The primary means of protecting navy personnel during a CBW attack is through the use of gas masks that are properly fitted and worn. Although improper gas mask fit will have dire consequences on life and/or mission capability, current training technology does not provide the feedback needed to insure that the vital tasks of proper mask selection, issue, and measurement of donning effectiveness are being accomplished. Our Phase I trade-off analysis of eleven different mask-fit technologies found the controlled negative pressure (CNP) method to be clearly superior. Major cnp advantages included: speed, portability, greater accuracy and precision, ability to test each sailor's issued gas mask, and universal applicability of results that can generalize to any situation requiring respiratory protection. During Phase I, we also calculated "acceptable" mask leakage criteria for a variety of known chemical/biological agents. Existing cnp technology is optimized for detecting leaks in half face respirators. Phase II objectives are to 1) modify cnp technology to interface with and optimally assess leaks in military full-face masks; 2) train navy instructors on cnp systems while comparing leakage norms of currently issued masks with acceptable leakage criteria, and 3) provide specifications for reliable, field-hardened, cnp-based training systems. All of these objectives can be accomplished by having navy instructors participate in tests of the prototype device.
