Global Security Newswire

New York City has started providing its emergency personnel with specialized blankets and other gear to reduce the effects of a WMD incident, the New York Post reported yesterday (see GSN, March 10).

The newly deployed tools employ a material that can be used in safeguarding bystanders and emergency personnel from an unconventional weapons attack, said Ronald DeMeo, chief executive officer of manufacturer Radiation Shield Technologies.

"If you talk about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, you're talking about biological, chemical and nuclear devices," DeMeo said.

Emergency response officials would be issued vests and shields that would help protect them during an attack.

There are two types of blankets that use the material.

One product would be wrapped around civilians exposed to radioactive material to prevent others from being contaminated. Additionally, a Hi-Energy Nuclear Suppression Blanket could be used to help contain an explosion and to halve the dispersal range of WMD materials.

A New York Fire Department hazardous materials team in Manhattan has received both blanket products, which are expected to be issued to other units around the city, said NYFD hazardous materials units chief Nicholas Del Re.

"It doesn't completely eliminate the risk, but it certainly reduces the risk," he said (John Doyle, New York Post, March 25).