MUSEUM ACQUIRES BIOLOGICAL MONITORING SYSTEM

A group of scientists led by Lt. Col. Ted Hadfield, chief of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology's (AFIP) Division of Microbiology, worked as part of a research team to develop a detection device that could monitor the air and alert battlefield soldiers to biological warfare. What they developed was the Biological Aerosol Warning System (BAWS), one of which has been donated to the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Sensor units are stationed 500 meters apart around a perimeter for remote detection of biological agents. If bioweapons, such as anthrax, which are infectious organisms or toxins deliberately spread to cause illness, are sensed, troops are alerted to take protective measures. Air samples are immediately collected and analyzed. Once the agent is identified, which takes only a few minutes, the proper treatments are administered. Technologies such as the BAWS unit give military personnel the capability to assess the situation in a matter of minutes and determine a suitable response. The unit is the first of its kind in the museum's collections.

"We believed this was an important device that should be represented in our collection, as we wanted to begin documenting the development of biological warfare detection and treatment," said Alan Hawk, manager of the museum's historical collections.

The U.S. Air Force Combat Command and the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command were also part of the research team. The unit was developed in response to the chemical and biological aspects of the Persian Gulf War. The museum received one of the first generation units, which was developed in 1996. Newer versions of the device detect chemical agents as well, and are called Chemical/Biological Aerosol Warning System.

The historical collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine documents changes in medical technology since the early 17th century and includes objects ranging in size from a suture needle to a two-ton MRI magnet, such as X-ray equipment, microscopes, surgical instruments, numismatics, and anatomical models. The collection is made available for the education of medical professionals, Department of Defense personnel, historians, and the public through exhibits in the museum, loans to other institutions, and individualized study.