ↑ Hamblin, James (26 October 2014). "21 Days". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 April 2015.