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The Defense Department has planned about 50 sessions to train the roughly 24,000 Pentagon employees on how to don protective masks in the event of a chemical or biological attack. Top: At one of the first sessions, Army Sgt. Carrie Fox, left, and Sgt. Lita Chavarria unwrap and inspect their training protective hoods. Middle: The two then follow step-by-step instructions on donning a protective hood and bite down on the mouth piece. Bottom: Finally, Fox adjusts the neck cuff of the training protective mask. (Sandra Jontz / S&S)
ARLINGTON, Va. — Monica King has no doubt that one day she’ll don the protective hood issued to her Tuesday.
“I think it’s highly probable, a certainty, that we will use these at some time,” said King, 37, one of first of about 24,000 Pentagon employees who over the next several weeks will be told exactly how to unwrap and properly pull on the mask. “After 9/11, you can’t think anything less.”
While the thought of a chemical or biological attack makes her nervous, she finds a bit of comfort in the measures being taken on her behalf.
The Defense Department is buying 80,000 Survivair Quick 2000 protective hoods, at a cost of $150 apiece, for employees who work in the Pentagon and 46 other buildings in the Washington area, said John Jester, acting director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
“The first question we hear: ‘When do I get it?’ ” Jester said.
The answer: As soon as possible.
So, five days a week, several times a day, Jim Noe and other trainers will teach 500 people a day the dos and don’ts of donning the emergency escape hood.
No training, no hood, Jester said.
Employees are given a training kit that includes a real hood with carrying pouch, an information card about tips on how and when to use the mask and a blue training hood, with which employees were encouraged to practice. And practice only.
“It will provide you NO protection,” said Noe, a security consultant with Cincinnati-based Critical Incident Solutions, which developed the 30-minute training session.
The real hoods are tan and are to remain sealed in their protective silver sealed-tight bags until needed, he said.
The actual process of slipping on and wearing the hood is easy, Noe said.
“If you can snorkel, you can wear the mask — and most 8- and 9-year-olds can snorkel.”
The trick is keeping calm in the event of an attack, said Sgt. Lita Chavarria, 24.
“We have to learn that you’re just going to have to force yourself to remain calm, and that’s the hardest part,” said the photographer, who works for Army Visual Information Service.
The hoods, equipped with a carbon filter, are good for one-time use and are made to last roughly an hour, a time limit that depends on a person’s size and breathing. They’re one-size-fits-all and are made to accommodate most styles of eyeglasses, although people with large glasses might have to remove them before putting on the masks, Noe said.
While not as protective as the masks issued to servicemembers, they don’t need to be inventoried, stored or maintained by anyone specialized to do so. The hoods become the responsibility of the employees. Noe recommends the hoods be stored where employees spend most of their working day.
The gas masks issued to servicemembers require routine maintenance and inspections by trained personnel.
Masks for visitors will be stored in various places throughout the Pentagon, such as in corridors where there is heavy foot traffic and shops and near snack bars and cafeterias, said Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood.
Visitors will not be trained to don the mask. “Hopefully, they’ll be [near] someone who has gone through the training,” he said.
The idea of issuing protective masks actually dates back several years — to the 1995 sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway that killed 10 people and sickened thousands, said Jester, the Pentagon’s former police chief.
“We’ve been working on the program since then. It was accelerated after 9/11 when we got additional resources,” he said.
