WASHINGTON – Using heavy layers of armor to keep troops safe from bullets and bombs is making the Marine Corps too slow on a battlefield where speed and mobility are critical, a senior military leader said Tuesday.

With 8,000 Marines about to be sent to Afghanistan to quell rising violence, Lt. Gen. George Flynn cautioned members of Congress against wrapping them in so much protective gear they can't hunt down more agile insurgents who use the country's rugged peaks and valleys to their advantage. Read on... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090310/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/marines_lighter_loads.

A newly-developed decontamination wipe designed by researchers at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health (TIEHH) at Texas Tech University has proven itself the best for cleaning up chemical warfare agents and toxic chemicals.  Texas Tech recently received a patent on this product. See the news release here. 

The evaluation of the nonwoven dry wipe product, called Fibertect™, was performed as part of a study by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory using mustard gas and other toxic chemicals. Researchers found that the Texas Tech-created product out-performed 30 different decontamination materials, including materials currently used in military decontamination kits.

      read on....

(Pictured:  TTU wipe and the current military product, M291)

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) wishes to inform respirator users that the NIOSH certificate of approvals TC-84A-4404 and TC-84A-4405 for JTN models MVP-TR1 and MVP-TR2 N95 Filtering Facepieces have been revoked as of December 4, 2008.

These models are being sold by various distributors as NIOSH approved Silver Shield™ N95 Antimicrobial Masks.

Complete details concerning the revocation of TC-84A-4404 and TC-84A-4405 can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/usernotices/default.html

ASTM International is forming a new D-11 committee task group to explore antimicrobial medical glove standardization. Glove suppliers, manufacturers and distributors, as well as contract test labs, government agency representatives and infection control practitioners are invited to participate in the task group, which is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D11.40 on Consumer Rubber Products.

See more at this link: http://astmnewsroom.org/default.aspx?pageid=1570.  

Jeff Stull has several articles in Fire Rescue magazine concerning ensembles for firefighters. Look for Jeff's articles at this link:  http://www.firerescue1.com/Columnists/Jeffrey-O-Stull/