July 16, 2008—Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada have opened a new engineering lab to design a ventilation system that could protect schools, hospitals, and other public buildings from chemical warfare and bioterrorist attacks.
“Think of it as a complex fire alarm for industrial chemical spills, airborne diseases, and biological warfare strikes on vulnerable public spaces,” said engineering dean and lead researcher Janusz Kozinski.
“Whether an emergency starts with a terrorist’s biowarfare assault or a contagious disease seeping through a hospital’s air ducts, time is of the essence,” Kozinski said. “This system promises to give citizens and emergency workers in these scenarios the extra seconds they need to respond before it’s too late.”
The Early Warning and Response system (eWAR) addresses what Kozinski views as major threats to public safety—the release of noxious chemicals and bio-agents into public buildings either accidentally through industrial spills or purposely through bioterrorist assaults that target ventilation systems. It could also address the threat of outbreaks by detecting diseases, such as chickenpox and tuberculosis, before they spread through a hospital’s air vents.
For more information, see the university Web site.
