Police officers are required to put on protective suits and wear Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) respirators while handling Radiological, Biological and Chemical (RBC) Agent incidents.

I have the following queries:

(1) How to handle NBC respirators that have been used at a scene suspected to be contaminated by radiological, biological or chemical agents?

(2) The self-contained protective suits worn by fire services officers can keep the whole set of their breathing aspirators including the NBC respirators dry after the water decontamination process. However, it seems that the design of the protective suit (C91 suit) for Police officers cannot serve the same purpose. If the filter of an NBC respirator gets wet after decontamination, the air passage may be blocked and it will endanger an officer's safety as he cannot breath properly with the wet NBC respirator.

A sergeant

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau replies

Guidelines on the decontamination of NBC respirators that have been used at a scene suspected to be contaminated will be given by the duty Bomb Disposal Officer. In general a contaminated respirator can be cleaned by a specific decontaminant solution and the filter will not get wet during the process. The duty Bomb Disposal Officer will also give advice on how to obtain the appropriate decontaminant solution. After decontamination, the filter canister will be replaced.

The policy and detailed procedures in respect of RBC Agent incidents are laid down in the Confidential Order by the Commissioner of Police regarding the Force Response to Radiological, Biological and Chemical Agent Incidents.

The self-contained Level A protective suits used by the Fire Services Department (FSD) and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau (EOD) personnel are comparatively dangerous because of the limited air supply and therefore special training is required. Besides, it is difficult to wear. Level A suits are only required for officers who may be in direct contact with large quantities of RBC agents and so they are worn by EOD and FSD officers.

C91 RBC suit is a Level B protective suit. With a proper NBC respirator, this type of suit can provide protection against military RBC agents. It provides complete protection against biological and chemical warfare agents without the limitations and drawbacks of Level A suits.

The provision of protective suits to personnel including Police officers and the designation of the decontamination area vary with each case and each site. FSD will be responsible for making the arrangements while the duty Bomb Disposal Officer will offer technical advice.

Yuen Hon-wing
Bomb Disposal Officer

Level A protective suit for FSD and EOD personnel

C91 RBC suit is a level B protective suit