Sarin Gas: a brief history

Sarin Gas is a clear, tasteless, colorless, odorless and deadly gas that will attack the nervous system immediately and will result in death quickly.  It is rumored that Sarin Gas is prevalent in terrorist states and has even been used in chemical attacks in Syria. 

It is classified as a nerve agent, and has been used prolifically in terror attacks over the last several years... with devastating effects. It is transferred through skin contact, eye contact, or through inhalation. 

Sarin was used in the 1990's for a terror attack in Japan on the subway which proved to be deadly.  This gas was developed in Germany as a "pesticide" in 1938. 

It is believed that it was used in the first Iran-Iraq war due to symptoms that were observed though that was never proved. In 1988 Hussein ordered the use of Sarin Gas and the Nazi "VX" gas in Halabja.

In 1994 the gas was used to kill seven Japanese people and hospitalized 500 by the Shinri Kyo cult. They did the same thing in 1995 in Tokyo killing 13 and sickening 5,000.

In 2004 Sarin Gas was found in an AED, and by 2006 there were over 500 munitions recovered which had contained Sarin Gas.

Since 2013 it has been found that Syrian rebels have access to Sarin Gas and that it is a viable threat to the safety of every American citizen who is located in a foreign or domestic environment. There is no easy way to test for the presence of Sarin that converts from fluid to gas very quickly. In following posts we will discuss methods of determining whether an attack is occurring and will discuss methods of protecting yourelf from a suspected Sarin Gas attack. 

How to make a simple gas-mask; 3 things you have to know

In our previous entry we discussed the fact that one of the earliest methods of dealing with the problem of gas attack was to urinate into a rag and breath through that. Now, that might work effectively, but it is not the best option in my humble opinion. No, there are other options out there and there are plenty of materials available that can be used to make a passable gas-mask, even if you are on an airplane when you need it. In this example I am going to tell you how to make an improvised gas mask with a two liter bottle and a filter mask. This is not going to be one hundred percent effective, but it will beat having nothing.  In this mask you simply take the empty two liter bottle of your choice, cut it to fit your face, (you can include a face-mask or not in your cut, depending on your preference). You place the filter into the bottle to cover your mouth, and either hold it to your face, or seal it into place with duct tape. However you choose to do it, here are three things you must always remember about a home-made gas mask .

1. It is temporary. Don't get comfortable wearing this. It is only to be used to get you out of harm's way until better measures can be taken. 

2. You need to protect your eyes as well as your respiration system. As mentioned earlier, you can use the plastic on the bottle to create a makeshift face-guard to include your eyes. 

3. You should be cognizant of the need of these materials. What I mean by this is that you should keep these things around in case you need them. The only thing worse than not having a gas mask when you need it is to not have the materials to make one when you need them.

3 more things you must remember about your gas mask

I have recently documented two different topics of caution to bear in mind when using a gasmask, that of not depending on it when you are in danger of being in an environment that is not conducive  to the need to have a filter to trap contaminates, (like in a smokey environment), and precautions to take when dealing with a substance that is dangerous in other ways other than as a chemical irritant, (mustard gas for instance).

However, there are other precautions you should take as well when confronted with the possible need to don a gasmask. Most of these involve the delivery of this substance which can be just as dangerous to you as the substance itself. Here are 3 precautions that you must take when you are depending on a gasmask to protect you from harm. 

1. The gasmask is not body armor. That means that this thing will not protect you from blunt force trauma... at least not completely. It is better than nothing, but you need to be aware that gas canisters are usually launched by something propulsive and the canister itself can hurt you very badly.

2. It is not heat retardant. It will not protect you from being burned either. As was covered in the last blog, a chemical agent that is caustic in nature will eat you up regardless of whether you have a gasmask on or not. 

3. A gasmask can actually be detrimental in some cases. Most notably, the gasmask can hurt you if it catches on fire. Made out of plastic and rubber, a gasmask will burn quite energetically in most instances. If it is stuck to your face while it is burning, t hat will lead to severe damage to your face.

The first gasmask; an item of necessity

According to the Smithsonian Institution, the first gasmask ever was the brainchild of Oxford University scientist John Scott Haldane. 

Haldane, who was horrified by the prolific usage of mustard and chlorine gas against Allied soldiers by the Germans in WWI, developed the life saving device which more than likely wouldn't have saved him personally, because of the huge, bushy moustache that he sported at the time. 

Dr. Haldane, a medical researcher as opposed to a doctor, was born in Edenburg, Scotland in 1860 and then got his medical degree in 1884. He taught at many different universities, and his specialty was developing medical treatments for industrial ailments and accidents. Therefore, the effects of gas on human lungs and the protection of same was right up Dr. Haldane's alley. This is due to the fact that Haldane was also the scientist who originated the usage of canaries and other small animals in coal mines to detect colorless and odorless gasses. As a matter of fact he was an expert on respirators for miners and was therefore the natural go-to guy in regards to taking his technology a step further in the application of it towards chemical protection. 

Here's a bit of colloquial information; prior to perfecting the technology needed to create the first gas mask, Haldane released a recommendation for defense against gas attacks... "Hold a urine soaked handkerchief or sock to your face", he wrote, "and breathe through that."