PRESS RELEASE:

Clean Air Masks Recommended for Al Qaeda's Threatened 'Black Wind of Death'

by Sterling D. Allan
Greater Things News Service
March 12, 2004

EPHRAIM, UT

The U.S. is next, according to al Qaeda, who claimed credit for the March 11 attack on trains in Madrid.

The document claiming responsibility for the attack in Spain is calling the pending attack on America "the Black Wind of Death" -- an attack they say is "90% ready."

The attack in Madrid was called "Operation Death Trains."

The al Qaeda connection is being taken seriously because police found a stolen van parked in a suburb near where the targeted trains originated.  The van contained seven detonators and an Arabic-language tape.

U.S. Homeland Security officials have issued a bulletin advising state officials, police and transit and rail agencies to be vigilant in light of the bombings in Spain.

Randy Larsen, a counterterrorism consultant, told CBS News Early Show that the "term 'winds of death' has people nervous."

Considering the descriptive name of the purported pending attack on America, many people are concerned that the assault could come in the form of a biological or chemical agents being released simultaneously in crowded thoroughfares, similar to the bombs in the trains in Spain.  "It sounds like another name the dirty bomb," speculates another.

Because past warnings of such attacks did not materialize, some people may not be as vigilant as they would be otherwise.

Last year, when the U.S. Homeland Security department raised the alert level to orange, for the first time, gas mask sales skyrocketed.

Lionel Juden, CEO of Safer America, has seen gas mask sales increase by little more than double in the last 24 hours.

Brent Anderson, former weapons systems analyst for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommends that people at least have on their person a charcoal filter surgical mask.  The charcoal, or activated carbon, is the same substrate used in gas masks, just not as thick.

Because of its envelope size, "you are far more likely to have it on you at the time of an emergency," than a gas mask, which is unwieldy to carry around.

The inexpensive masks, usually in the range of $5.00, go by the name of Air Aid Mask or Clean Air Mask, and are available from most emergency preparedness outlets.

The tiny pores in the charcoal will filter biological pathogens as well as most chemical agents.

The disadvantage of the mask is that air leaks around the perimeter of the mask, particularly around the bridge of the nose.  This can be resolved by manually pinching the mask around the nose with two fingers, or holding the edges of the mask against the face with both hands.

Anderson comments that even if a biological or nuclear emergency does not happen, a person is wise to have one of these masks on hand at all times in case of a fire, to aid in filter noxious fumes that are produced in a fire, increasing the chance of escape.

The mask is also convenient and inexpensive enough to wear while performing household chores such as cleaning a shower or oven, painting, or spraying the lawn; where other respiratory protectors tend to be too expensive and cumbersome, so people often opt to use no protection.

"The Air Aid Emergency Masks are certainly better than nothing, and could save your life," says Anderson, who invented the mask based on his experience in military training for nuclear, biological and chemical threats.

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REFERENCES

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595048550,00.html - police found stolen van with detonators and tapes in Arabic

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/12/national/main605738.shtml?cmp=EM8707
or try http://tinyurl.com/ywopx
Purported al Qaeda document

http://www.cleanairmask.com - surgical mask w/ activated carbon filter

CONTACT:
Sterling D. Allan
435-283-6340
fax: 801-880-8322
Ephraim, UT USA
sterlingda@greaterthings.com