Belgian Home Secretary Visit to Military Hospital

30 October 2020

New Belgian Home Secretary Miss Annelies Verlinden visited the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels to witness the work of the CBRN-team and view the range of protective suits available to them. 

Adjudant-Major Jan Vaes, Head of Disaster Cell at Queen Astrid Military hospital explains the suits and the applications in which they are used to protect the team of medics and emergency responders. He has 15 years of experience as a Critical Care Nurse and has been a Flight Nurse at the Belgian Armed Forces since 1998.

Being presented was the powered air RJS protective suit from Respirex International, which is used in medical facilities to offer the highest level of protection from infective patients. The RJS 300 Chemical Respirator Suit is a one-piece Type 3 chemical protective suit for use in hazardous industrial, medical and emergency response environments. 

The Respirex RJS suit improves wearer comfort, with a loose-fitting hood design which provides cooling air over the head and through the suit, reducing heat stress and making the wearer more comfortable and better able to focus on tasks. It offers great freedom of movement whilst the large visor and loose-fitting hood means many wearers feel less constricted and face fit testing is not required allowing it to be used by wearers with facial hair or glasses.

Compared to a gas-tight suit that uses an SCBA, the RJS suit is drastically lighter, has reduced training times and costs and a significantly longer operational duration, allowing a medic to complete a long shift in comfort.