Posted on 01/09/2003 10:45:55 AM PST by knighthawk
FEARFUL Australian families are buying personal gas masks and other survival equipment to protect themselves against biological terror attacks.
One company which sells gas masks has reported a 40 per cent increase in sales post September 11, while another sells 800 single-use escape masks a month.
The increase in survival equipment sales comes as the world copes with a new terror threat following the discovery of traces of the deadly poison ricin in a London flat this week.
British airports and ports are on high alert and hospitals and health authorities have been sent details of ricin symptoms following the discovery of the poison plot.
Melbourne-based Duram Products gets 100 e-mail inquiries each week about personal survival equipment, with professional men and women among their biggest clients.
Managing director Gila Davidson said Australian security services, as well as families, were buying up the masks and other gear.
"People are beginning to become more aware of the threats," Ms Davidson said.
She said she had put on five extra staff just to pack the orders, with requests flooding in every day. One woman has bought a $7000 "tent" for herself and her dog should Australia become a target for biological warfare.
Baby and toddler protective masks with filters can cost $700 while traditional "full" gas masks with replaceable filters cost around $170.
Brisbane disposal company Downunder Survival is selling upwards of 800 personal escape masks a month. "This concern has become mainstream," Downunder Survival director Andrew Hackett said. "It's just your ordinary average Joe and Martha coming in and saying 'what have you got to protect my family?"'
Commuters, high-rise dwellers, and big corporations are buying gas masks, with one Australian company getting 2000 disposable "escape kits" for its employees.
Masks for babies and toddlers and a disposable $75 "Nuclear and Biological" Suit – which can protect from mustard gas for up to six hours – are among the biggest selling items, with doctors and other professionals wanting protection from gas and biological attack.
Imported from Israel, the masks, which retail at $195 each – with discounts for bulk-buyers and families – can be kept in a small packet which clips to a belt or be kept in a pocket.
Commuters and people who work in "high-risk" areas also are asking about safety.
"We get people who work in travel and tourism, particularly people who work in airports," Mr Hackett said.
"We're expecting [sales] to grow through the corporate sector," he said.
"Some organisations now have to be careful because terrorists are focusing on economic targets.
"Imagine if they didn't take steps to protect their workers and something happened."
The rush on masks began after September 11 and picked up after Bali.
"There's awareness now that Australia is a possible target, and we shouldn't be alarmed, but we've got to be sensible," Mr Hackett said.
Local disposal stores said it was now nearly impossible to get one of the Israeli gas masks in Sydney.
"There's been a really big increase since September 11 in people asking about gas masks and survival stuff," Campbelltown Disposals and Firearms owner Andrew Gay said.
"Three or four weeks after that, they were all gone."
Mr Gay said more than 10 per cent of the calls to his store were asking for survival tips: "People are mainly asking how to prepare for chemicals dropping."
Meanwhile acting Prime Minister John Anderson confirmed leave had been cancelled for Australia's elite SAS troops.
"It just applies to the SAS at this point in time," Mr Anderson said. "We are still of the belief that war can be avoided . . . that's our objective."
"If things unfold differently, particularly after the weapons inspectors report to the UN on January 27, plainly we will have to respond according to the information as it comes to hand."
This, coupled with the announcement today that US Marines may not retire this year tells you it's going to be sooner rather than later.
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