Attachment 3


DEFENSE ACTIVITIES
OF THE
FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY

March 14, 1952


REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
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6.DEFENSE RELATED RESEARCH OF THE FEDERAL SECURITY AGENCY--PUBLIC
HEALTH SERVICE

Background

     Many of the health problems of the present day mobilization
are new.  During and since World War II, science and technology
have introduced new weapons and whole new industries whose
effects on human health have not been precisely determined.
Effective protection against the hazards of such weapons and
industrial dangers have not yet been developed.  Only an
extensive research program--both basic and applied research--can
give the answers to these problems.  Basic research underlies all
of the applied findings which will give the Nation answers to the
many health problems associated with the national defense.

     The Public Health Service of the Federal Security Agency is
conducting an extensive research and development program directed
toward solution of the most critical medical and related problems
now faced by the armed forces and civilian population.  Moreover,
the Public Health Service is responsible for the administration
of a medical research grants program that finances about 25% of
all research in medical schools and a substantial portion of
basic medical research in medical schools and a substantial
portion of basic medical research in universities and hospitals. 
These research programs are giving emphasis to defense problems
as indicated briefly in the paragraphs below.

Blood Research

     If a single atomic bomb were to burst over a large city in
this country, tens of thousands of burned and injured people
could not be given effective treatment because science has not
yet found a practical means of storing blood in large quantities
for long periods, or of providing substitutes for blood which
will be effective in all cases.  Approximately $800,000 has been
allocated during the fiscal year 1952 to expedite research on
blood preservation and blood substitutes.  The Public Health
Service is likewise collaborating closely with the armed forces
in studies connected with the procurement, storage, and
purification of human blood and the processing of blood
derivatives.  These are obviously matters of great importance
both from a military and civilian defense standpoint.

Radiation Injury

     In a number of different ways research is going forward
which is designed to protect persons from radiation injuries and
to devise new treatment methods for those who are injured through
excessive radiation.  For the Atomic Energy Commission, the
Public Health Service is working on the problem of radioactive
wastes; the behavior of radioactive substances in natural
streams; the decontamination of water supplies and the safe
disposal of radioactive wastes.  Both the Atomic Energy
Commission and the Department of Defense have called on the
Public Health Service to use its research staff and to enlist the
help of universities and medical schools in the study of
radiation problems.  These studies aim to determine precisely how
ionizing radiation damages the body, and how much radiation human
beings can stand in one dose or repeated exposures and still be
able to work or fight.


DECLASSIFIED  E 0 10501  BY BF   NARS DATE  6-29-93

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This conference established the relationships among he
investigators concerned and was followed by personnel
consultations among those interested in related fields.

B.   Policy Relationships with the Surgeon General an the
Administrator of the Federal Security Agency

     The specific arrangements outlined above were undertaken
under the general direction of the Surgeon General of the Public
Health Service.  In addition to insuring that this coordination
was accomplished, the Surgeon General reviewed and modified
general policy positions taken by the NIH in the light of the
total responsibilities of the PHS, and particularly in the light
of the relationship between the PHS and other Federal agencies
with defense responsibilities.  Many of the arrangements for the
types of specific investigations noted is the preceding section
had to be at a high level since they involved major commitments
to not only on the part of the PHS, but also on the part of other
executives agencies.  These relationships were important to the
PHS as a whole not only in relation to the specific
understandings, but as a precedence and a framework for more
extended studies in the event of a more critical National
situation.

     Some of these investigations and some of the general
policies had to be reviewed and ratified by the Administrative of
the Federal Security Agency.  The NIH participated in discussions
between the Surgeon General and Administrator of the PHS as
technical advisors since the policy questions involved were
beyond the capacity of the NIH to resolve.