the u.s. coast guard and nasa joined in a project to develop a communications system to operate inside protective suits used in chemical spill response. remic corporation, of elkhart, indiana, was awarded the contract by nasa for developing this communication system. coast guard strike teams were consulted to determine operational requirements for the communications system. the contractor also studied environmental problems, investigated the special needs and restrictions of the user, and developed possible package configurations. various options were presented for coast guard consideration with a description of each choice's advantages and disadvantages. nasa and the coast guard determined that the suit communication system should be built into a separate light-weight low-profile garment which would not interfere with other equipment being worn. a number of microphone and control options were developed to increase the system's flexibility. although primarily for totally-encapsulating suits, the system was also designed for use with lower level protective clothing or with ordinary attire. coast guard marine band frequencies (157 mhz) were selected for the transceivers and repeaters. engineering models were presented studied, and modified during a series of review meetings. prototype transceivers and reporters were fabricated and delivered to the coast guard. field tests with the uscg pacific strike team at hamilton afb, california demonstrated that the communications system met the special needs of spill response personnel. this report also provides recommendations for comm