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March 29th, 2024
L&T Opinions Page

j r schrockGUEST COLUMN, John Richard Schrock, Education Frontlines

 

There is no better time to learn about protective clothing than when we watch footage of healthcare workers combating the COVID-19 outbreak in China. There is a range of personal protective equipment.  Federal EPA regulations require people working with hazardous materials (HAZMAT) to follow OSHA standards in protective clothing and breathing apparatus. Health workers faced with highly contagious patients wear similar levels of protection.  However, few Westerners understand the history of these outfits nor the Chinese connection that makes them consider biological warfare “off limits.” 

When a new lethal infectious agent springs up, the only totally safe outfit might be a Level A suit. Like a space suit, it includes a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). The suit totally excludes entry of any disease agent or chemical contaminant. All seams are taped and there is no skin exposed. The bulky gloves, continuous with the suit, do not allow the fine movements that medical personnel need to  work with patients. You are not seeing Level A suits in the news coverage.   

Level B provides maximum respiratory protection with some skin protection. A full facepiece draws air from a self-contained tank that is on the outside of the suit. The suit and boots may have taped seams but the suit does not fully protect skin from caustic chemicals or contact with disease agents. 

Some suits we see in news footage are Level C. They provide limited respiratory and skin protection. The full face mask may have cartridges specialized to filter a specific toxic chemical or filter disease agents from the air. The disposable coveralls, gloves and boots may be taped.

Most of the outfits we see are Level D, providing very limited respiratory and skin protection. Most health workers are wearing a surgical mask that is little more than protection from patient’s splatter of mucous or blood. A person wearing a surgical mask breathes air that mostly moves in and out at the sides of the mask since it does not seal to the face. 

However, N95 face masks, if closely fitted to the face, force air to be inhaled and exhaled through the mask. If an infectious agent is airborne, a fitted N95 mask is good protection if you remember to remove it with gloved hands. 

Long hair prevents respirators or N95 masks from sealing. News reports recently pictured a team of Chinese nurses who shaved their heads in preparation for entering and working in the quarantined region of Wuhan and Hubei Province. They are making a heroic effort of patriotism and educated dedication to saving lives. Their efforts are greatly recognized and appreciated by the citizens of China. But COVID-19 is claiming victims from among China’s healthcare workers insofar as Level A and B protective equipment is simply too cumbersome for care of gravely ill patients. Hospital workers during the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong also suffered a high death rate.      

    But part of the history of HAZMAT suits has a terrible origin. I can say “chi san yau” to any high school or college student in China and they will explain how that was the site of a horrible crime committed by Japanese during World War II. This translates “731” and refers to Unit 731, a biological warfare unit established by Ishii Shiro, a Japanese commander who spread bubonic plague and typhus over Chinese cities. He infected Chinese prisoners with these diseases and then had them covered with fleas and lice. These infected insects were then dropped from airplanes and spread these diseases. 

    At the end of the war, Ishii Shiro and his high-ranking commanders never faced the Tokyo war crimes trials, equivalent to what Germans faced at Nuremberg. Instead, they negotiated to trade their biological warfare secrets with the Americans—we had a biowarfare program at Fort Detrick. Among the most valuable information was their design of HAZMAT suits that kept Japanese doctors protected from these highly contagious disease agents and their insect carriers. 

    I have been to the Unit 731 museum. Its history is well known in China today because it is taught in school and viewed in television documentaries. The Chinese rightfully learned two lessons from their war with Japan. They will never claim racial superiority because that was the claim made by both Japan and Germany to subjugate others. And they will never use biological warfare because they were the victims of Japan’s Unit 731 program. 

    While Unit 731 in China was an utmost evil, so is the reckless allegation being made today by certain American politicians that this COVID-19 outbreak is some biological warfare product of Wuhan’s center for virus research. Not only would the Chinese themselves condemn biological warfare more than any other society, scientists worldwide know that the genetic coding of viruses provides the blueprint to trace the virus origin. And this coronavirus is absolutely from the wild. Politicians who disregard the history, culture and science involved in this epidemic are fearmongering. And such ignorance today is evil. 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Reita Isaacs, Liberal

 

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