Final Report Summary - IF REACT (Improved First Responder Ensembles Against CBRN Terrorism)
Executive Summary:
Creteil University [UPEC] is the coordinator of the 3-year IF REACT project funded under the 7th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under the European Commission grant agreement no. 285034. The aim is to enhance the CBRN Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by civilian first responders (FRs) across Europe, allowing them better capabilities and performance and greater confidence. The consortium comprises eleven partners from six countries: CBRN manufacturers: [NBC-Sys, Blücher, Bertin, Airbus Defence and Space], subject matter experts: [SUJCHBO Institute, Prometech, Hotzone Solutions, Falcon Communications] end users [DUZS and SAMU] and the Project Manager [Business Editing].
IFREACT developed a family of seven PPE ensembles. For the first time, industrialists worked simultaneously and jointly, offering modular and integrated solutions. Choices derived from different user-groups, procurement staff requirements, Advisory Board expert advice, field exercises and links with other European projects.
Tests conducted at the SUJCHBO laboratory assessed the efficiency of interfaces between three types of respiratory protection systems, five types of suits and two types of communication device and gave a physiological classification of the current and new ensembles. As expected, Saratoga air-permeable technology offers a low burden. IFREACT PPE has a physiological strain index that is approximately half that of air-impermeable suits.
Capabilities and performance were assessed during a field trial at the CAZAUX French Defence air base. The new masks made of soft material are more comfortable and will suit civilian and military use. They can be worn with a hood attached to the suit or with a hood attached to the mask [the balaclava] and worn over the suit. The innovative one-sized overpressure hood offers wider vision and is particularly adapted to civilian users such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS) who may wear glasses and a beard. EMS appreciate being seen and heard by victims. Both respiratory protection systems offer drinking capacities and have mounted communication devices. These devices include ear sets and a wireless HUD both paired with smartphones protected in special suit pockets. They prevent first responders from being isolated and give them greater confidence when operating at the scene. They enable civilian FRs to perform hands free and to communicate between themselves and with the HQ. In the event where the communication network is down, the reliability of audio, visual and text communications is provided by the AIRBUS Bubble.
The two-hour trials conducted at CAZAUX with different groups of volunteers—well trained and occasionally trained FRs—proved that there is practically no loss of capability while performing tasks in IFREACT ensembles during this length of time. This was a requirement of end-users in order to avoid frequent shift changes and to save human and equipment resources.
All PPE protection factors comply with tasks in a contaminated warm area for a continuous exposure of 6 hours (spray protection, vapour, particles and aerosols).
Another IFREACT innovation is the miniaturized Bertin bio-collector which can be attached to the suit, with an immediate application of monitoring potential contamination in the case of the EBOLA epidemic. The IFREACT project also includes the development of a PPE selection tool that allows end users and procurement staff to select the best PPE system for the first responder’s mission according to the expected threat through a smartphone application.
IFREACT developed prototypes in one size. The next steps, beyond the project, will be to contribute to the European civilian CBRN PPE standardisation work and to produce commercial ensembles within one year.
Project Context and Objectives:
Context
International events remind us that CBRN incidents have multiple facets and concern the civilian population. The goal of first responder (FR) operational procedures in the field is to take care of victims and to keep FRs safe while performing their tasks. The CBRN environment is hostile and uncertain by definition. We all know that the first team arriving at the scene may become a group of secondary victims. We must also keep in mind that a second accident is always possible—either conventional like an explosion or unconventional such as a mixture or second release of CBRN agents. The FR’s life and safety depends on adequate protection in performing their tasks, and on reliable communication between partners in the field and with the command and control centre. Being able to receive information from the command centre about how to escape from a new danger or to give information to the commander about a newly discovered danger is what may determine the success and efficiency of the operation.
The consortium
IFREACT is the acronym for “Improved First Responder Ensembles against CBRN Terrorism”. IFREACT has an impact on the preparedness of first responders and the general public for CBRN risks. Despite its name, the objective of this project is to work specifically on civilian first responder equipment while dealing with CBRN events, which may be deliberate attacks but also accidents.
IFREACT comprises eleven partners working together in an excellent atmosphere of cooperation. Partners come from six EU states: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
The professional sectors of the eleven Advisory Board members from six countries is described below. They helped to define IFREACT choices.
From the military field: 2 experts in chemistry and toxicology
Firefighters: 2
National Health institution: 1
Forensic: 1
Scientific: 1
CEA: 1
EDA: 1
CBRN consultant: 2
End-user requirements
The final IFREACT product is keenly needed by the population of end users and policy-makers at a time when they are renewing their PPE. In addition, we talk of an ensemble. This means that it was a good opportunity for industrialists to work simultaneously to match respirators with suits and add-ons even if there was already a possibility of providing modular pieces. End users deplore having to buy a mask and a suit from different suppliers and to contend with potential interface leakages.
The First Responder community IFREACT was asked to work on includes the general public, duty holders (occasionally involved in these events), fire-fighters, policemen, healthcare providers and special CBRN forces. We consider that the general public is of the utmost importance. Different on-the-market hoods provide an immediate, hence, short-term solution. IFREACT kept this in mind and did not work on an alternative solution.
Duty holders are either well equipped by their occupational departments or occasionally trained and not equipped at all. In the latter case we consider them as victims to be managed by the rescue teams. Fire-fighters and policemen are mandatory at the scene of such an event. They perform physically demanding tasks. EMS teams are not often used to work in the pre-hospital field as they do in France. They are trained to deal with decontamination procedures and to care for victims. Special Forces or professional CBRN responders include a miscellaneous population: lab personnel charged with collecting samples, forensic staff, demining specialists and anti-terrorism forces. All these user groups have specific requirements.
Unlike military or professional responders, some civilian FRs may receive only sporadic training in using their PPE. The level of training impacts the choice of solutions and was a working path for IFREACT. Moreover PPE is often derived from occupational or military use. Nowadays PPE must be adapted to civilian FR tasks and missions. Therefore it was necessary to strike a balance between the PPE’s protective properties and operational burden and the capacity to rescue and to give rapid care to victims.
The evaluation conducted through exercises and workshops at the beginning of the project enabled IFREACT to identify the most emergent threats, the existing PPE and the list of civilian first responders in greatest need of innovative protection.
Workshop findings showed a lack of rationale when selecting PPE and a gap between the wishes of end users—which are mostly ergonomic—the constraints of policy makers—which are mostly economic—and the quantification of acceptable toxic penetration by inhalation or through skin which is rarely defined. Decision-makers, procurement staff and end users would like to be sure of having the highest level of protection but they all know that over-protection leads to unacceptable burden and loss of performance. A survey conducted in France demonstrated that civilian FRs are keen to wear military suits, which evoke for them the best protection. The lack of European civilian standards complicates the understanding of air-permeable suit levels of protection in particular.
Today, the question is not if, but when the next event will take place and what type it will be. This does not mean that it will be frequent or concern as many people as in war situations, with large quantities of products and on a large scale. The Advisory Board members gave input about toxic concentration issues which are highlighted as the state of the art. It will normally be quicker to get a result on the identification of the agent before its concentration. To establish initial concentration, this will involve a number of activities to understand how far the contamination has spread from the source in order to establish the concentration at a particular point at a particular time. In general, scientists are more concerned about quantity released than concentration as quantity will allow them to plot plume more accurately. Most detectors will sound the alarm at set concentrations so it is fairly quick (dependent on response times) to state that the contamination is ‘more than...’, but more complex to state exact concentration. In the UK they would hope to have a 75 - 90% known agent within 45 min of response and 100% known within 2 hours. An initial concentration estimate would come at same time as the known agent; however it would take longer to work out concentrations at geographic locations (2 hours). This initial time period of two hours is of utmost importance in CBRN events. That is why IFREACT included it as an objective for FRs to work at the scene and postpone the first shift change for over two hours.
The end users were unanimous in concluding that, according to civilian tasks in PPE at the scene defined as follows: alerting the public, site management, search and rescue, site detection and sampling, demining, forensic measures, securing and cordoning the site, first aid measures, immediate decontamination, triage and medical care, deep decontamination and anti-terrorist measures, the project will target on the warm zone in its work, excluding the hot zone. In the hot zone, heavy encapsulated PPE is mandatory. Time is limited by breathing apparatus. A small number of trained professionals enter this red zone. In contrast, the larger number of FRs wearing PPE is active in the warm zone. Consequently, IFREACT focused its work on the following risks: industrial or warfare chemical agents (contaminant or not), and TICs, radiological particles and biological toxins or a combination of these agents with a level of risk compatible with a contaminated warm zone.
In order to get pertinent user requirements a questionnaire was designed and sent out both within and outside Europe to high-level national CBRN advisors or experts. Ten countries answered, illustrating the diversity of PPE in use and the pertinence of the FR classification and description of tasks IFREACT adopted.
Among many evolving constraints, two were highlighted by the community of end users. First, wet decontamination procedures remain a key problem for EMS, adding a constraint of water exposure in the shower zone, even if the ORCHID project concluded that we could shorten this step. Secondly, the time needed to precisely identify the toxic agents has an impact on the IFREACT solutions and length of average wearing of PPE by FRs, as it usually takes a minimum of two hours in all countries to precisely identify the chemical or mixed agents.
Objectives:
The overall project objectives as mentioned in Annex I of the Grant Agreement were:
✓- Develop a tool that allows end users and procurement staff to select the best PPE system for the mission of the first responder and the expected threat
✓ - Develop a PPE system that:
- will address the real protection needs of the typical users, both with regards to the level of protection as well as its total capacity;
- provides adequate protection, while keeping the burden of the system as low as possible;
- will include solutions for hand and foot protection that take safety, ergonomic, and logistic aspects of the typical user group into consideration.
✓- The protective system will provide added functionality regarding the C4I needs of the typical wearer. Typical First Responder tactical needs as communication, (indoor) localisation & situational awareness, will be enabled by affordable, robust and easy-to-use technology. Wearability, acceptable degradation and logistics will dictate innovative approaches on the material as well as on the system level.
✓- The suit will be configured as a platform that carries the energy and the connections to the components of the sensor subsystem. The sensors itself will be housed in the suit as well as in the respirator, depending on their function. The configuration of the system will enable other / new energy cells and sensors to be connected whenever required.
✓- This platform will be interfaced with the external infrastructure to get extra capabilities/situation awareness without constraints and cost on the suit itself.
The last three goals had to be revised during the project to fit a modular concept of Add-ons due to technology improvements and the increasing availability of wireless devices.
Progress beyond the state of the art
IFREACT aimed to go beyond the state of the art in the following ways:
1. For the first time, skin protection (suit) performance will be based on an assessment of the combination of realistic Homeland CBRN incident scenarios, available human toxicology data regarding the involved agents and exposures; real life First Responder operational needs, based on their specific response scenarios (responsibilities and activities).
2. The skin protection (suits) will consist of a family of suits that are individually optimised to address specific user group needs. The possibility of choice will be realised by variations in overall protection capacity; level of liquid repellence; level of fire retardancy.
3. The skin protection options (suits) will all be designed as platforms capable of elegantly integrating C4I (energy, connections and sensors) hardware needs.
4. System approach: Inherently integrated and optimized, user requirements based interface of suits with respiratory-, hand- and foot-protection components.
5. Integrated stretchable bio aerosol filter layer
The expected impact is the development of new and better protective equipment that enhance the security of first responders and individuals, helping them to work more efficiently during a CBRN crisis.
Structure of the project
Coordination SAMU/ UPEC - Management BUSINESS EDITING
WP1 leader SAMU / BE
WP2 leader SAMU (after IBC departure)
WP3 leader SAMU
WP4 leader BLÜCHER
WP5 leader NBC-Sys
WP 6 leader AIBUS DEFENCE and SPACE
WP7 leader NBC-Sys
WP8 leader FALCON communication
WP2 summarizes the management of a CBRN crisis, bearing in mind the need to be protected by the right PPE. WP3 focuses on the end user requirements and properties of IFREACT PPE in use and in development. WP4 WP5 and WP6 transform user requirements into technical specifications bearing in mind the technical improvements beyond the state of the art. WP7 integrates these data. WP1 manages the project and WP8 ensures dissemination activities.
Project Results:
Thanks to valuable input from the user requirements, a concept was developed which consisted of a family of suits to be combined with the different respiratory protective components and communication devices resulting in seven clothing ensembles which can then be worn by different first responder groups for different missions in the warm zone.
The project has developed three types of protective clothing adapted to different levels of first responders work (heavy duty suit, light weight suit and undergarment), two types of respiratory protection (gas mask and overpressure hood), a balaclava to be attached and perfectly fit to the mask thanks to a butyl ring and different add-ons (audio and visual).
The integration goal of all functionalities and add-ons (ear set and Head-up Display –HUD-), was revised for the sake of practicality. Consequently, modularity was the concept of choice in order to provide compatibility of the components in CBRN and normal missions, and to minimize lifecycle cost of the entire CBRN protective ensemble. At the same time communication devices evolved fast to become wireless.
This modularity has led us to present the results according to the various components: types of skin protection, types of airway protection and communication devices.
The IFREACT PPE ensembles offer the adequate level of protection for FRs to perform in the warm zone. They offer good freedom of movement, low burden, and the capacity to see, to be seen and identified by professional affiliation, to hear and to be heard. FRs can communicate, hence reducing their feeling of isolation and improving safety in the event of evacuation, etc. Different user groups can select the type of ensembles they need for their operational needs.
The ensembles
Skin protection
Blücher (WP2, 3, 4, 7) is the global market leader in the development and production of adsorptive compound fabrics for individual protection against chemical and biological warfare agents.
Rationale
Many chemical warfare agents and some toxic industrial and radiological particles can be absorbed through the skin and although some might only cause a burn or a rash, others can be much more serious or even fatal.
The objective of the skin protection was to propose innovative skin protection concepts, including solutions for hand and foot protection, which are not properly covered by any existing standard for personal protective equipment. This means that solutions provided stand independently from the standard concepts, suits and materials as they were described, built and used during the last decades. The aim was to break away from the currently available PPE-classes, material types and standardized requirements, because they proved to be sub-optimal for use in CBRN scenarios.
The rationale for the level of protection is defined as adequate with the level of risk in the warm zone, corresponding to dust, particles, aerosols (depending on size), liquid (short liquid protection), vapour protection, heat stress.
Adapting protection levels to civilian first responder means moving away from the previous military level of protection and justifies downgrading the protection level providing the required protection for a shorter duration (6h) and specifying limits of protection.
Blücher has conducted fundamental investigations on vapour and liquid to understand the performance of fabrics but there are different requirements and NATO for example came to the conclusion that only the liquid protection should be taken care of since vapour is volatile. In IFREACT, for the civilian FRs working in the warm zone and arriving 30 minutes after the incident, we concluded that there would be vapour threat and perhaps some liquid (only on the floor as droplets) so we directed our efforts towards protection against vapour TICs. This is consistent with the policy of the German authority for controlling civilian protection; as they are trying to create standards for the air-permeable adsorptive suits they want to ensure only protection against vapour TICs.
There is some TICs protection in the suit (activated carbon with appropriate pore size). It is hard to get figures for protection against TICs because there are different lists of TICs we need to agree on, different physical states of TICs (liquid/vapour), different challenge concentrations, different test methodologies (how to expose these suits to TICs), and different toxicological limits of skin exposure since some TICs are more or less toxic.
The outcome of this approach led to solutions that:
• Provide adequate protection, in terms of threat as well as user needs;
• Inflict the lowest burden on the wearer as is technically feasible;
• Are simple to use, as well as to maintain and store;
• Are optimally compatible with other equipment that has to be used by the wearer such as respirators and add-ons;
• Are low lifecycle cost including costs of acquisition use, storage and maintenance;
• Do not fit in the current evaluation and qualification regime.
Due to the various FR tasks and realistic incident scenario hazards, it was necessary to have a family of suits with various different attributes (performance levels as well as functionalities).
The solutions were based on the SARATOGA existing air permeable adsorptive technology, on some novel material combinations, and provided innovative design and features to minimize physiological burden, improve ergonomics, accommodate add-ons and provide compatibility with respiratory concepts and enhanced safety of the wearer by high visibility and identification by different colour schemes for different professional affiliations.
The protection time of the ensembles was reduced to six hours according to the requirements of the civilian first responder groups directly resulting from their operations and missions.
The work involved:
• Use of lightweight novel materials to reduce body burden in combination with form fitting design
• Use of hybrid materials with different functionalities in different body areas instead of a single material in the old suits
• Use of lightweight flexible filter materials.
The basic filter material is standard for Blücher but combined with an outer shell and a new design was specific for the project. For the functional material which is the activated carbon layer, it is the same Blücher already knows.
Since the filter was not alone, the whole fabric (filter and outer shell) had to be tested.
The wear time was significantly increased compared to that of air impermeable suits as well as to air permeable suits made from inferior technology.
There has not been any specific definition of the threat from aerosol chemical, biological or radiological substances nor is there any quantified level of protection available. There does not appear to be any consensus on the level of protection parameters. Although air permeable suits can be designed to provide some protection against radioactive fallout particle sizes of around 50-100 microns, conventional fabrics do not provide any significant retention efficiency against particle sizes ranging from 0.3 microns to 10 microns. The new layer was designed to have a retention efficiency of 90-99% depending on the density and the testing method. For this reason an air permeable aerosol protective filter component was integrated into the adsorptive filter layer for the heavy duty suit. In order to determine the performance of the aerosol protection of the heavy duty suit, evaluation of both the material and the system of the different suits (heavy, light and reference suits) needed to be conducted in a special lab—Spiez Laboratories in Switzerland.
In the end, performance indicators measured in lab and field tests reflected the overall benefit of the protective ensembles to the first responders and to the success of their mission.
Description of skin protection solutions
The protection provided by IFREACT PPE is based on the concept of ensembles offering tightness with other equipment i.e. preventing penetration of agents. The potential ingress of chemical agents through closures or interfaces with other equipment is of utmost importance. Air movement under the suit caused by the bellows effect (pumping action of the suit on the body when movement occurs) affects the protective performance of a suit. IFREACT PPE prevents ingress and offers a good protection factor regarding this aspect, as demonstrated at the SUCHJBO laboratory.
The family of IFREACT ensembles was designed in one or two pieces or as an undergarment. Their design affects human factors through wearability, ease of donning and doffing, easy integration of add-ons, degree of stretch enabling freedom of movement, etc.
See Figure 1: Table of ensembles in Appendix
ϖThe Heavy Duty Suit (HDS: 2.5kg) is adapted to a mission in the warm zone for physically demanding search and rescue tasks and consequently for well-trained FRs.
- The outer fabric resists mechanical stress and abrasion. It has flame retardant and water repellent properties.
- The multifunctional layer laminate filter material comprising a layer of spherical activated carbon and integrated aerosol filter layer provides the requested protection against chemical warfare agents and a retention against aerosol and particle collection efficiency of 80% according to EN 1822.
- In addition, specific sections such as elbows, knees, seat areas and interface areas such as the inner arm and leg cuffs are made of impermeable material creating an aerosol-tight interface.
ϖThe Light Weight Suit (LWS: 1.5 kg) is adapted to FRs performing less physically demanding missions in the warm zone with specific tasks such as EMS triage, escorting victims, taking care of them, decontaminating casualties or police cordoning, escorting, performing forensic tasks, etc. and consequently occasionally trained FRs. Attention has been paid to lower the suit weight, to enhance easy and intuitive donning and doffing, flexibility and freedom of movement.
- Therefore, the outer shell is made of a soft fabric, which is without flame retardant properties but is water repellent.
- The filter layer is based on knitted textiles with a specific content of elastic fibres laminated to a layer of activated adsorbing carbon. The requested protection against chemical warfare agents is the same as the HDS. No specific aerosol protection was requested, nevertheless tests conducted in SPIEZ showed a certain degree of retention efficiency resulting from the relatively dense outer shell.
- Interfaces have been reinforced and protected by the same, but thicker, filter material. Interfaces at sleeves have been equipped with integrated cuffs to ensure easy donning and outmost tightness with the hand protection.
ϖThe undergarment is meant to be worn underneath a non CBRN uniform. Highly air–permeable, it is designed to be thin and elastic with a bacteriostatic property for hygienic purposes. Specific configurations can be further considered to fit other requested functionalities.
ϖIn addition, all suits are washable at least six times and maintain their protective performance during 30 days.
ϖIt is possible to identify FRs. The LWS outer shell material is highly visible to ensure day visibility. Stripes of reflective materials ensure visibility even at night-time. They are flame retardant in the case of the HDS.
ϖGloves developed by IFREACT are called comfort gloves and hybrid gloves. Gloves are designed to protect hands and wrists. The likelihood of exposure to liquid challenges, the level of wear and tear needed associated with manual dexterity makes them complex. Comfort gloves are meant to handle add-ons, in particular the smartphones. They are made of filter material with no liquid challenge properties. Hybrid gloves are meant to be worn with the HDS as they are flame retardant and benefit from liquid challenge properties and high durability. They are designed for handling add-ons as well.
ϖFoot protection developed by IFREACT is a high durability leather boot with integrated CBRN vapour protective filter.
ϖA separate hood called a balaclava has been created. In this case the HDS and LWS are provided with a banded collar. The HDS and LWS balaclava have the same material compounds as the HDS and LWS. A bacteriostatic property is added to fit with the HDS. A butyl ring developed by NBC Sys ensures interface with the mask.
ϖPockets are mounted on the hood and balaclava to support the HUD battery. A cable gate at the left neck side enables the audio-set wire to be connected to the mouth piece. Pockets covered by a CBRN transparent film are provided for the chest and arm smartphones. A third pocket is designed for the bio-collector enabling air-flow in and out of the device.
ϖAttention was paid to details meeting specific user requirements: design of shoulder epaulettes on both sides to fix the PAPR hose; thumb loops and foot loops avoiding sleeves and trousers riding up; socks combined with the LWS enabling wearing of working shoes; complementary protection ensured at all interfaces including the front zipper and waist; the use of international size denominations and charts commonly used by civilians: S, M, L, XL, XXL.
ϖThe packaging respects choice of sizes of vests, trousers and LWS. A notch at both sides of the vacuum bag ensures opening without scissors. Blücher suits have a shell life of over ten years.
ϖThe production of training suits is technically easily possible and will mimic physiological burden.
ϖThe perception of water exposure is not well understood. During the early project phase of collecting information about user experience with state of the art technologies and future requirements, several user remarks were made regarding protective characteristics when water is involved. Statements such as “carbon suits do not protect when they are wet” indicate that further information will have to be made available for the users.
This information will have to cover all different facets of the subject “carbon suits exposed to water” i.e.
1. The protective characteristics of a wet filter have been proven during several qualification programs, during which the filter had either been exposed to clear water (mimicking rain or other water from environment) or aqueous solutions (sweat or salt water) prior to chemical agent testing.
2. Water (e.g. from rain and spray) is prevented from penetrating the suit by the outer shell which is treated with an oil and water repellent finish, so that water drops with a moderate impact will not penetrate into the material compound.
3. Once protective clothing is contaminated with chemical agent droplets, they might be propelled into the fabric by heavy rain. Because of their complexity, such tests are only very rarely performed. Within this project, this case is irrelevant anyway, because it is considered as unlikely that these first responders are exposed to significant liquid contamination.
4. When a liquid challenge is considered to be a water-borne bacterial or viral contamination, then the test methodology changes to determining the protective characteristics in the totally different set-up, like it is used for barrier materials.
5. In case liquid splashes of water or toxic chemicals are expected, a certain penetration has to be anticipated, so that for safety reasons additional impermeable aprons or sleeves should be worn.
As the created prototypes have been tested in an operational environment at the final tests at Cazaux. All suit types including design variations resulting from IFREACT attain a technology readiness level of 7 (TRL7).
The suits are prepared to meet the requirements of CE certification, category III. This process will be accomplished after finalization of customer requirements and will constitute to achieve TRL8. TRL9 will be achieved by customer usage of the suits in an operational environment.
Respirators
NBC-Sys (WP2, 3, 5, 7) designs, develops and markets protection, detection and decontamination systems for the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear domains. Its original business focused on French military needs via masks and filter cartridges.
NBC-Sys worked on 3 different types of IFREACT products:
ϖA gas mask which can be used with a canister or with a PAPR. This gas mask is worn with a suit equipped with a hood. Main responder priorities were improving comfort, reducing laboured breathing, restricted vision, heat stress and claustrophobia.
The main innovative developments on the gas mask were:
o a textile head harness made with a net to reduce burden on the head and the heat it generates, with adjustment possibilities on all the head harness straps. The length of each strap can be adjusted to ensure optimum contact between the seal of the gas mask and the face of the user;
See Figure 2: View of the head harness with adjustable straps
o it is made of an ultra- soft material (butyl rubber), and is more comfortable;
o it has a smaller canister connector to make the canister closer to the neck axis of the user and thus reduce neck fatigue; a special device was developed to move the canister on the left side of the gas mask;
o it provides protection against liquid, vapour and aerosols;
o it provides a wide field of view (77%) with a larger flexible panoramic visor made of polyurethane, allowing better peripheral vision;
o the inside of the mask is equipped with an aeraulic circuit to avoid fog accumulation on the visor and to reduce re-breathing CO2 ;
o it has a speech diaphragm placed in front for good voice transmission;
o identification of professional affiliation groups is made possible via coloured caps in front of the mask;
o the gas mask is equipped with a drinking device connected to a reservoir carried on the user’s back. The drinking device has been positioned on the left side of the gas mask to leave the right side available for the HUD mounting system. It avoids disturbing the user as much as possible by having the drinking tube from the reservoir set on their back; the device is normally closed while not used; the orientation of the final pipe can be adjusted to enable the user to put it in his mouth or not, the device is easy to use with any type of gloves and does not modify the protection factor of the respiratory protection; when activating the drinking device the user does not apply pressure on the respiratory protection. They just apply pressure to the body of the drinking device which avoids modifying the volume of the respiratory protection and thus avoids creating negative pressure inside the respiratory area; the orientation of the pipe is therefore adjusted by simply turning the external part of the drinking device.
o the gas mask cannot be worn with glasses. In order to correct vision, a special device is provided to be worn inside the gas-mask. This device is equipped with lenses adapted to the user’s vision
o it cannot be used if the user has a beard.
The integration of the audio communication device to the gas mask has been made in partnership with the Airbus Defence and Space team.
See Figure 3: Volunteer wearing a gas mask equipped with audio communication system
A HUD can be fixed on the right side of the gas mask, outside the mask, to allow the user to have situational awareness. The integration of the HUD requires good alignment with the eye to be clearly visible to the user. It comprises two parts, one made with a ball and the other made with a receptacle slightly smaller than the ball. The orientation of the HUD is adjustable around 3 axes.
See Figure 4: HUD mounting system equipped on a gas mask
See Figure 5: Part of the mounting device attached to the gas mask
To reduce the problem of a strong artificial light and enable the user to see the screen a cover system has been designed to fit the screen of the HUD and protect it from external light.
See Figure 6: Part of the mounting device which holds the HUD
The gas mask suits use by preferably well-trained civilian or military people in various operational environments: high activity level, long periods of intervention while providing as much comfort as possible to the user. To improve comfort, the gas mask is equipped with a blower.
The mask is designed to meet the requirements of the NF EN 136 and the NATO triptych.
ϖA special interface adapted to the gas mask (butyl ring) on which a separate hood is attached (balaclava). The hood is made of the same material as the suit. This configuration will be worn on top of a suit not equipped with hood. The mask-attached hood is a new but existing concept. It is made with the same fabric as the suit in order to maintain the same protection properties. The hood, designed by Blücher, is sewed on to a special rubber interface developed by NBC-Sys. The interface has been especially designed in order to perfectly fit the shape of the gas mask avoiding losing air-tightness during operations. Two hooks on the rubber ring are attached to the buckles of the mask to maintain the interface in the right position. This type of hood provides better continuity of protection than the standard suit-attached hood.
See Figure 7: Balaclava
ϖAn innovative overpressure hood made of polyester fabric coated with butyl was developed by NBC-Sys, enabling the wearing of add-ons, connection to a PAPR and providing a drinking device:
o it comprises an aeraulic circuit made of fabric to reduce weight and has 2 air pipes, one on both sides of the hood, to supply air-flow over the visor to avoid moisture and to make it easier to breathe. A third aeraulic pipe goes over the head top and has small holes to cool the user while working;
o to set the hood on pressure and maintain air-tightness there is a neck interface made of neoprene seal with adjustment straps to fit all FR neck sizes;
o the oversized visor is made of crystal PVC thick enough to limit the deformation of the hood. The hood visor provides a good field of vision of 83% according to the test method EN136 standard.
o no effort is needed for breathing as it works with a blower (PAPR is mandatory);
o in order to avoid the transmission of noise from the PAPR, a silencer has been developed to be connected next to the output of the blower; this reduces noise by approximately 12 dB without inducing pressure drop.
o a second exhalation valve was added to avoid aeraulic noise;
o having one size simplifies the selection of the equipment, it can be worn with a beard or with glasses;
o two straps under the wearer’s arm maintain the overpressure hood on the wearer even if the overpressure hood is grabbed by someone or something. This prevents accidental ripping off of the protection. The straps are adjustable in the same way as a backpack in order to fit to a wide range of user size;
o the head harness has been equipped with adjustment straps in order to offer closer fitting of the hood on the user’s head. The elastic strap at the rear of the head is adjustable in order to choose how tight the head harness is on the wearer’s head. Another strap on the upper part of the head enables adjustment of the deepness of the hood on the wearer’s head;
o the HUD requires good alignment with the eye to be clearly visible to the user. The HUD is equipped with a small ball-joint system that enables some small angle adjustment around 3 axes; the ball-joint system has to be adjustable while being able to keep its position once adjusted according to the right angles. The mounting system is made of two pieces. One of the pieces has a ball and the other one is equipped with a cavity a little smaller than the ball to compress it and make it difficult to move in order to stay in position after proper adjustment.
o the HUD mounting system is attached to the forehead band inside the overpressure hood thanks to a hook and loop system. The loop part is sewed to the head band while the hook part is glued to the HUD mounting system.
See Figure 8: Over pressure hood & Figure 9: Deepness adjustment strap
The overpressure hood, a new concept, has been designed to suit use by people such as medical staff having a low level of training in CBRN suits and performing tasks with a low level of workload. The overpressure hood provides protection against vapour and aerosols for 6 hours.
Its main advantages are noteworthy:
- it provides a wide field of view and enables the wearer to be recognized, it is one-sized, it can be worn with glasses, it can be worn with a beard, it can be equipped with a HUD and an audio communication device and it has the required protection level;
- in addition, it allows medical staff to intubate or make medical treatment thanks to less restriction of head movements.
All IFREACT respiratory equipment benefit from the use of PAPR facilitating breathing and broadly used by FRs. The PAPR is not a product developed by IFREACT (mandatory for the overpressure use).
Add-ons
Bertin Technologies SAS (WP2, WP6) is a European leader in biotechnologies with a unique range of expertise that develops systems in biodefence and biosecurity i.e. health care (25%), homeland security (30%) and energy (20%).
ϖThe Bio-collector device is small (30 mm x 150 mm), light in weight (190 g) and is composed of a small air pump, a mini-cyclone, 2 rechargeable batteries and electronics. It can perform continuous aerosol collection for at least 6 hours (the duration of a mission in the warm zone) with air flow-rate: 10 – 30 L/min and physical collecting efficiency: >50%. It brings in samples at the same rate at human breath in PPE.
After collection the cone is taken off for quick provisional identification by hand-held assays (immunoassay) and if an agent is detected further identification will be conducted through laboratory analysis (PCR, culture, GC/MS, etc.). The device has identical performance in any position. It is attached to the suit close to the head so it collects what the FR breathes. It will also collect radiological particles or toxic industrial hazards. In the case of the Ebola epidemic, it has an immediate application in supplying information on what the medical responder may encounter when giving medical care to infected patients. The personal bio-collector developed by Bertin Technologies has higher physical and biological efficiencies than any other market available products. It can enable us to discover at the earliest time the presence of airborne pathogens. Having an air flow rate (10 -30 l/min) similar as that of human breath, it can specify its carrier’s real inhalation dose, therefore the real danger level of its carrier, making possible an adequate medical counter-measure to be administered.
See Figure 10: Bio-collector & Figure 11: Demonstrating use of bio-collector
Airbus Defence and Space (Astrium WP2, WP6, WP7) is a world leader in the design and manufacture of satellite systems. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and earth observation systems.
ϖThe communication bubble is the size of a big suitcase and when in place it has a 1.5 km diameter range of action, expandable using several devices replicating the signal. It is easy to deploy and provides a dedicated network to communicate with standard GSM phones.
It can work with WIFI or public 2G/ 3G / 4G data transmissions networks. It allows creation of a large number of lines with the capability to do 28 simultaneous calls. AIRBUS also provides roaming capability, so the people inside this pool of lines are able to join every phone across the globe through a satcom link connected with the bubble. The communication bubble brings also a data layer, 2G or 3G layer (and in the near future LTS/4G) for sending images, live videos or every other kind of data, and to play with mobile applications for sharing information within the bubble and outside if needed. This enables smartphones to enter the game. They come with a set of capabilities solving several issues addressed by the project: localization (GPS), camera, and other kinds of sensors. AIRBUS is developing Voice over Internet Protocol software products to provide a completely hands-free communication service. The lines of the First Responders are piloted very easily by a person at HQ; the FR can stay focused on their critical work, just speaking to communicate. The application can also send photographs to be shared with the people in the HQ or in the field if necessary, and the localization of the FR. This information is shared within a situational awareness application. Using the VoIP layer, if the software application crash, the GSM channel still works though and we can quickly re-establish the communication with the person in the field through it. The phone is worn on the forearm to keep the FR's hands free, and to protect the phone from contaminating agents it is sealed inside a waterproof case keeping the tactile capability. The bubble applications attained TRL 7.
While all the existing communication networks may be down due to a blast, or switched off as a standard procedure until it his ascertained that there are no secondary devices, the Airbus Communication Bubble still brings an autonomous secured communication capability during this time.
See Figure 12: Airbus bubble and antenna
ϖA tiny in-ear headset, so small it won't obstruct the whole ear canal, allows the FR to hear their surroundings. It is easy to integrate it with the mask and it is coupled with a Bluetooth emitter including a microphone to completely eliminate the wires between the phone and the head set. The microphone needs to be set next to the phonic membrane. This headset comes with 7 hour’s autonomy and is compliant with iOS devices. Regarding the Bluetooth audio link, it was tested during 7 hours continuously on an iPhone 4S and consumed only 30% of the battery. As the latest models of iPhone have greater autonomy, we should be able to provide the complete service (not only audio) for the duration of a CBRN field situation.
See Figure 13: Earset
Prometech BV (WP2, 6) is a Dutch start-up company making innovative homeland security software (decision support and training systems for first responders)
ϖThe head-up display add-on is meant to improve communication by making it possible to share information between FRs in the field and the HQ. This means the ability to send textual messages and/or geo-spatial information to field units and visualizing it in such a way on a wearable display that it can be understood and interpreted even when under heavy duress. The objectives are to improve operational performance and to ensure the personal safety of the wearer. The head-up display system can help improve situational awareness by providing the FR with accessible, relevant and appropriate information on the task or activity the FR is supposed to perform. When the FR enters the CBRN zone this information is displayed on the HQ screen with a clock indicating the time spent from the start of the mission and the time since entering the zone. The name of the FR is also displayed, together with his picture and his role (the roles can be changed from the HQ according to needs). The chest camera is a smartphone mounted on the chest of the suit in a special secured pocket (with a transparent frontal part). The chest phone can display the FR name, role and take pictures/videos of the surroundings and send them to the HQ; these videos have a fairly low resolution but they allow commanders to receive a live feed directly from the field, which is particularly useful for tracking. More high quality pictures that are meant to identify details or record evidence can be taken by the AIRBUS arm-mounted camera instead. The counters on the screen can be set to count the decontamination time of victims, the number of victims processed and the time the FR spent in the warm zone. The HQ can direct textual messages to the FR and in this way issue orders or raise alarms.
The HUD provides images, text messages from HQ to FR, track location of FR, video feed from FR’s chest view, alarm from HQ to FR. HUD development attained TRL 6.
See Figures 14 & 15: Head-up display
Until now much of the situational awareness in a CBRN environment belongs to the military. Civilian FRs can benefit from these modern fast evolving technologies and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to allow them to be more efficient. Technology is one aspect and use is another.
Information to be shared by FRs follows rules and should be protocoled.
- Only key people are allowed to communicate with the HQ or between FR, hands free:
o FR communication with other FRs: AIRBUS means only
o HQ to FR: HUD and AIRBUS means
o FR to HQ: AIRBUS means only
- Low stream of information, visual in particular, is always preferable in order to keep communication lines open and functional. It has to be implemented properly to keep the priority on the communication which is critical, and enable the video only if there is enough power margin to go beyond the end of the mission duration.
o Live camera feeds the HQ from the chest smartphone paired with the HUD;
o FR can decide to send pictures from the arm smartphone or the HQ can trigger it (AIRBUS means) ;
- Security of FRs is a priority:
o In the event of the FR feeling unwell: the AIRBUS device allows the FR to raise alarm to the HQ;
o In case of a second accident: the HUD placed outside the mask and inside the overpressure hood provides directional information on exit to the FR; both audio set and HUD can raise alarms from the HQ to the FR;
o In case the FR needs to know time spent in the contaminated area or time to shower a victim: the HUD displays this textual time, AIRBUS gives an audio message;
o In case the HQ needs to locate the FR: outdoor GPS ( HUD and AIRBUS devises) give this functionality;
o In case the name or role of FR should be visible: the chest smartphone paired with the HUD gives this functionality.
It would be valuable for medical teams (and their commanders) to know how long they can safely stay in the warm zone, how much time is left until the end of their shift and how many T1/T2 casualties still await decontamination or care.
Proof of concept
Lab tests
SUJCHBO (WP2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) is the Czech national institute for nuclear, chemical and biological protection. It is a certified CBRN testing laboratory, founded as a research, technology and executive support organisation for the State Office for Nuclear Safety.
Protective function:
SUJCHBO realized laboratory tests and worked on usability of IFREACT PPE. Material properties of the suit, protection factors and materials and compliance with the standards were provided by manufacturers. Aerosol tests were conducted in the SPIEZ laboratory. The manufacturers provided the mechanical and physical properties of the key materials as well.
As no material development was performed in this project we demonstrated that the protection requirements for airway protection and skin protection attained a minimum of 6 hours, using the same methodology that was used for a 24-hour protection level (military testing methodology).
➢Whole system integrity measured by the chlorine method
Different configurations of ensembles were tested between June and September 2014 in order to prove that IFREACT PPE avoided the weak points (leakage/ ingress) at interfaces as they were revealed in input tests of commercially available PPE ensembles during the first period of the project.
See Figure 16: Tested IFREACT ensembles
Tests were conducted in the toxicological chamber using chlorine method where three volunteers wore the full innovated PPE and a few current PPE models already tested in the first period for comparison (air-permeable and air-impermeable PPE ensembles as reference).
See Figure 17: Commercially available ensembles
The testing was performed under defined conditions which were the same as for first series of tests using chlorine gas (cca 3 ppm) as a challenging agent. The volunteers wore the PPE ensembles accompanied with the detection underwear underneath to reveal leakages and loss of compatibility (improper seals) between the components of the ensemble. Evaluation of ensemble integrity was carried out according to SUJCHBO methodology MAZL 37/09 – LUCIE which determines systemic protective factor at similar basis as in ASTM F2588-12 and the movements performed by the volunteers were based on normative ASTM F1154-11 (procedure A).
The volunteers spent 30 minutes in a toxicological chamber performing defined movements according to a given protocol. After finishing the test, the colour change on the detection underwear was checked to locate weak interfaces and to quantify ingress. Such tests did not challenge the materials type and determine barrier performance but were only aimed to check the proper integration of the PPE components and the performance of the interfaces and closure components.
The tests were duplicated or triplicated.
➢RESULT: No ingress found for the new IFREACT PPE prototypes.
See Figure 18: Chlorine test
Physiological burden
Conditions of the test inside the physiological chamber were the same as used with the first series of tests with current PPE in order to compare results of performance.
The human volunteers wore the full innovated PPE ensembles
Test performance: duration: 2 hours goal; temperature: 35 °C; relative humidity 35% or 52 %; wind speed: 1.5 m/sec; work load: 400 – 450 W.
The test would stop whenever: the testing time is over, or the core temperature reaches 38.5 °C, or the heart rate exceeds 220 beat/min – age or feeling psychological distress
The tests were run in duplicate for each set of tests, or triplicate. Different volunteers performed the tests in various PPE prototypes.
See Figure 19: Testing of physiological burden
The physiologic parameters (rectal temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and sweat loss) were monitored and evaluated according to normative EN ISO 9886. The volunteers answered a questionnaire regarding their subjective assessment of heat comfort according normative EN ISO 10551.
See Figure 20: Interpretation of results
The chart above shows values (heart rate and rectal temperature) which form the basis for calculating a physiological strain index (PSI) described by a scale from 0 to 10 (no-very high). PSI 50 calculated after 50 minutes means that the test had to be stopped before one hour in the case of air-impermeable suits. PSI 155 was calculated after 115 minutes for all air permeable suits combined with respirators.
➢RESULT: PSI of IFREACT ensembles is rated as little or low (PSI < 4) even under quite hot conditions: 35°, 35% rel. hum.
The air impermeable suits posed nearly 2 x higher strain than air-permeable suits.
The chart below represents different coloured volunteers (V1, V2, V3) wearing IFREACT ensembles, current ensembles and ordinary firefighter work uniforms. The tests of air-impermeable suits had to be stopped before the time limit of two hours as physiological values reached the limit.
➢RESULT: IFREACT ensembles enabled exercising for much longer than for the impermeable suits and did not limit the work time when compared to ordinary firefighter uniforms.
See Figure 21: Limits of work time comparing air permeable suits with air impermeable suits
Considering that all IFREACT PPE satisfied the tests, the conditions were made even more strenuous to highlight the differences between various air-permeable ensembles and volunteers.
➢RESULT: Under such conditions (35°C, 55% rel.hum.) only ensembles with the lightweight suit satisfied or came close to the time limit. The heavy duty suits were comparable to current air-permeable suits.
See Figure 22: End time of tests under conditions of 35°C, 52% relative humidity
To prove the usability of the IFREACT ensembles in various climatic environments, the tests were also performed under low temperatures (- 5 °, humidity 45%, wind speed 1.5 m/s). The assessment was conducted according to subjective judgment scale after 30 minutes and was found to be fairly endurable with a low PSI.
Ergonomic features
The tests were performed by a group of volunteers (5 professional Czech firefighters each day) according to standard ASTM F 1154-11. These procedures were intended for evaluating the suitability of the innovative protective ensembles and/or ensemble components in a work environment on the basis of its comfort, fit, function, and durability. It was a manned work task scenario intended to determine human factor characteristics and the ability of the test subject to perform tasks that may be encountered on a routine basis in a typical work environment. The volunteers wore all combinations of the IFREACT ensembles including various respiratory protections, various gloves and boots and available add-ons.
Audio sets – ear phones + microphone+ arm smartphone
Head Up Display (HUD) + Chest smartphone with on line camera
➢RESULT: all IFREACT ensembles were judged as comfortable (fit and comfort) and met expectations when testing the strength and durability
The professional first responders appreciated lightness and comfort. The drinking device was appreciated especially during hot weather.
The noise of the PAPR limited the ability to listen if not connected to a silencer. The earphones did not fit every type of ears.
Field trials
SAMU (Université de Créteil) (WP1, 2, 3, 8) is the French organization for pre-hospital emergency medicine. Is has the capability to engage a doctor at every level of intervention, from the call or report of an incident to the emergency field. Its other leading principle is to ensure that all emergencies, including CBRN events, are handled with the best possible response in the shortest time. SAMU acts as the coordinator and an end user in IFREACT.
DUZS (WP2, 8) is the National Protection and Rescue Directorate, an independent, professional and administrative organization tasked with preparing plans and managing operational forces as well as coordinating the activities of all participants in the protective and rescue system. DUZS acts as an end user in IFREACT.
Workshops organized in France, Croatia and the Czech Republic and exercises organized by SAMU and Hotzone Solutions in Nogent and Chanteau in 2012 helped to express the concept of use, based on the experience of first responders, in relation to current PPE, potential CBRN incident mitigation, scenarios and known requirement and standards analysis. Any concept of use is commonly recognized to be an iteration and convergence process. At the 2nd AB meeting in Zagreb the consortium agreed on the framework of the project: the type of FR and tasks, location compatible with filtered respiratory protection and air permeable material (excluding the area with insufficient oxygen, high agent concentration), intervention time after the first 15-30-minute FR stage.
Input from FRs after 2012 exercises
These exercises helped partners to share the same knowledge about civilian tasks (by inviting them to be part of exercises). During exercises, nine types of current PPE were worn by volunteers. Apart from PPE devoted to the hot zone, the main constraints unanimously reported by experts and end users during exercises derived from the current tight facial mask with canister. Discomfort provided by airway protection was increased by an air-impermeable skin protection in a warm weather. During exercises, volunteers appreciated the comfort of using a ventilated system, PAPR, with batteries that has become a must in FR wearing PPE all over the world. The slight positive air pressure provides comfort due to less breathing resistance during inhalation.
Providing a drinking device for civilians was a wish highlighted by experts rather than by volunteers during IFREACT exercises due to short working time and good weather conditions.
The tightness of the mask particularly when no PAPR was added affected the wearer in terms of its fit to his face, comfort, performance and overall burden; however, it reflected the unanimous main improvement requested by volunteers. The air permeable suits were considered more comfortable than the air-impermeable ones by the volunteers in Nogent where the weather temperature was high — a remark that was not mentioned in Chanteau where the outside temperature was cooler. It is worth mentioning that the inside body temperature depends on three factors: the ambient temperature, the manual activity performed by the FR and the thermoregulation of the human body via the evaporation process. A hot climate or weather causes heat exhaustion; on the other hand, in cold weather the garment provides no warming even during activities.
The level of training had an impact on volunteer performance. The duration of tasks for first responders is currently limited by their physical strength and physiological endurance.
Fitness, size and skills of end-users were considered as relevant criteria to keep in mind.
The final tests at CAZAUX
The Ebola epidemic highlights the need to adapt civilian PPE to the level and type of threat and to carefully manage EMS procedures and protection. In this respect, the bio-collector developed by Bertin fills a gap in operational procedures and could increase our knowledge about virus transmission allowing the environment of care to be monitored for contamination for at least 6 hours. It justified a specific demo in CAZAUX.
The methodology of the exercise was built step-by-step according to the development of prototypes and preliminary results of lab tests.
We were in an experimental phase to test new products in compliance with ethical rules. Our choice was therefore to focus only on usability of the IFREACT PPE with volunteers in a different context than lab tests. Volunteers were requested to focus on PPE testing and not on CBRN procedures or training. They were not evaluated on this aspect, but were the evaluators.
In order to avoid any bias or lack of knowledge, we sought a variety of volunteers with a strong experience in CBRN procedures and a strong experience in wearing different PPE in use either air-impermeable or air-permeable.
The aim of the trials was to provide information on IFREACT PPE being worn by First Responders performing in a simulated CBRN contaminated area. The purpose was to provide guidance to the consortium and end-user community on the innovative level attained according to end-user and procurement staff requirements.
The main goals were:
• To show relevant skills, capabilities and advantages provided by IFREACT ensembles to all partners who did not have a practical knowledge of IFREACT products beforehand.
• To assess capability, level of efficiency and confidence while wearing the ensembles during 2 hours without shift changes.
• To test the effectiveness of communications provided by the bubble and add-ons.
• To identify weak points, improvements in the design of the ensembles.
• To present the IFREACT ensembles and solutions to end users and experts from the CE SN – NRBC and benefit from their feed-back.
The results are complementary to testing conducted by SUCHJBO.
Methodology
Volunteers tested how well ensembles and ensemble components (gloves, boots, breathing apparatus, communication systems etc.) met their particular applications.
19 men and two women volunteered for this study. All subjects were apparently healthy as ascertained by a health questionnaire.
Subjects from the base who took regular exercise were included in the so-called well-trained volunteers in trial 1. EMS from SAMU were included in the so called occasionally-trained volunteers in trial 2.
Trial 1: (8 well trained volunteers wearing PPE and 4 wearing working uniforms acting as the control group) duration of 2 hours - moderate work load (6 tasks) and moderate climate. Four groups of two volunteers and the control group triplicated six timed tasks: alert, cordon, search and rescue, first aid, site management and initial decontamination. The seven different ensembles were tested. Audio sets and HUD with smartphones were tested. The GSM bubble was deployed.
See Figures 23 & 24: Trial 1
Trial 2: (8 occasionally trained EMS from SAMU 33 and 94 and one volunteer in TLD) duration of 2 hours – low work load (decontamination procedures consisting in supervising, triage, checking, disrobing, showering, drying and giving medical care) - moderate climate.
Trial 3 focused on add-ons usability through the deployed bubble. Led by Hotzone Solutions, this trial consisted in finding an illicit laboratory, searching for evidence and taking samples.
It aimed to prove a gain of efficiency in using add-ons (audio and HUD) compared to current radios.
Results
The PSI calculated in trial 1 was at a level low < 4 in phase with SUJCHBO results, proving the low burden of PPE.
The performance between volunteers wearing IFREACT PPE and volunteers wearing work uniforms in trial 1 was comparable (loss of 5%)
See Figure 25: PSI (120) per type of suit HDS (5) or LWS (3) in trial 1
The 8 volunteers in trial 2 performed tasks without burden and could perform fine gestures.
See Figure 26: EMS volunteers in trial 2 performing fine gestures
The general appreciation of the IFREACT PPE in all trials was positive and these trials proved good capabilities while performing tasks during 2 hours for each user-group: well-trained and occasionally trained. The low burden, low loss of performance and ease of movements were highlighted as they were in the lab tests.
The efficiency of performing tasks regarding EMS activating a decontamination chain and processing victims was also well assessed. To move easily, be seen, heard and to see well were of utmost importance. Dexterity was assessed while intubating a mannequin or injecting drugs.
Some ergonomic details remained to be resolved, bearing in mind that IFREACT PPE only comprised prototypes in one size.
The use of add-ons was discovered and appreciated by FRs, especially by EMS. The bubble provides reliability of communications if the telecommunication network is down, bearing in mind that the various different technologies (GSM or WIFI) have advantages and disadvantages and need to be thought and authorized by each country in advance.
Some positive comments came from end-users and CBRN observers and are worth publishing.
The improvement in the capacity to perform is proven and even underestimated.
Expert comment:
“I thought at the outset that the workshops were rather overdoing it and that the FR’s would end up exhausted. I am used to the old suits and I know that one hour in such conditions with forced breathing is long and exhausting.
So I was very surprised at the ease with which the volunteers operated, to the extent that I said they caught up with the control volunteers.
The tests were very well adapted for the old outfits and it will be possible to go further with the new ones.”
EMS comment
“The physiological constraint of wearing the protective PPE with OP hood and blower bears no comparison to anything we currently know: .....
The communication tools and tablet with tag for triage are particularly interesting but development needs perfecting.”
Ethical issues
The approval of two ethical committees was sought very early in the project from the competent ethical committees in France and in the Czech Republic.
For all lab testing and for the exercises volunteer participation was established on a fully voluntary and confidential basis respecting all the conditions in compliance with European rules and the national ethical committees in both France and Czech Republic. Thus formal native-language (French and Czech) consent forms were issued in addition to those in English containing full and clear information on:
• The project purpose, partners and objectives
• The tasks requested from volunteers, duration, details about testing and potential risks
• The freedom to retract at any desired time
• The right to ask questions about the project
• The need to be medically checked in advance and during the tests
• Confidentiality issues and respect of a complete anonymous treatment of personal data
All appropriate measures were therefore taken to confirm the fulfilment of Special Clause 15 of the GA.
PPE selection tool
Hotzone Solutions Benelux BV (WP2, 3, 8) is an international training and consulting company founded by a group of former military and civilian CBRN defence officers, inspection team leaders and weapons inspectors from United Nations special commissions, the United Nations monitoring verification and inspection commission and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. HZS provides realistic and practical chemical, biological and radiological/nuclear training to the military, law enforcement, emergency response and security communities.
During the project the PPE Selection Tool was developed by Hotzone Solutions and Prometech. It consists of two sections: one for first responders to use in case of a CBRN incident and one for procurement officers during the preparation phase. This software tool can help FRs and procurement staff choose the right PPE system for their mission.
The first responder tool is based on a decision tree that has been developed in such a way that it uses information about a CBRN incident, as well as the first responder’s task, task duration and work intensity, to provide a recommendation on the best adapted PPE. A proprietary decision support system was implemented that allows any number of questions to be linked in a flexible and modular tree format. A back-end logic system takes the choices made by end-users and presents them with a suitable result, in this case a PPE ensemble (from the available PPE-list
database) that provides the best durability and protection in case of a specific CBRN threat (hazard level depending on nature of threat/substance properties).
The procurement section of the tool should be used by national CBRN emergency authorities and/or first responders for guidance and recommendations on what type of PPE ensemble to procure and how such an ensemble should be purchased, stored and used. It is based on objective criteria and performance characteristics. The PPE selection tool can be used by relevant organisations and national entities, once the main types of CBRN risks have been identified, preparedness priorities defined and budget allocated for the purchase of PPE.
Data on protection factors and threat levels came from other deliverables created in this project. These deliverables used a scientific approach to determine protection factors of existing PPE and calculate CBRN threat levels. The solid methodological background of these deliverables underlying the decision tree therefore validated its PPE recommendations. From a software perspective, unit and integration tests have been performed to validate the technical implementation.
Lastly, in line with what is suggested above we compiled expert input from consortium members (internal review) and the Advisory Board in order to verify this new deliverable.
The tool can be accessed at http://pst.prometech.eu
Potential Impact:
European countries are moving towards a civilian-military concept. New agents are being developed while we are working on traditional weapons of mass destruction. There is no real need to make a precise selection of threats or to stick to previous scenarios. The difference between chemical and biological agents may be unclear. TICs could be a major concern and are also attractive to terrorists. The way these toxics are disseminated affects the level of risk and protection. We therefore have to be open to new threats and levels of risk.
IFREACT answered the above unsolved safety questions by enabling FRs to be more flexible. PPE was conceived as an ensemble including add-ons giving FRs a capability of audio and visual information in real time and securing FR movements on the site. The capacity to rescue and to give rapid care to victims was provided by the PPE’s very low burden. The PPE protection time was pegged to 6 hours once again matching civilian FR tasks at the incident site.
The consortium achieved its objective to enable a working time of at least 2 hours, which is the time needed to confirm or stop the decontamination procedure in case of man-made accident with unknown agents. This 2 to 3 hour working time avoids frequent shift changes and consequently reduces human resources, lowers the lifecycle cost in buying a larger number of PPE (due to different sizes to fit civilian morphologic characteristics) and reduces delicate FR disrobing and decontamination procedures. A survey conducted by the Paris police force in France highlighted these points.
The principal new concepts and new design theories introduced in the IFREACT project include:
- The concept of ensembles instead of separate elements;
- Taking into account the specific characteristics of civilian FRs : different levels of fitness and levels of training in the use of PPE, wide variation in body size;
- Broadening the spectrum of the air–permeable protection enabling for example FRs wearing IFREACT PPE to perform wet decontamination
- Integrating an aerosol protection factor - a first for civilian responders. This new aerosol filter retains particles, biological as well as radiological ones, within the 0.3-10 micron level whereas current clothes usually provide limited protection for particles around 50-100 microns. The new aerosol filter has been developed to cover the whole size range with an efficiency of 90-99%.
- Increasing civilian confidence by using affordable audio and visual add-ons, providing the responder with much improved situational awareness and real time information, hands free;
- Facilitating FR tasks by decreasing physiological constraints and as a result increasing capacities and performance at scene, thus integrating the well-known NATO concept of preventing degradation of performance;
- Offering cost effective solutions according to less trained user-group needs such as a one-piece suit with integrated socks (avoiding the need to buy special CBRN shoes); one size overpressure hood;
- Ensuring the communication functionalities by deploying a communication bubble that has an immediate application nowadays in any terrorism attack, hence needing national authorizations that should be anticipated before any crisis;
- Integrating a drinking device systematically to all IFREACT airway protection systems, effectively decreasing heat stress;
- Considering victims’ behaviour and compliance: a FR’s face being visible is deemed more trustworthy and will reduce fear in victims
- Colours can be tailored to customer organisations, rendering different FR categories instantly identifiable and anticipating a European consensus in this respect in the future.
- Demonstrating the added value of a PAPR blower with silencer, facilitating breathing, eliminating fogging and reducing CO2 re-breathing, plus avoiding the weight of canisters on the neck.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results
IFREACT now has a role to play in promoting these results to the community of end-users and helping to change stakeholder perceptions in dealing with CRBN events and civilian FR protection. This was started during the project through dissemination activities and in building a PPE selection tool: http://pst.prometech.eu.
The promotion of the project was actively conducted via the organisation of conferences, workshops, and the delivery of presentations, progress updates, press releases and mailshots to targeted end users throughout Europe and outside of the EU, predominantly in the US, Canada, ISRAEL and the Middle East.
The presentations were given in eleven countries (France, UK, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Israel, Germany, Croatia, Belgium, the USA, Thailand and Singapore) to over 2,500 specialist stakeholders. Another essential outreach tool was the generation of articles in appropriate stakeholder magazines. In all it can be estimated that over 21,000 different individuals read these articles. A 9-minute video will help disseminate the project and the work that the EC, through FP7, and IFREACT conducted for first responder protection. The video covers the final exercise at the French Air Force base at Cazaux (France) on 20-21 October 2014. This was a chance to see the completed ensembles in action with different end –user groups, as well as to collect the opinions of the consortium, exercise participants and the expertise of the CE-SN CBRN military centre.
(UPEC website here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hedey_projet-europeen-ifreact-vostfr_school)
The exploitation of results
The end of the IFREACT project corresponds with the time to renew most FR wardrobes and equipment after 10 years of use. The project developed first prototypes for three types of protective clothing adapted to different levels of first responders work (heavy duty suit, light weight suit and undergarment), two types of respiratory protection (gas mask and overpressure hood), a balaclava to be attached and perfectly fit to the mask thanks to a butyl ring and two types of add-ons (audio and visual).
The prototypes
Unless there is a demand the manufacturers will not invest in commercialisation of these prototypes and the lifecycle cost of products depends on the size of an order. In this respect, the will to create a European Community of End Users at a European level gives an opportunity for IFREACT as the outstanding challenge is one of making the community of end users aware of these innovative results. Moreover, IFREACT has set up connections with other FP7 projects i.e. Practice, EDEN, and CATO and will participate in this European Community of Users, in order to push forward demand for these innovative products and continue to develop the public PPE selection tool.
The prototypes realised have attained a high TRL and could be commercialised within a few months, providing standardisation issues for civilian CBRN PPE can be resolved. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) guidelines there are three levels (A, B, C) with A requiring a gas-tight suit, B high liquid resistance and C vapour resistance (each higher level includes the protection of the level below). Alternatively one may want to follow the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that provides three broad standards/levels analogous to the OSHA ones (NFPA 1991, 1992 and 1994), but within them there are a number of levels that further break out detail. Yet these aren’t all. NATO has a standard for suits (AEP 38) and so do British Standards and Hotzone Solutions, who do a great deal of training for the multinational agencies and have eight recommended levels of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The properties of the communication bubble are worth being known and further exploited. The 2G bubble deployed within ten minutes and able to detect mobile phones in the area covered by the bubble, either belonging to potential victims or potential terrorists is of utmost importance. The use of 3G or the coming 4G relies on national operator authorizations. The next phase beyond the project is to introduce this generation to the European First Responder Community and appear in forthcoming CBRN civilian standards. The future of the bubble relies on 4G technology (in particular LTE). A 4G antenna can cover 10km and several antennae could be deployed to make a mesh network. If one breaks down, the others continue to function.
IFREACT add-ons comprised off-the-shelf devices that were already used on a daily basis (such as smartphones) and were, therefore, not very expensive and familiar to first responders. They prevented FRs from carrying heavy communication devices and cameras. Today the communication service is managed from a web application on the HQ side; an iPad application could be developed to manage the communications with the field directly on the spot.
The HUD, so innovative in a civilian field, needs to link with other projects and get feedback from other end-users before being going to market. Although the “multiple add-ons” approach was the best for the project to handle and benefit from implementation coming from different partners (HUD and audio sets), one could think of further integrating the validated functionalities into a minimum set of devices to add to the suit (i.e. a single smartphone to handle HUD and audio).
The miniature bio-collector has found immediate possible exploitation as it makes it possible to monitor the environment of patients infected by the Ebola virus, determining health professionals’ level of exposure.
List of Websites:
IFREACT public website: http://www.ifreact.eu/
Creteil University [UPEC] is the coordinator of the 3-year IF REACT project funded under the 7th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under the European Commission grant agreement no. 285034. The aim is to enhance the CBRN Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by civilian first responders (FRs) across Europe, allowing them better capabilities and performance and greater confidence. The consortium comprises eleven partners from six countries: CBRN manufacturers: [NBC-Sys, Blücher, Bertin, Airbus Defence and Space], subject matter experts: [SUJCHBO Institute, Prometech, Hotzone Solutions, Falcon Communications] end users [DUZS and SAMU] and the Project Manager [Business Editing].
IFREACT developed a family of seven PPE ensembles. For the first time, industrialists worked simultaneously and jointly, offering modular and integrated solutions. Choices derived from different user-groups, procurement staff requirements, Advisory Board expert advice, field exercises and links with other European projects.
Tests conducted at the SUJCHBO laboratory assessed the efficiency of interfaces between three types of respiratory protection systems, five types of suits and two types of communication device and gave a physiological classification of the current and new ensembles. As expected, Saratoga air-permeable technology offers a low burden. IFREACT PPE has a physiological strain index that is approximately half that of air-impermeable suits.
Capabilities and performance were assessed during a field trial at the CAZAUX French Defence air base. The new masks made of soft material are more comfortable and will suit civilian and military use. They can be worn with a hood attached to the suit or with a hood attached to the mask [the balaclava] and worn over the suit. The innovative one-sized overpressure hood offers wider vision and is particularly adapted to civilian users such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS) who may wear glasses and a beard. EMS appreciate being seen and heard by victims. Both respiratory protection systems offer drinking capacities and have mounted communication devices. These devices include ear sets and a wireless HUD both paired with smartphones protected in special suit pockets. They prevent first responders from being isolated and give them greater confidence when operating at the scene. They enable civilian FRs to perform hands free and to communicate between themselves and with the HQ. In the event where the communication network is down, the reliability of audio, visual and text communications is provided by the AIRBUS Bubble.
The two-hour trials conducted at CAZAUX with different groups of volunteers—well trained and occasionally trained FRs—proved that there is practically no loss of capability while performing tasks in IFREACT ensembles during this length of time. This was a requirement of end-users in order to avoid frequent shift changes and to save human and equipment resources.
All PPE protection factors comply with tasks in a contaminated warm area for a continuous exposure of 6 hours (spray protection, vapour, particles and aerosols).
Another IFREACT innovation is the miniaturized Bertin bio-collector which can be attached to the suit, with an immediate application of monitoring potential contamination in the case of the EBOLA epidemic. The IFREACT project also includes the development of a PPE selection tool that allows end users and procurement staff to select the best PPE system for the first responder’s mission according to the expected threat through a smartphone application.
IFREACT developed prototypes in one size. The next steps, beyond the project, will be to contribute to the European civilian CBRN PPE standardisation work and to produce commercial ensembles within one year.
Project Context and Objectives:
Context
International events remind us that CBRN incidents have multiple facets and concern the civilian population. The goal of first responder (FR) operational procedures in the field is to take care of victims and to keep FRs safe while performing their tasks. The CBRN environment is hostile and uncertain by definition. We all know that the first team arriving at the scene may become a group of secondary victims. We must also keep in mind that a second accident is always possible—either conventional like an explosion or unconventional such as a mixture or second release of CBRN agents. The FR’s life and safety depends on adequate protection in performing their tasks, and on reliable communication between partners in the field and with the command and control centre. Being able to receive information from the command centre about how to escape from a new danger or to give information to the commander about a newly discovered danger is what may determine the success and efficiency of the operation.
The consortium
IFREACT is the acronym for “Improved First Responder Ensembles against CBRN Terrorism”. IFREACT has an impact on the preparedness of first responders and the general public for CBRN risks. Despite its name, the objective of this project is to work specifically on civilian first responder equipment while dealing with CBRN events, which may be deliberate attacks but also accidents.
IFREACT comprises eleven partners working together in an excellent atmosphere of cooperation. Partners come from six EU states: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
The professional sectors of the eleven Advisory Board members from six countries is described below. They helped to define IFREACT choices.
From the military field: 2 experts in chemistry and toxicology
Firefighters: 2
National Health institution: 1
Forensic: 1
Scientific: 1
CEA: 1
EDA: 1
CBRN consultant: 2
End-user requirements
The final IFREACT product is keenly needed by the population of end users and policy-makers at a time when they are renewing their PPE. In addition, we talk of an ensemble. This means that it was a good opportunity for industrialists to work simultaneously to match respirators with suits and add-ons even if there was already a possibility of providing modular pieces. End users deplore having to buy a mask and a suit from different suppliers and to contend with potential interface leakages.
The First Responder community IFREACT was asked to work on includes the general public, duty holders (occasionally involved in these events), fire-fighters, policemen, healthcare providers and special CBRN forces. We consider that the general public is of the utmost importance. Different on-the-market hoods provide an immediate, hence, short-term solution. IFREACT kept this in mind and did not work on an alternative solution.
Duty holders are either well equipped by their occupational departments or occasionally trained and not equipped at all. In the latter case we consider them as victims to be managed by the rescue teams. Fire-fighters and policemen are mandatory at the scene of such an event. They perform physically demanding tasks. EMS teams are not often used to work in the pre-hospital field as they do in France. They are trained to deal with decontamination procedures and to care for victims. Special Forces or professional CBRN responders include a miscellaneous population: lab personnel charged with collecting samples, forensic staff, demining specialists and anti-terrorism forces. All these user groups have specific requirements.
Unlike military or professional responders, some civilian FRs may receive only sporadic training in using their PPE. The level of training impacts the choice of solutions and was a working path for IFREACT. Moreover PPE is often derived from occupational or military use. Nowadays PPE must be adapted to civilian FR tasks and missions. Therefore it was necessary to strike a balance between the PPE’s protective properties and operational burden and the capacity to rescue and to give rapid care to victims.
The evaluation conducted through exercises and workshops at the beginning of the project enabled IFREACT to identify the most emergent threats, the existing PPE and the list of civilian first responders in greatest need of innovative protection.
Workshop findings showed a lack of rationale when selecting PPE and a gap between the wishes of end users—which are mostly ergonomic—the constraints of policy makers—which are mostly economic—and the quantification of acceptable toxic penetration by inhalation or through skin which is rarely defined. Decision-makers, procurement staff and end users would like to be sure of having the highest level of protection but they all know that over-protection leads to unacceptable burden and loss of performance. A survey conducted in France demonstrated that civilian FRs are keen to wear military suits, which evoke for them the best protection. The lack of European civilian standards complicates the understanding of air-permeable suit levels of protection in particular.
Today, the question is not if, but when the next event will take place and what type it will be. This does not mean that it will be frequent or concern as many people as in war situations, with large quantities of products and on a large scale. The Advisory Board members gave input about toxic concentration issues which are highlighted as the state of the art. It will normally be quicker to get a result on the identification of the agent before its concentration. To establish initial concentration, this will involve a number of activities to understand how far the contamination has spread from the source in order to establish the concentration at a particular point at a particular time. In general, scientists are more concerned about quantity released than concentration as quantity will allow them to plot plume more accurately. Most detectors will sound the alarm at set concentrations so it is fairly quick (dependent on response times) to state that the contamination is ‘more than...’, but more complex to state exact concentration. In the UK they would hope to have a 75 - 90% known agent within 45 min of response and 100% known within 2 hours. An initial concentration estimate would come at same time as the known agent; however it would take longer to work out concentrations at geographic locations (2 hours). This initial time period of two hours is of utmost importance in CBRN events. That is why IFREACT included it as an objective for FRs to work at the scene and postpone the first shift change for over two hours.
The end users were unanimous in concluding that, according to civilian tasks in PPE at the scene defined as follows: alerting the public, site management, search and rescue, site detection and sampling, demining, forensic measures, securing and cordoning the site, first aid measures, immediate decontamination, triage and medical care, deep decontamination and anti-terrorist measures, the project will target on the warm zone in its work, excluding the hot zone. In the hot zone, heavy encapsulated PPE is mandatory. Time is limited by breathing apparatus. A small number of trained professionals enter this red zone. In contrast, the larger number of FRs wearing PPE is active in the warm zone. Consequently, IFREACT focused its work on the following risks: industrial or warfare chemical agents (contaminant or not), and TICs, radiological particles and biological toxins or a combination of these agents with a level of risk compatible with a contaminated warm zone.
In order to get pertinent user requirements a questionnaire was designed and sent out both within and outside Europe to high-level national CBRN advisors or experts. Ten countries answered, illustrating the diversity of PPE in use and the pertinence of the FR classification and description of tasks IFREACT adopted.
Among many evolving constraints, two were highlighted by the community of end users. First, wet decontamination procedures remain a key problem for EMS, adding a constraint of water exposure in the shower zone, even if the ORCHID project concluded that we could shorten this step. Secondly, the time needed to precisely identify the toxic agents has an impact on the IFREACT solutions and length of average wearing of PPE by FRs, as it usually takes a minimum of two hours in all countries to precisely identify the chemical or mixed agents.
Objectives:
The overall project objectives as mentioned in Annex I of the Grant Agreement were:
✓- Develop a tool that allows end users and procurement staff to select the best PPE system for the mission of the first responder and the expected threat
✓ - Develop a PPE system that:
- will address the real protection needs of the typical users, both with regards to the level of protection as well as its total capacity;
- provides adequate protection, while keeping the burden of the system as low as possible;
- will include solutions for hand and foot protection that take safety, ergonomic, and logistic aspects of the typical user group into consideration.
✓- The protective system will provide added functionality regarding the C4I needs of the typical wearer. Typical First Responder tactical needs as communication, (indoor) localisation & situational awareness, will be enabled by affordable, robust and easy-to-use technology. Wearability, acceptable degradation and logistics will dictate innovative approaches on the material as well as on the system level.
✓- The suit will be configured as a platform that carries the energy and the connections to the components of the sensor subsystem. The sensors itself will be housed in the suit as well as in the respirator, depending on their function. The configuration of the system will enable other / new energy cells and sensors to be connected whenever required.
✓- This platform will be interfaced with the external infrastructure to get extra capabilities/situation awareness without constraints and cost on the suit itself.
The last three goals had to be revised during the project to fit a modular concept of Add-ons due to technology improvements and the increasing availability of wireless devices.
Progress beyond the state of the art
IFREACT aimed to go beyond the state of the art in the following ways:
1. For the first time, skin protection (suit) performance will be based on an assessment of the combination of realistic Homeland CBRN incident scenarios, available human toxicology data regarding the involved agents and exposures; real life First Responder operational needs, based on their specific response scenarios (responsibilities and activities).
2. The skin protection (suits) will consist of a family of suits that are individually optimised to address specific user group needs. The possibility of choice will be realised by variations in overall protection capacity; level of liquid repellence; level of fire retardancy.
3. The skin protection options (suits) will all be designed as platforms capable of elegantly integrating C4I (energy, connections and sensors) hardware needs.
4. System approach: Inherently integrated and optimized, user requirements based interface of suits with respiratory-, hand- and foot-protection components.
5. Integrated stretchable bio aerosol filter layer
The expected impact is the development of new and better protective equipment that enhance the security of first responders and individuals, helping them to work more efficiently during a CBRN crisis.
Structure of the project
Coordination SAMU/ UPEC - Management BUSINESS EDITING
WP1 leader SAMU / BE
WP2 leader SAMU (after IBC departure)
WP3 leader SAMU
WP4 leader BLÜCHER
WP5 leader NBC-Sys
WP 6 leader AIBUS DEFENCE and SPACE
WP7 leader NBC-Sys
WP8 leader FALCON communication
WP2 summarizes the management of a CBRN crisis, bearing in mind the need to be protected by the right PPE. WP3 focuses on the end user requirements and properties of IFREACT PPE in use and in development. WP4 WP5 and WP6 transform user requirements into technical specifications bearing in mind the technical improvements beyond the state of the art. WP7 integrates these data. WP1 manages the project and WP8 ensures dissemination activities.
Project Results:
Thanks to valuable input from the user requirements, a concept was developed which consisted of a family of suits to be combined with the different respiratory protective components and communication devices resulting in seven clothing ensembles which can then be worn by different first responder groups for different missions in the warm zone.
The project has developed three types of protective clothing adapted to different levels of first responders work (heavy duty suit, light weight suit and undergarment), two types of respiratory protection (gas mask and overpressure hood), a balaclava to be attached and perfectly fit to the mask thanks to a butyl ring and different add-ons (audio and visual).
The integration goal of all functionalities and add-ons (ear set and Head-up Display –HUD-), was revised for the sake of practicality. Consequently, modularity was the concept of choice in order to provide compatibility of the components in CBRN and normal missions, and to minimize lifecycle cost of the entire CBRN protective ensemble. At the same time communication devices evolved fast to become wireless.
This modularity has led us to present the results according to the various components: types of skin protection, types of airway protection and communication devices.
The IFREACT PPE ensembles offer the adequate level of protection for FRs to perform in the warm zone. They offer good freedom of movement, low burden, and the capacity to see, to be seen and identified by professional affiliation, to hear and to be heard. FRs can communicate, hence reducing their feeling of isolation and improving safety in the event of evacuation, etc. Different user groups can select the type of ensembles they need for their operational needs.
The ensembles
Skin protection
Blücher (WP2, 3, 4, 7) is the global market leader in the development and production of adsorptive compound fabrics for individual protection against chemical and biological warfare agents.
Rationale
Many chemical warfare agents and some toxic industrial and radiological particles can be absorbed through the skin and although some might only cause a burn or a rash, others can be much more serious or even fatal.
The objective of the skin protection was to propose innovative skin protection concepts, including solutions for hand and foot protection, which are not properly covered by any existing standard for personal protective equipment. This means that solutions provided stand independently from the standard concepts, suits and materials as they were described, built and used during the last decades. The aim was to break away from the currently available PPE-classes, material types and standardized requirements, because they proved to be sub-optimal for use in CBRN scenarios.
The rationale for the level of protection is defined as adequate with the level of risk in the warm zone, corresponding to dust, particles, aerosols (depending on size), liquid (short liquid protection), vapour protection, heat stress.
Adapting protection levels to civilian first responder means moving away from the previous military level of protection and justifies downgrading the protection level providing the required protection for a shorter duration (6h) and specifying limits of protection.
Blücher has conducted fundamental investigations on vapour and liquid to understand the performance of fabrics but there are different requirements and NATO for example came to the conclusion that only the liquid protection should be taken care of since vapour is volatile. In IFREACT, for the civilian FRs working in the warm zone and arriving 30 minutes after the incident, we concluded that there would be vapour threat and perhaps some liquid (only on the floor as droplets) so we directed our efforts towards protection against vapour TICs. This is consistent with the policy of the German authority for controlling civilian protection; as they are trying to create standards for the air-permeable adsorptive suits they want to ensure only protection against vapour TICs.
There is some TICs protection in the suit (activated carbon with appropriate pore size). It is hard to get figures for protection against TICs because there are different lists of TICs we need to agree on, different physical states of TICs (liquid/vapour), different challenge concentrations, different test methodologies (how to expose these suits to TICs), and different toxicological limits of skin exposure since some TICs are more or less toxic.
The outcome of this approach led to solutions that:
• Provide adequate protection, in terms of threat as well as user needs;
• Inflict the lowest burden on the wearer as is technically feasible;
• Are simple to use, as well as to maintain and store;
• Are optimally compatible with other equipment that has to be used by the wearer such as respirators and add-ons;
• Are low lifecycle cost including costs of acquisition use, storage and maintenance;
• Do not fit in the current evaluation and qualification regime.
Due to the various FR tasks and realistic incident scenario hazards, it was necessary to have a family of suits with various different attributes (performance levels as well as functionalities).
The solutions were based on the SARATOGA existing air permeable adsorptive technology, on some novel material combinations, and provided innovative design and features to minimize physiological burden, improve ergonomics, accommodate add-ons and provide compatibility with respiratory concepts and enhanced safety of the wearer by high visibility and identification by different colour schemes for different professional affiliations.
The protection time of the ensembles was reduced to six hours according to the requirements of the civilian first responder groups directly resulting from their operations and missions.
The work involved:
• Use of lightweight novel materials to reduce body burden in combination with form fitting design
• Use of hybrid materials with different functionalities in different body areas instead of a single material in the old suits
• Use of lightweight flexible filter materials.
The basic filter material is standard for Blücher but combined with an outer shell and a new design was specific for the project. For the functional material which is the activated carbon layer, it is the same Blücher already knows.
Since the filter was not alone, the whole fabric (filter and outer shell) had to be tested.
The wear time was significantly increased compared to that of air impermeable suits as well as to air permeable suits made from inferior technology.
There has not been any specific definition of the threat from aerosol chemical, biological or radiological substances nor is there any quantified level of protection available. There does not appear to be any consensus on the level of protection parameters. Although air permeable suits can be designed to provide some protection against radioactive fallout particle sizes of around 50-100 microns, conventional fabrics do not provide any significant retention efficiency against particle sizes ranging from 0.3 microns to 10 microns. The new layer was designed to have a retention efficiency of 90-99% depending on the density and the testing method. For this reason an air permeable aerosol protective filter component was integrated into the adsorptive filter layer for the heavy duty suit. In order to determine the performance of the aerosol protection of the heavy duty suit, evaluation of both the material and the system of the different suits (heavy, light and reference suits) needed to be conducted in a special lab—Spiez Laboratories in Switzerland.
In the end, performance indicators measured in lab and field tests reflected the overall benefit of the protective ensembles to the first responders and to the success of their mission.
Description of skin protection solutions
The protection provided by IFREACT PPE is based on the concept of ensembles offering tightness with other equipment i.e. preventing penetration of agents. The potential ingress of chemical agents through closures or interfaces with other equipment is of utmost importance. Air movement under the suit caused by the bellows effect (pumping action of the suit on the body when movement occurs) affects the protective performance of a suit. IFREACT PPE prevents ingress and offers a good protection factor regarding this aspect, as demonstrated at the SUCHJBO laboratory.
The family of IFREACT ensembles was designed in one or two pieces or as an undergarment. Their design affects human factors through wearability, ease of donning and doffing, easy integration of add-ons, degree of stretch enabling freedom of movement, etc.
See Figure 1: Table of ensembles in Appendix
ϖThe Heavy Duty Suit (HDS: 2.5kg) is adapted to a mission in the warm zone for physically demanding search and rescue tasks and consequently for well-trained FRs.
- The outer fabric resists mechanical stress and abrasion. It has flame retardant and water repellent properties.
- The multifunctional layer laminate filter material comprising a layer of spherical activated carbon and integrated aerosol filter layer provides the requested protection against chemical warfare agents and a retention against aerosol and particle collection efficiency of 80% according to EN 1822.
- In addition, specific sections such as elbows, knees, seat areas and interface areas such as the inner arm and leg cuffs are made of impermeable material creating an aerosol-tight interface.
ϖThe Light Weight Suit (LWS: 1.5 kg) is adapted to FRs performing less physically demanding missions in the warm zone with specific tasks such as EMS triage, escorting victims, taking care of them, decontaminating casualties or police cordoning, escorting, performing forensic tasks, etc. and consequently occasionally trained FRs. Attention has been paid to lower the suit weight, to enhance easy and intuitive donning and doffing, flexibility and freedom of movement.
- Therefore, the outer shell is made of a soft fabric, which is without flame retardant properties but is water repellent.
- The filter layer is based on knitted textiles with a specific content of elastic fibres laminated to a layer of activated adsorbing carbon. The requested protection against chemical warfare agents is the same as the HDS. No specific aerosol protection was requested, nevertheless tests conducted in SPIEZ showed a certain degree of retention efficiency resulting from the relatively dense outer shell.
- Interfaces have been reinforced and protected by the same, but thicker, filter material. Interfaces at sleeves have been equipped with integrated cuffs to ensure easy donning and outmost tightness with the hand protection.
ϖThe undergarment is meant to be worn underneath a non CBRN uniform. Highly air–permeable, it is designed to be thin and elastic with a bacteriostatic property for hygienic purposes. Specific configurations can be further considered to fit other requested functionalities.
ϖIn addition, all suits are washable at least six times and maintain their protective performance during 30 days.
ϖIt is possible to identify FRs. The LWS outer shell material is highly visible to ensure day visibility. Stripes of reflective materials ensure visibility even at night-time. They are flame retardant in the case of the HDS.
ϖGloves developed by IFREACT are called comfort gloves and hybrid gloves. Gloves are designed to protect hands and wrists. The likelihood of exposure to liquid challenges, the level of wear and tear needed associated with manual dexterity makes them complex. Comfort gloves are meant to handle add-ons, in particular the smartphones. They are made of filter material with no liquid challenge properties. Hybrid gloves are meant to be worn with the HDS as they are flame retardant and benefit from liquid challenge properties and high durability. They are designed for handling add-ons as well.
ϖFoot protection developed by IFREACT is a high durability leather boot with integrated CBRN vapour protective filter.
ϖA separate hood called a balaclava has been created. In this case the HDS and LWS are provided with a banded collar. The HDS and LWS balaclava have the same material compounds as the HDS and LWS. A bacteriostatic property is added to fit with the HDS. A butyl ring developed by NBC Sys ensures interface with the mask.
ϖPockets are mounted on the hood and balaclava to support the HUD battery. A cable gate at the left neck side enables the audio-set wire to be connected to the mouth piece. Pockets covered by a CBRN transparent film are provided for the chest and arm smartphones. A third pocket is designed for the bio-collector enabling air-flow in and out of the device.
ϖAttention was paid to details meeting specific user requirements: design of shoulder epaulettes on both sides to fix the PAPR hose; thumb loops and foot loops avoiding sleeves and trousers riding up; socks combined with the LWS enabling wearing of working shoes; complementary protection ensured at all interfaces including the front zipper and waist; the use of international size denominations and charts commonly used by civilians: S, M, L, XL, XXL.
ϖThe packaging respects choice of sizes of vests, trousers and LWS. A notch at both sides of the vacuum bag ensures opening without scissors. Blücher suits have a shell life of over ten years.
ϖThe production of training suits is technically easily possible and will mimic physiological burden.
ϖThe perception of water exposure is not well understood. During the early project phase of collecting information about user experience with state of the art technologies and future requirements, several user remarks were made regarding protective characteristics when water is involved. Statements such as “carbon suits do not protect when they are wet” indicate that further information will have to be made available for the users.
This information will have to cover all different facets of the subject “carbon suits exposed to water” i.e.
1. The protective characteristics of a wet filter have been proven during several qualification programs, during which the filter had either been exposed to clear water (mimicking rain or other water from environment) or aqueous solutions (sweat or salt water) prior to chemical agent testing.
2. Water (e.g. from rain and spray) is prevented from penetrating the suit by the outer shell which is treated with an oil and water repellent finish, so that water drops with a moderate impact will not penetrate into the material compound.
3. Once protective clothing is contaminated with chemical agent droplets, they might be propelled into the fabric by heavy rain. Because of their complexity, such tests are only very rarely performed. Within this project, this case is irrelevant anyway, because it is considered as unlikely that these first responders are exposed to significant liquid contamination.
4. When a liquid challenge is considered to be a water-borne bacterial or viral contamination, then the test methodology changes to determining the protective characteristics in the totally different set-up, like it is used for barrier materials.
5. In case liquid splashes of water or toxic chemicals are expected, a certain penetration has to be anticipated, so that for safety reasons additional impermeable aprons or sleeves should be worn.
As the created prototypes have been tested in an operational environment at the final tests at Cazaux. All suit types including design variations resulting from IFREACT attain a technology readiness level of 7 (TRL7).
The suits are prepared to meet the requirements of CE certification, category III. This process will be accomplished after finalization of customer requirements and will constitute to achieve TRL8. TRL9 will be achieved by customer usage of the suits in an operational environment.
Respirators
NBC-Sys (WP2, 3, 5, 7) designs, develops and markets protection, detection and decontamination systems for the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear domains. Its original business focused on French military needs via masks and filter cartridges.
NBC-Sys worked on 3 different types of IFREACT products:
ϖA gas mask which can be used with a canister or with a PAPR. This gas mask is worn with a suit equipped with a hood. Main responder priorities were improving comfort, reducing laboured breathing, restricted vision, heat stress and claustrophobia.
The main innovative developments on the gas mask were:
o a textile head harness made with a net to reduce burden on the head and the heat it generates, with adjustment possibilities on all the head harness straps. The length of each strap can be adjusted to ensure optimum contact between the seal of the gas mask and the face of the user;
See Figure 2: View of the head harness with adjustable straps
o it is made of an ultra- soft material (butyl rubber), and is more comfortable;
o it has a smaller canister connector to make the canister closer to the neck axis of the user and thus reduce neck fatigue; a special device was developed to move the canister on the left side of the gas mask;
o it provides protection against liquid, vapour and aerosols;
o it provides a wide field of view (77%) with a larger flexible panoramic visor made of polyurethane, allowing better peripheral vision;
o the inside of the mask is equipped with an aeraulic circuit to avoid fog accumulation on the visor and to reduce re-breathing CO2 ;
o it has a speech diaphragm placed in front for good voice transmission;
o identification of professional affiliation groups is made possible via coloured caps in front of the mask;
o the gas mask is equipped with a drinking device connected to a reservoir carried on the user’s back. The drinking device has been positioned on the left side of the gas mask to leave the right side available for the HUD mounting system. It avoids disturbing the user as much as possible by having the drinking tube from the reservoir set on their back; the device is normally closed while not used; the orientation of the final pipe can be adjusted to enable the user to put it in his mouth or not, the device is easy to use with any type of gloves and does not modify the protection factor of the respiratory protection; when activating the drinking device the user does not apply pressure on the respiratory protection. They just apply pressure to the body of the drinking device which avoids modifying the volume of the respiratory protection and thus avoids creating negative pressure inside the respiratory area; the orientation of the pipe is therefore adjusted by simply turning the external part of the drinking device.
o the gas mask cannot be worn with glasses. In order to correct vision, a special device is provided to be worn inside the gas-mask. This device is equipped with lenses adapted to the user’s vision
o it cannot be used if the user has a beard.
The integration of the audio communication device to the gas mask has been made in partnership with the Airbus Defence and Space team.
See Figure 3: Volunteer wearing a gas mask equipped with audio communication system
A HUD can be fixed on the right side of the gas mask, outside the mask, to allow the user to have situational awareness. The integration of the HUD requires good alignment with the eye to be clearly visible to the user. It comprises two parts, one made with a ball and the other made with a receptacle slightly smaller than the ball. The orientation of the HUD is adjustable around 3 axes.
See Figure 4: HUD mounting system equipped on a gas mask
See Figure 5: Part of the mounting device attached to the gas mask
To reduce the problem of a strong artificial light and enable the user to see the screen a cover system has been designed to fit the screen of the HUD and protect it from external light.
See Figure 6: Part of the mounting device which holds the HUD
The gas mask suits use by preferably well-trained civilian or military people in various operational environments: high activity level, long periods of intervention while providing as much comfort as possible to the user. To improve comfort, the gas mask is equipped with a blower.
The mask is designed to meet the requirements of the NF EN 136 and the NATO triptych.
ϖA special interface adapted to the gas mask (butyl ring) on which a separate hood is attached (balaclava). The hood is made of the same material as the suit. This configuration will be worn on top of a suit not equipped with hood. The mask-attached hood is a new but existing concept. It is made with the same fabric as the suit in order to maintain the same protection properties. The hood, designed by Blücher, is sewed on to a special rubber interface developed by NBC-Sys. The interface has been especially designed in order to perfectly fit the shape of the gas mask avoiding losing air-tightness during operations. Two hooks on the rubber ring are attached to the buckles of the mask to maintain the interface in the right position. This type of hood provides better continuity of protection than the standard suit-attached hood.
See Figure 7: Balaclava
ϖAn innovative overpressure hood made of polyester fabric coated with butyl was developed by NBC-Sys, enabling the wearing of add-ons, connection to a PAPR and providing a drinking device:
o it comprises an aeraulic circuit made of fabric to reduce weight and has 2 air pipes, one on both sides of the hood, to supply air-flow over the visor to avoid moisture and to make it easier to breathe. A third aeraulic pipe goes over the head top and has small holes to cool the user while working;
o to set the hood on pressure and maintain air-tightness there is a neck interface made of neoprene seal with adjustment straps to fit all FR neck sizes;
o the oversized visor is made of crystal PVC thick enough to limit the deformation of the hood. The hood visor provides a good field of vision of 83% according to the test method EN136 standard.
o no effort is needed for breathing as it works with a blower (PAPR is mandatory);
o in order to avoid the transmission of noise from the PAPR, a silencer has been developed to be connected next to the output of the blower; this reduces noise by approximately 12 dB without inducing pressure drop.
o a second exhalation valve was added to avoid aeraulic noise;
o having one size simplifies the selection of the equipment, it can be worn with a beard or with glasses;
o two straps under the wearer’s arm maintain the overpressure hood on the wearer even if the overpressure hood is grabbed by someone or something. This prevents accidental ripping off of the protection. The straps are adjustable in the same way as a backpack in order to fit to a wide range of user size;
o the head harness has been equipped with adjustment straps in order to offer closer fitting of the hood on the user’s head. The elastic strap at the rear of the head is adjustable in order to choose how tight the head harness is on the wearer’s head. Another strap on the upper part of the head enables adjustment of the deepness of the hood on the wearer’s head;
o the HUD requires good alignment with the eye to be clearly visible to the user. The HUD is equipped with a small ball-joint system that enables some small angle adjustment around 3 axes; the ball-joint system has to be adjustable while being able to keep its position once adjusted according to the right angles. The mounting system is made of two pieces. One of the pieces has a ball and the other one is equipped with a cavity a little smaller than the ball to compress it and make it difficult to move in order to stay in position after proper adjustment.
o the HUD mounting system is attached to the forehead band inside the overpressure hood thanks to a hook and loop system. The loop part is sewed to the head band while the hook part is glued to the HUD mounting system.
See Figure 8: Over pressure hood & Figure 9: Deepness adjustment strap
The overpressure hood, a new concept, has been designed to suit use by people such as medical staff having a low level of training in CBRN suits and performing tasks with a low level of workload. The overpressure hood provides protection against vapour and aerosols for 6 hours.
Its main advantages are noteworthy:
- it provides a wide field of view and enables the wearer to be recognized, it is one-sized, it can be worn with glasses, it can be worn with a beard, it can be equipped with a HUD and an audio communication device and it has the required protection level;
- in addition, it allows medical staff to intubate or make medical treatment thanks to less restriction of head movements.
All IFREACT respiratory equipment benefit from the use of PAPR facilitating breathing and broadly used by FRs. The PAPR is not a product developed by IFREACT (mandatory for the overpressure use).
Add-ons
Bertin Technologies SAS (WP2, WP6) is a European leader in biotechnologies with a unique range of expertise that develops systems in biodefence and biosecurity i.e. health care (25%), homeland security (30%) and energy (20%).
ϖThe Bio-collector device is small (30 mm x 150 mm), light in weight (190 g) and is composed of a small air pump, a mini-cyclone, 2 rechargeable batteries and electronics. It can perform continuous aerosol collection for at least 6 hours (the duration of a mission in the warm zone) with air flow-rate: 10 – 30 L/min and physical collecting efficiency: >50%. It brings in samples at the same rate at human breath in PPE.
After collection the cone is taken off for quick provisional identification by hand-held assays (immunoassay) and if an agent is detected further identification will be conducted through laboratory analysis (PCR, culture, GC/MS, etc.). The device has identical performance in any position. It is attached to the suit close to the head so it collects what the FR breathes. It will also collect radiological particles or toxic industrial hazards. In the case of the Ebola epidemic, it has an immediate application in supplying information on what the medical responder may encounter when giving medical care to infected patients. The personal bio-collector developed by Bertin Technologies has higher physical and biological efficiencies than any other market available products. It can enable us to discover at the earliest time the presence of airborne pathogens. Having an air flow rate (10 -30 l/min) similar as that of human breath, it can specify its carrier’s real inhalation dose, therefore the real danger level of its carrier, making possible an adequate medical counter-measure to be administered.
See Figure 10: Bio-collector & Figure 11: Demonstrating use of bio-collector
Airbus Defence and Space (Astrium WP2, WP6, WP7) is a world leader in the design and manufacture of satellite systems. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and earth observation systems.
ϖThe communication bubble is the size of a big suitcase and when in place it has a 1.5 km diameter range of action, expandable using several devices replicating the signal. It is easy to deploy and provides a dedicated network to communicate with standard GSM phones.
It can work with WIFI or public 2G/ 3G / 4G data transmissions networks. It allows creation of a large number of lines with the capability to do 28 simultaneous calls. AIRBUS also provides roaming capability, so the people inside this pool of lines are able to join every phone across the globe through a satcom link connected with the bubble. The communication bubble brings also a data layer, 2G or 3G layer (and in the near future LTS/4G) for sending images, live videos or every other kind of data, and to play with mobile applications for sharing information within the bubble and outside if needed. This enables smartphones to enter the game. They come with a set of capabilities solving several issues addressed by the project: localization (GPS), camera, and other kinds of sensors. AIRBUS is developing Voice over Internet Protocol software products to provide a completely hands-free communication service. The lines of the First Responders are piloted very easily by a person at HQ; the FR can stay focused on their critical work, just speaking to communicate. The application can also send photographs to be shared with the people in the HQ or in the field if necessary, and the localization of the FR. This information is shared within a situational awareness application. Using the VoIP layer, if the software application crash, the GSM channel still works though and we can quickly re-establish the communication with the person in the field through it. The phone is worn on the forearm to keep the FR's hands free, and to protect the phone from contaminating agents it is sealed inside a waterproof case keeping the tactile capability. The bubble applications attained TRL 7.
While all the existing communication networks may be down due to a blast, or switched off as a standard procedure until it his ascertained that there are no secondary devices, the Airbus Communication Bubble still brings an autonomous secured communication capability during this time.
See Figure 12: Airbus bubble and antenna
ϖA tiny in-ear headset, so small it won't obstruct the whole ear canal, allows the FR to hear their surroundings. It is easy to integrate it with the mask and it is coupled with a Bluetooth emitter including a microphone to completely eliminate the wires between the phone and the head set. The microphone needs to be set next to the phonic membrane. This headset comes with 7 hour’s autonomy and is compliant with iOS devices. Regarding the Bluetooth audio link, it was tested during 7 hours continuously on an iPhone 4S and consumed only 30% of the battery. As the latest models of iPhone have greater autonomy, we should be able to provide the complete service (not only audio) for the duration of a CBRN field situation.
See Figure 13: Earset
Prometech BV (WP2, 6) is a Dutch start-up company making innovative homeland security software (decision support and training systems for first responders)
ϖThe head-up display add-on is meant to improve communication by making it possible to share information between FRs in the field and the HQ. This means the ability to send textual messages and/or geo-spatial information to field units and visualizing it in such a way on a wearable display that it can be understood and interpreted even when under heavy duress. The objectives are to improve operational performance and to ensure the personal safety of the wearer. The head-up display system can help improve situational awareness by providing the FR with accessible, relevant and appropriate information on the task or activity the FR is supposed to perform. When the FR enters the CBRN zone this information is displayed on the HQ screen with a clock indicating the time spent from the start of the mission and the time since entering the zone. The name of the FR is also displayed, together with his picture and his role (the roles can be changed from the HQ according to needs). The chest camera is a smartphone mounted on the chest of the suit in a special secured pocket (with a transparent frontal part). The chest phone can display the FR name, role and take pictures/videos of the surroundings and send them to the HQ; these videos have a fairly low resolution but they allow commanders to receive a live feed directly from the field, which is particularly useful for tracking. More high quality pictures that are meant to identify details or record evidence can be taken by the AIRBUS arm-mounted camera instead. The counters on the screen can be set to count the decontamination time of victims, the number of victims processed and the time the FR spent in the warm zone. The HQ can direct textual messages to the FR and in this way issue orders or raise alarms.
The HUD provides images, text messages from HQ to FR, track location of FR, video feed from FR’s chest view, alarm from HQ to FR. HUD development attained TRL 6.
See Figures 14 & 15: Head-up display
Until now much of the situational awareness in a CBRN environment belongs to the military. Civilian FRs can benefit from these modern fast evolving technologies and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products to allow them to be more efficient. Technology is one aspect and use is another.
Information to be shared by FRs follows rules and should be protocoled.
- Only key people are allowed to communicate with the HQ or between FR, hands free:
o FR communication with other FRs: AIRBUS means only
o HQ to FR: HUD and AIRBUS means
o FR to HQ: AIRBUS means only
- Low stream of information, visual in particular, is always preferable in order to keep communication lines open and functional. It has to be implemented properly to keep the priority on the communication which is critical, and enable the video only if there is enough power margin to go beyond the end of the mission duration.
o Live camera feeds the HQ from the chest smartphone paired with the HUD;
o FR can decide to send pictures from the arm smartphone or the HQ can trigger it (AIRBUS means) ;
- Security of FRs is a priority:
o In the event of the FR feeling unwell: the AIRBUS device allows the FR to raise alarm to the HQ;
o In case of a second accident: the HUD placed outside the mask and inside the overpressure hood provides directional information on exit to the FR; both audio set and HUD can raise alarms from the HQ to the FR;
o In case the FR needs to know time spent in the contaminated area or time to shower a victim: the HUD displays this textual time, AIRBUS gives an audio message;
o In case the HQ needs to locate the FR: outdoor GPS ( HUD and AIRBUS devises) give this functionality;
o In case the name or role of FR should be visible: the chest smartphone paired with the HUD gives this functionality.
It would be valuable for medical teams (and their commanders) to know how long they can safely stay in the warm zone, how much time is left until the end of their shift and how many T1/T2 casualties still await decontamination or care.
Proof of concept
Lab tests
SUJCHBO (WP2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) is the Czech national institute for nuclear, chemical and biological protection. It is a certified CBRN testing laboratory, founded as a research, technology and executive support organisation for the State Office for Nuclear Safety.
Protective function:
SUJCHBO realized laboratory tests and worked on usability of IFREACT PPE. Material properties of the suit, protection factors and materials and compliance with the standards were provided by manufacturers. Aerosol tests were conducted in the SPIEZ laboratory. The manufacturers provided the mechanical and physical properties of the key materials as well.
As no material development was performed in this project we demonstrated that the protection requirements for airway protection and skin protection attained a minimum of 6 hours, using the same methodology that was used for a 24-hour protection level (military testing methodology).
➢Whole system integrity measured by the chlorine method
Different configurations of ensembles were tested between June and September 2014 in order to prove that IFREACT PPE avoided the weak points (leakage/ ingress) at interfaces as they were revealed in input tests of commercially available PPE ensembles during the first period of the project.
See Figure 16: Tested IFREACT ensembles
Tests were conducted in the toxicological chamber using chlorine method where three volunteers wore the full innovated PPE and a few current PPE models already tested in the first period for comparison (air-permeable and air-impermeable PPE ensembles as reference).
See Figure 17: Commercially available ensembles
The testing was performed under defined conditions which were the same as for first series of tests using chlorine gas (cca 3 ppm) as a challenging agent. The volunteers wore the PPE ensembles accompanied with the detection underwear underneath to reveal leakages and loss of compatibility (improper seals) between the components of the ensemble. Evaluation of ensemble integrity was carried out according to SUJCHBO methodology MAZL 37/09 – LUCIE which determines systemic protective factor at similar basis as in ASTM F2588-12 and the movements performed by the volunteers were based on normative ASTM F1154-11 (procedure A).
The volunteers spent 30 minutes in a toxicological chamber performing defined movements according to a given protocol. After finishing the test, the colour change on the detection underwear was checked to locate weak interfaces and to quantify ingress. Such tests did not challenge the materials type and determine barrier performance but were only aimed to check the proper integration of the PPE components and the performance of the interfaces and closure components.
The tests were duplicated or triplicated.
➢RESULT: No ingress found for the new IFREACT PPE prototypes.
See Figure 18: Chlorine test
Physiological burden
Conditions of the test inside the physiological chamber were the same as used with the first series of tests with current PPE in order to compare results of performance.
The human volunteers wore the full innovated PPE ensembles
Test performance: duration: 2 hours goal; temperature: 35 °C; relative humidity 35% or 52 %; wind speed: 1.5 m/sec; work load: 400 – 450 W.
The test would stop whenever: the testing time is over, or the core temperature reaches 38.5 °C, or the heart rate exceeds 220 beat/min – age or feeling psychological distress
The tests were run in duplicate for each set of tests, or triplicate. Different volunteers performed the tests in various PPE prototypes.
See Figure 19: Testing of physiological burden
The physiologic parameters (rectal temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and sweat loss) were monitored and evaluated according to normative EN ISO 9886. The volunteers answered a questionnaire regarding their subjective assessment of heat comfort according normative EN ISO 10551.
See Figure 20: Interpretation of results
The chart above shows values (heart rate and rectal temperature) which form the basis for calculating a physiological strain index (PSI) described by a scale from 0 to 10 (no-very high). PSI 50 calculated after 50 minutes means that the test had to be stopped before one hour in the case of air-impermeable suits. PSI 155 was calculated after 115 minutes for all air permeable suits combined with respirators.
➢RESULT: PSI of IFREACT ensembles is rated as little or low (PSI < 4) even under quite hot conditions: 35°, 35% rel. hum.
The air impermeable suits posed nearly 2 x higher strain than air-permeable suits.
The chart below represents different coloured volunteers (V1, V2, V3) wearing IFREACT ensembles, current ensembles and ordinary firefighter work uniforms. The tests of air-impermeable suits had to be stopped before the time limit of two hours as physiological values reached the limit.
➢RESULT: IFREACT ensembles enabled exercising for much longer than for the impermeable suits and did not limit the work time when compared to ordinary firefighter uniforms.
See Figure 21: Limits of work time comparing air permeable suits with air impermeable suits
Considering that all IFREACT PPE satisfied the tests, the conditions were made even more strenuous to highlight the differences between various air-permeable ensembles and volunteers.
➢RESULT: Under such conditions (35°C, 55% rel.hum.) only ensembles with the lightweight suit satisfied or came close to the time limit. The heavy duty suits were comparable to current air-permeable suits.
See Figure 22: End time of tests under conditions of 35°C, 52% relative humidity
To prove the usability of the IFREACT ensembles in various climatic environments, the tests were also performed under low temperatures (- 5 °, humidity 45%, wind speed 1.5 m/s). The assessment was conducted according to subjective judgment scale after 30 minutes and was found to be fairly endurable with a low PSI.
Ergonomic features
The tests were performed by a group of volunteers (5 professional Czech firefighters each day) according to standard ASTM F 1154-11. These procedures were intended for evaluating the suitability of the innovative protective ensembles and/or ensemble components in a work environment on the basis of its comfort, fit, function, and durability. It was a manned work task scenario intended to determine human factor characteristics and the ability of the test subject to perform tasks that may be encountered on a routine basis in a typical work environment. The volunteers wore all combinations of the IFREACT ensembles including various respiratory protections, various gloves and boots and available add-ons.
Audio sets – ear phones + microphone+ arm smartphone
Head Up Display (HUD) + Chest smartphone with on line camera
➢RESULT: all IFREACT ensembles were judged as comfortable (fit and comfort) and met expectations when testing the strength and durability
The professional first responders appreciated lightness and comfort. The drinking device was appreciated especially during hot weather.
The noise of the PAPR limited the ability to listen if not connected to a silencer. The earphones did not fit every type of ears.
Field trials
SAMU (Université de Créteil) (WP1, 2, 3, 8) is the French organization for pre-hospital emergency medicine. Is has the capability to engage a doctor at every level of intervention, from the call or report of an incident to the emergency field. Its other leading principle is to ensure that all emergencies, including CBRN events, are handled with the best possible response in the shortest time. SAMU acts as the coordinator and an end user in IFREACT.
DUZS (WP2, 8) is the National Protection and Rescue Directorate, an independent, professional and administrative organization tasked with preparing plans and managing operational forces as well as coordinating the activities of all participants in the protective and rescue system. DUZS acts as an end user in IFREACT.
Workshops organized in France, Croatia and the Czech Republic and exercises organized by SAMU and Hotzone Solutions in Nogent and Chanteau in 2012 helped to express the concept of use, based on the experience of first responders, in relation to current PPE, potential CBRN incident mitigation, scenarios and known requirement and standards analysis. Any concept of use is commonly recognized to be an iteration and convergence process. At the 2nd AB meeting in Zagreb the consortium agreed on the framework of the project: the type of FR and tasks, location compatible with filtered respiratory protection and air permeable material (excluding the area with insufficient oxygen, high agent concentration), intervention time after the first 15-30-minute FR stage.
Input from FRs after 2012 exercises
These exercises helped partners to share the same knowledge about civilian tasks (by inviting them to be part of exercises). During exercises, nine types of current PPE were worn by volunteers. Apart from PPE devoted to the hot zone, the main constraints unanimously reported by experts and end users during exercises derived from the current tight facial mask with canister. Discomfort provided by airway protection was increased by an air-impermeable skin protection in a warm weather. During exercises, volunteers appreciated the comfort of using a ventilated system, PAPR, with batteries that has become a must in FR wearing PPE all over the world. The slight positive air pressure provides comfort due to less breathing resistance during inhalation.
Providing a drinking device for civilians was a wish highlighted by experts rather than by volunteers during IFREACT exercises due to short working time and good weather conditions.
The tightness of the mask particularly when no PAPR was added affected the wearer in terms of its fit to his face, comfort, performance and overall burden; however, it reflected the unanimous main improvement requested by volunteers. The air permeable suits were considered more comfortable than the air-impermeable ones by the volunteers in Nogent where the weather temperature was high — a remark that was not mentioned in Chanteau where the outside temperature was cooler. It is worth mentioning that the inside body temperature depends on three factors: the ambient temperature, the manual activity performed by the FR and the thermoregulation of the human body via the evaporation process. A hot climate or weather causes heat exhaustion; on the other hand, in cold weather the garment provides no warming even during activities.
The level of training had an impact on volunteer performance. The duration of tasks for first responders is currently limited by their physical strength and physiological endurance.
Fitness, size and skills of end-users were considered as relevant criteria to keep in mind.
The final tests at CAZAUX
The Ebola epidemic highlights the need to adapt civilian PPE to the level and type of threat and to carefully manage EMS procedures and protection. In this respect, the bio-collector developed by Bertin fills a gap in operational procedures and could increase our knowledge about virus transmission allowing the environment of care to be monitored for contamination for at least 6 hours. It justified a specific demo in CAZAUX.
The methodology of the exercise was built step-by-step according to the development of prototypes and preliminary results of lab tests.
We were in an experimental phase to test new products in compliance with ethical rules. Our choice was therefore to focus only on usability of the IFREACT PPE with volunteers in a different context than lab tests. Volunteers were requested to focus on PPE testing and not on CBRN procedures or training. They were not evaluated on this aspect, but were the evaluators.
In order to avoid any bias or lack of knowledge, we sought a variety of volunteers with a strong experience in CBRN procedures and a strong experience in wearing different PPE in use either air-impermeable or air-permeable.
The aim of the trials was to provide information on IFREACT PPE being worn by First Responders performing in a simulated CBRN contaminated area. The purpose was to provide guidance to the consortium and end-user community on the innovative level attained according to end-user and procurement staff requirements.
The main goals were:
• To show relevant skills, capabilities and advantages provided by IFREACT ensembles to all partners who did not have a practical knowledge of IFREACT products beforehand.
• To assess capability, level of efficiency and confidence while wearing the ensembles during 2 hours without shift changes.
• To test the effectiveness of communications provided by the bubble and add-ons.
• To identify weak points, improvements in the design of the ensembles.
• To present the IFREACT ensembles and solutions to end users and experts from the CE SN – NRBC and benefit from their feed-back.
The results are complementary to testing conducted by SUCHJBO.
Methodology
Volunteers tested how well ensembles and ensemble components (gloves, boots, breathing apparatus, communication systems etc.) met their particular applications.
19 men and two women volunteered for this study. All subjects were apparently healthy as ascertained by a health questionnaire.
Subjects from the base who took regular exercise were included in the so-called well-trained volunteers in trial 1. EMS from SAMU were included in the so called occasionally-trained volunteers in trial 2.
Trial 1: (8 well trained volunteers wearing PPE and 4 wearing working uniforms acting as the control group) duration of 2 hours - moderate work load (6 tasks) and moderate climate. Four groups of two volunteers and the control group triplicated six timed tasks: alert, cordon, search and rescue, first aid, site management and initial decontamination. The seven different ensembles were tested. Audio sets and HUD with smartphones were tested. The GSM bubble was deployed.
See Figures 23 & 24: Trial 1
Trial 2: (8 occasionally trained EMS from SAMU 33 and 94 and one volunteer in TLD) duration of 2 hours – low work load (decontamination procedures consisting in supervising, triage, checking, disrobing, showering, drying and giving medical care) - moderate climate.
Trial 3 focused on add-ons usability through the deployed bubble. Led by Hotzone Solutions, this trial consisted in finding an illicit laboratory, searching for evidence and taking samples.
It aimed to prove a gain of efficiency in using add-ons (audio and HUD) compared to current radios.
Results
The PSI calculated in trial 1 was at a level low < 4 in phase with SUJCHBO results, proving the low burden of PPE.
The performance between volunteers wearing IFREACT PPE and volunteers wearing work uniforms in trial 1 was comparable (loss of 5%)
See Figure 25: PSI (120) per type of suit HDS (5) or LWS (3) in trial 1
The 8 volunteers in trial 2 performed tasks without burden and could perform fine gestures.
See Figure 26: EMS volunteers in trial 2 performing fine gestures
The general appreciation of the IFREACT PPE in all trials was positive and these trials proved good capabilities while performing tasks during 2 hours for each user-group: well-trained and occasionally trained. The low burden, low loss of performance and ease of movements were highlighted as they were in the lab tests.
The efficiency of performing tasks regarding EMS activating a decontamination chain and processing victims was also well assessed. To move easily, be seen, heard and to see well were of utmost importance. Dexterity was assessed while intubating a mannequin or injecting drugs.
Some ergonomic details remained to be resolved, bearing in mind that IFREACT PPE only comprised prototypes in one size.
The use of add-ons was discovered and appreciated by FRs, especially by EMS. The bubble provides reliability of communications if the telecommunication network is down, bearing in mind that the various different technologies (GSM or WIFI) have advantages and disadvantages and need to be thought and authorized by each country in advance.
Some positive comments came from end-users and CBRN observers and are worth publishing.
The improvement in the capacity to perform is proven and even underestimated.
Expert comment:
“I thought at the outset that the workshops were rather overdoing it and that the FR’s would end up exhausted. I am used to the old suits and I know that one hour in such conditions with forced breathing is long and exhausting.
So I was very surprised at the ease with which the volunteers operated, to the extent that I said they caught up with the control volunteers.
The tests were very well adapted for the old outfits and it will be possible to go further with the new ones.”
EMS comment
“The physiological constraint of wearing the protective PPE with OP hood and blower bears no comparison to anything we currently know: .....
The communication tools and tablet with tag for triage are particularly interesting but development needs perfecting.”
Ethical issues
The approval of two ethical committees was sought very early in the project from the competent ethical committees in France and in the Czech Republic.
For all lab testing and for the exercises volunteer participation was established on a fully voluntary and confidential basis respecting all the conditions in compliance with European rules and the national ethical committees in both France and Czech Republic. Thus formal native-language (French and Czech) consent forms were issued in addition to those in English containing full and clear information on:
• The project purpose, partners and objectives
• The tasks requested from volunteers, duration, details about testing and potential risks
• The freedom to retract at any desired time
• The right to ask questions about the project
• The need to be medically checked in advance and during the tests
• Confidentiality issues and respect of a complete anonymous treatment of personal data
All appropriate measures were therefore taken to confirm the fulfilment of Special Clause 15 of the GA.
PPE selection tool
Hotzone Solutions Benelux BV (WP2, 3, 8) is an international training and consulting company founded by a group of former military and civilian CBRN defence officers, inspection team leaders and weapons inspectors from United Nations special commissions, the United Nations monitoring verification and inspection commission and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. HZS provides realistic and practical chemical, biological and radiological/nuclear training to the military, law enforcement, emergency response and security communities.
During the project the PPE Selection Tool was developed by Hotzone Solutions and Prometech. It consists of two sections: one for first responders to use in case of a CBRN incident and one for procurement officers during the preparation phase. This software tool can help FRs and procurement staff choose the right PPE system for their mission.
The first responder tool is based on a decision tree that has been developed in such a way that it uses information about a CBRN incident, as well as the first responder’s task, task duration and work intensity, to provide a recommendation on the best adapted PPE. A proprietary decision support system was implemented that allows any number of questions to be linked in a flexible and modular tree format. A back-end logic system takes the choices made by end-users and presents them with a suitable result, in this case a PPE ensemble (from the available PPE-list
database) that provides the best durability and protection in case of a specific CBRN threat (hazard level depending on nature of threat/substance properties).
The procurement section of the tool should be used by national CBRN emergency authorities and/or first responders for guidance and recommendations on what type of PPE ensemble to procure and how such an ensemble should be purchased, stored and used. It is based on objective criteria and performance characteristics. The PPE selection tool can be used by relevant organisations and national entities, once the main types of CBRN risks have been identified, preparedness priorities defined and budget allocated for the purchase of PPE.
Data on protection factors and threat levels came from other deliverables created in this project. These deliverables used a scientific approach to determine protection factors of existing PPE and calculate CBRN threat levels. The solid methodological background of these deliverables underlying the decision tree therefore validated its PPE recommendations. From a software perspective, unit and integration tests have been performed to validate the technical implementation.
Lastly, in line with what is suggested above we compiled expert input from consortium members (internal review) and the Advisory Board in order to verify this new deliverable.
The tool can be accessed at http://pst.prometech.eu
Potential Impact:
European countries are moving towards a civilian-military concept. New agents are being developed while we are working on traditional weapons of mass destruction. There is no real need to make a precise selection of threats or to stick to previous scenarios. The difference between chemical and biological agents may be unclear. TICs could be a major concern and are also attractive to terrorists. The way these toxics are disseminated affects the level of risk and protection. We therefore have to be open to new threats and levels of risk.
IFREACT answered the above unsolved safety questions by enabling FRs to be more flexible. PPE was conceived as an ensemble including add-ons giving FRs a capability of audio and visual information in real time and securing FR movements on the site. The capacity to rescue and to give rapid care to victims was provided by the PPE’s very low burden. The PPE protection time was pegged to 6 hours once again matching civilian FR tasks at the incident site.
The consortium achieved its objective to enable a working time of at least 2 hours, which is the time needed to confirm or stop the decontamination procedure in case of man-made accident with unknown agents. This 2 to 3 hour working time avoids frequent shift changes and consequently reduces human resources, lowers the lifecycle cost in buying a larger number of PPE (due to different sizes to fit civilian morphologic characteristics) and reduces delicate FR disrobing and decontamination procedures. A survey conducted by the Paris police force in France highlighted these points.
The principal new concepts and new design theories introduced in the IFREACT project include:
- The concept of ensembles instead of separate elements;
- Taking into account the specific characteristics of civilian FRs : different levels of fitness and levels of training in the use of PPE, wide variation in body size;
- Broadening the spectrum of the air–permeable protection enabling for example FRs wearing IFREACT PPE to perform wet decontamination
- Integrating an aerosol protection factor - a first for civilian responders. This new aerosol filter retains particles, biological as well as radiological ones, within the 0.3-10 micron level whereas current clothes usually provide limited protection for particles around 50-100 microns. The new aerosol filter has been developed to cover the whole size range with an efficiency of 90-99%.
- Increasing civilian confidence by using affordable audio and visual add-ons, providing the responder with much improved situational awareness and real time information, hands free;
- Facilitating FR tasks by decreasing physiological constraints and as a result increasing capacities and performance at scene, thus integrating the well-known NATO concept of preventing degradation of performance;
- Offering cost effective solutions according to less trained user-group needs such as a one-piece suit with integrated socks (avoiding the need to buy special CBRN shoes); one size overpressure hood;
- Ensuring the communication functionalities by deploying a communication bubble that has an immediate application nowadays in any terrorism attack, hence needing national authorizations that should be anticipated before any crisis;
- Integrating a drinking device systematically to all IFREACT airway protection systems, effectively decreasing heat stress;
- Considering victims’ behaviour and compliance: a FR’s face being visible is deemed more trustworthy and will reduce fear in victims
- Colours can be tailored to customer organisations, rendering different FR categories instantly identifiable and anticipating a European consensus in this respect in the future.
- Demonstrating the added value of a PAPR blower with silencer, facilitating breathing, eliminating fogging and reducing CO2 re-breathing, plus avoiding the weight of canisters on the neck.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results
IFREACT now has a role to play in promoting these results to the community of end-users and helping to change stakeholder perceptions in dealing with CRBN events and civilian FR protection. This was started during the project through dissemination activities and in building a PPE selection tool: http://pst.prometech.eu.
The promotion of the project was actively conducted via the organisation of conferences, workshops, and the delivery of presentations, progress updates, press releases and mailshots to targeted end users throughout Europe and outside of the EU, predominantly in the US, Canada, ISRAEL and the Middle East.
The presentations were given in eleven countries (France, UK, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Israel, Germany, Croatia, Belgium, the USA, Thailand and Singapore) to over 2,500 specialist stakeholders. Another essential outreach tool was the generation of articles in appropriate stakeholder magazines. In all it can be estimated that over 21,000 different individuals read these articles. A 9-minute video will help disseminate the project and the work that the EC, through FP7, and IFREACT conducted for first responder protection. The video covers the final exercise at the French Air Force base at Cazaux (France) on 20-21 October 2014. This was a chance to see the completed ensembles in action with different end –user groups, as well as to collect the opinions of the consortium, exercise participants and the expertise of the CE-SN CBRN military centre.
(UPEC website here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hedey_projet-europeen-ifreact-vostfr_school)
The exploitation of results
The end of the IFREACT project corresponds with the time to renew most FR wardrobes and equipment after 10 years of use. The project developed first prototypes for three types of protective clothing adapted to different levels of first responders work (heavy duty suit, light weight suit and undergarment), two types of respiratory protection (gas mask and overpressure hood), a balaclava to be attached and perfectly fit to the mask thanks to a butyl ring and two types of add-ons (audio and visual).
The prototypes
Unless there is a demand the manufacturers will not invest in commercialisation of these prototypes and the lifecycle cost of products depends on the size of an order. In this respect, the will to create a European Community of End Users at a European level gives an opportunity for IFREACT as the outstanding challenge is one of making the community of end users aware of these innovative results. Moreover, IFREACT has set up connections with other FP7 projects i.e. Practice, EDEN, and CATO and will participate in this European Community of Users, in order to push forward demand for these innovative products and continue to develop the public PPE selection tool.
The prototypes realised have attained a high TRL and could be commercialised within a few months, providing standardisation issues for civilian CBRN PPE can be resolved. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) guidelines there are three levels (A, B, C) with A requiring a gas-tight suit, B high liquid resistance and C vapour resistance (each higher level includes the protection of the level below). Alternatively one may want to follow the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that provides three broad standards/levels analogous to the OSHA ones (NFPA 1991, 1992 and 1994), but within them there are a number of levels that further break out detail. Yet these aren’t all. NATO has a standard for suits (AEP 38) and so do British Standards and Hotzone Solutions, who do a great deal of training for the multinational agencies and have eight recommended levels of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The properties of the communication bubble are worth being known and further exploited. The 2G bubble deployed within ten minutes and able to detect mobile phones in the area covered by the bubble, either belonging to potential victims or potential terrorists is of utmost importance. The use of 3G or the coming 4G relies on national operator authorizations. The next phase beyond the project is to introduce this generation to the European First Responder Community and appear in forthcoming CBRN civilian standards. The future of the bubble relies on 4G technology (in particular LTE). A 4G antenna can cover 10km and several antennae could be deployed to make a mesh network. If one breaks down, the others continue to function.
IFREACT add-ons comprised off-the-shelf devices that were already used on a daily basis (such as smartphones) and were, therefore, not very expensive and familiar to first responders. They prevented FRs from carrying heavy communication devices and cameras. Today the communication service is managed from a web application on the HQ side; an iPad application could be developed to manage the communications with the field directly on the spot.
The HUD, so innovative in a civilian field, needs to link with other projects and get feedback from other end-users before being going to market. Although the “multiple add-ons” approach was the best for the project to handle and benefit from implementation coming from different partners (HUD and audio sets), one could think of further integrating the validated functionalities into a minimum set of devices to add to the suit (i.e. a single smartphone to handle HUD and audio).
The miniature bio-collector has found immediate possible exploitation as it makes it possible to monitor the environment of patients infected by the Ebola virus, determining health professionals’ level of exposure.
List of Websites:
IFREACT public website: http://www.ifreact.eu/