Responding to Catastrophe

sexobon · 03-15-2011, 02:59 AM

That's a shame in a country with the world's third largest economy. Even Israeli civil defense provided protective equipment (e.g. gas masks, something like 4 million of them) to it's civilians as far back as '91 just in case anyone lobbed missiles with NBC warheads at them. You'd think a country like Japan, with its geological situation, would have done something similar to keep civilians from having to breath radioactive contamination in the event of a disaster. I haven't seen any reports of civilians in the affected areas using privately purchased hazmat protective gear either.

While the US government doesn't provide us with that level of protection here via taxpayer dollars, we can at least buy our own protective equipment through industrial supply channels should we choose to do so. Serviceable surplus protective equipment from international militaries is also available in the commercial market here. One can even buy a current state of the art US military gas mask (a.k.a. respirator) as I have done; however, vendors may restrict sales to those who have been trained on the equipment due to liability concerns (my military training sufficed). One would also be required to sign an ITAR* acknowledgement which the vendor keeps on file.

* International Traffic and Arms Regulation Acknowledgement

These Gas Masks are defined as "Significant Military Equipment" under the rules of the International Traffic and Arms Regulations. Their export to other countries or non-US citizens is NOT authorized by the US Government. They may not be resold, diverted, transferred, transshipped, or otherwise be disposed of in any other country, either in their original form or after being incorporated through an intermediate process into other end-terms, without prior written approval of the US Department of State.

I understand and will comply with this United States Federal Regulation:
Signature: _____________________________________________________

Printed Name: ___________________________________________________

Date: __________________

03-15-2011, 02:59 AM	#16
sexobon I love it when a plan comes together. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 9,793	That's a shame in a country with the world's third largest economy. Even Israeli civil defense provided protective equipment (e.g. gas masks, something like 4 million of them) to it's civilians as far back as '91 just in case anyone lobbed missiles with NBC warheads at them. You'd think a country like Japan, with its geological situation, would have done something similar to keep civilians from having to breath radioactive contamination in the event of a disaster. I haven't seen any reports of civilians in the affected areas using privately purchased hazmat protective gear either. While the US government doesn't provide us with that level of protection here via taxpayer dollars, we can at least buy our own protective equipment through industrial supply channels should we choose to do so. Serviceable surplus protective equipment from international militaries is also available in the commercial market here. One can even buy a current state of the art US military gas mask (a.k.a. respirator) as I have done; however, vendors may restrict sales to those who have been trained on the equipment due to liability concerns (my military training sufficed). One would also be required to sign an ITAR* acknowledgement which the vendor keeps on file. * International Traffic and Arms Regulation Acknowledgement These Gas Masks are defined as "Significant Military Equipment" under the rules of the International Traffic and Arms Regulations. Their export to other countries or non-US citizens is NOT authorized by the US Government. They may not be resold, diverted, transferred, transshipped, or otherwise be disposed of in any other country, either in their original form or after being incorporated through an intermediate process into other end-terms, without prior written approval of the US Department of State. I understand and will comply with this United States Federal Regulation: Signature: _____________________________________________________ Printed Name: ___________________________________________________ Date: __________________

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