SM-3-11

Revised April 1963

PERSONAL AND

FAMILY SURVIVAL

Civil Defense Adult Education Course

Student Manual

SUPERSEDES SM-3-11 "PERSONAL PREPAREDNESS

IN THE NUCLEAR AGE" DATED AUGUST 1961

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

OFFICE OF CIVIL DEFENSE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

I. The Civil Defense Program

II. Warning and Communications

III. Modern Weapons and Radioactive Fallout

IV. Community Shelters

V. Individual and Family Preparedness for Shelter Living (Emergency Shelter Action)

VI. Home Shelters

VII. Emergence from Shelters and Rehabilitation

VIII. Local Civil Defense and Community Shelter Plans

IX. Survival On The Farm

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

This manual is prepared to give participants in the courses held under the Civil Defense Adult Education Program a permanent record of the matters covered in the course and to serve as a basic home reference on Civil Defense. It does not pretend to be a study of all aspects of the problem.

No claim is made that this manual is any encyclopedia on Civil Defense or that it is a definitive study. Rather, the manual should be considered to be a collection of basic information needed by families to enhance the chances of their survival under nuclear attack.

Civil Defense, as part of the total program of national security, affects every unit of government and has heavy implications for most aspects of the individual citizen's daily life. Civil Defense is such a broad and dynamic field of public and personal endeavor that it must be said: that this manual represents the status of official policy and expert opinion as of the date of publication.

The Civil Defense Adult Education Program is managed for the Office of Civil Defense, Department of Defense, by the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Office of Civil Defense sends the Office of Education the latest Civil Defense information. The Office of Education, in turn, sends the information to the States and, through them, to instructors of the courses. The instructors have special training to teach this special course and are furnished the latest information available pertaining to it.

Instructors are instructed to modify the course so that it has the greatest possible meaning and benefit for the people in a particular class. As part of the course, the local Civil Defense Director, or a representative of his office,is invited to make a presentation so participants can understand how Civil Defense operates in their community.

No given instructor can be expected to know everything about Civil Defense. However, instructors are furnished with standard works, such as Effects of Nuclear Weapons, prepared by the Department of Defense and published by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and others of the type represented in the bibliography at the end of the manual.

The Civil Defense Adult Education Program is now presenting survival information in over 40 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to over 1 million adults a year. The Government commends participants in the course for their prudent interest in personal and national survival.

NOTE-This publication supersedes SM 3-11 "Personal Preparedness in the Nuclear Age," issued August 1961

CHAPTER I

THE CIVIL DEFENSE PROGRAM

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

The purpose of this course is to help save lives if a nuclear attack should ever come to America. In January 1962 the Department of Defense issued basic survival information under the title Fallout Protection: What To Know and Do About Nuclear Attack. This course elaborates upon and encourages discussion of the vital matters presented in the basic work. The outcome of the course will be more effective family planning to meet emergency situations and an understanding cooperation with community disaster plans.

Nuclear war is possible. This fact accounts for the appropriation each year of significant sums for antiaircraft and antiballistic missile programs to meet the contingency of a failure of the deterrent force which accounts for much of our military budgets. The recent series of Russian weapons tests, the continuing Berlin situation, and the recent Cuban crisis are continual dramatic reminders of this fact.

President Kennedy's words on May 25, 1961,continue to define the inescapable responsibility of the Federal Government to take reasonable and practical steps to strengthen the national civil defense posture:

"But this deterrent concept assumes rational calculations by rational

men. And the history of the 20th century is sufficient to remind us of the possibilities of an irrational attack, a miscalculation, an accidental war, or a war of escalation in which the stakes by each side gradually increase to the point of maximum danger which cannot be either

foreseen or deterred. It is on this basis that civil defense can be readily justifiable-as insurance for the civilian population in case of an enemy miscalculation. It is insurance we trust will never be needed-but insurance which we could never forgive ourselves for foregoing in the event of catastrophe."

In his State of the Union message delivered in January 1963, President Kennedy reaffirmed his judgment in the importance of civil defense and identified it as a definite part of the total national defense posture. The President said, "... Until the world can develop a reliable system of international security, the free people have no choice but to keep their arms nearby.

"This country, therefore, continues to require the best defense in the world.... This means, unfortunately, a rising defense budget for there is no substitute for adequate defense, and no 'bargain basement' way to achieving it. It means the expenditure of more than $15 billion this year on nuclear weapons systems alone

"But it also means improved air and missile defense, improved civil defense, a strengthened anti-guerrilla capacity and, of prime importance, more powerful and flexible non-nuclear forces.... "

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee in January 1963, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara said: ". . . In some wartime situations a reasonable Civil Defense program could do more to save lives than many active defense measures. To cite just one example, the effectiveness of an active ballistic missile defense system in saving lives depends in large part upon the availability of adequate fallout shelters for the population." Secretary McNamara also stated to the committee that "... The very austere Civil Defense program recommended by the President ... should be given priority over any major additions to the active defense."

THE NATIONAL CIVIL DEFENSE PROGRAM

The details of a Civil Defense program may change with changes in the kinds of weapons that might be used. But the essential elements of the program remain the same.

Since transfer of civil defense activities to the Department of Defense on August 1, 1961, a program has been developed based on two primary objectives:

A system of shelters, equipped and stocked with the minimum purpose of protecting our entire population from the fallout effects of a nuclear attack. National, State, and local organization, planning and training to carry out warning, emergency communications, movement to shelter, health and feeding services, firefighting, decontamination, rescue and reconstruction of vital facilities and services.

An effective civil defense calls for advance planning at every level of government-local, State, and National. This planning must be flexible enough to adapt itself to changes in enemy weapons and tactics. It must be comprehensive enough to cover people living under widely different conditions, from ranch houses, to apartment buildings, to frame cottages. Planning of this nature requires understanding and support of the informed citizens of every community.

The Federal Civil Defense Act puts the responsibility for Civil Defense jointly on the Federal Government and the States. The Federal Government has assumed four responsibilities: (1) To keep track of the nature of the threat which the Civil Defense Program must be designed to meet; (2) to prepare information about the threat and how it can be met; (3) to bear a major part of the costs of certain kinds of Civil Defense activities, where such sharing will stimulate State and local and private activities ; and (4) to provide technical assistance through State and local channels for Civil Defense planning.

State and local governments have the operating responsibility for Civil Defense. An individual must be able to look to some agency of his State or local government for advice and assistance on civil defense planning, just as he looks to them for police and fire-protection services. By the same token, the responsibility for organizing community Civil Defense protection falls on the States and, through them, on local government units. Because the job is an extraordinarily difficult one, the Federal Government assists the States with technical help and matching funds for certain programs.

The key element in the national program is the provision of fallout shelter. Community shelters will protect a large part of the population; but many families, because of their location or individual preferences, will choose family fallout shelters. The Federal Government will join with States and communities, in a variety of ways, to help provide fallout shelter.

SHELTER EMPHASIS LOGIC

Since great emphasis is placed upon shelter from radioactive fallout the logic of the move should be explained. Many people close to the detonation of a nuclear weapon will not survive the blast and heat effects. However, survivors of blast and heat, as well as people at great distances from the explosion, can be threatened by radioactive fallout. Studies made by the Department of Defense that are used for both military and Civil Defense planning purposes show that most of the Nation could be subjected to fallout following a major attack. The potentiality is summarized on the map. (See Fig. 1.)

The map shows possible rather than actual fallout conditions. Depicted in the fallout resulting from a hypothetical attack on a spring day selected at random. The attack is heavier than would be possible today but is assumed to be possible some time in the future. The attack assumes that over 3,000 megatons would be exploded on or near the .ground, thereby generating fallout. (See Chapter 3.) The darkest areas on the map indicate where it would be necessary to stay in shelter for a week or two. The less dark areas indicate where it would be necessary to stay in shelter from two days to one week. People located in the light gray areas on the map would have to stay in shelter only the first day or two. Overall approximately 75% of the country is covered by fallout, assuming that average winds prevailed. Areas shown in white to be "free of fallout conditions could virtually be covered under different wind conditions, leaving other areas free.

.

Fallout conditions in an actual attack would depend on a number of variables. First, there will be the variability in the direction and velocity of the winds on any given day. Second, the targets at which the enemy might be shooting are matters of conjecture. Third, the number, size, reliability and accuracy of his weapons will be matters of some variation. Despite the variables involved, fallout would threaten virtually all of the area of the United States.

The map shows clearly that fallout can create a hazard which must be coped with in all parts of this country. While radiation and fallout are discussed in detail in Chapter 3, it is important at this point to know only that people who have no protection from radioactive fallout will get sick and, if they get too much exposure, they will die. Fallout would be a nationwide problem and shelters from fallout are needed everywhere.

Planning assumptions for both military and Civil Defense purposes are based on the results of a continuing series of highly systematic studies conducted by the Department of Defense. These studies cover a wide range of potential attacks projected over the years ahead, based on varied assumptions as to enemy objectives, delivery capabilities, wind conditions, weights of attack, targeting systems and our own defensive capabilities. One consistent conclusion is that lives saved under heavy attacks by a total fallout shelter system, after allowing for imperfect use of the system and the vulnerability of shelters too close to explosions, would be somewhere between 40 million to 120 million. Even under low levels of attack, a minimum life saving potential of 20 million lives is anticipated. Fallout protection is an integral part of our defense posture, and is the lowest cost method of providing wide-scale protection for the total population.

The existing shelters have already been surveyed and, with the permission of building owners, are being marked and stocked with minimum survival supplies and equipment. (The National Shelter Survey is discussed in Chapter IV.)

The black and yellow shelter signs going up all over the country mean more than shielding from radiation. They represent not only a place to go which will significantly improve chances of survival but also a place where trained leadership can be found for those crowded into shelters; where there will be a communications link to authoritative sources of information and direction; where food and water is available; where medical supplies are provided with a nucleus of people trained in their use; and where radiation detection equipment is available with personnel trained in monitoring operations.

SUPPORTING ACTIONS

Civil Defense involves every unit of government and has implications for many facets of daily living for individual citizens. Within the Federal Government primary responsibility for Civil Defense has been placed with the Officeof Civil Defense within the Department of Defense. Also involved, by virtue of its responsibility for resource mobilization planning, is the Office of Emergency Planning within the Executive Office of the President. In addition, Civil Defense assignments by Executive order have been made to 29 agencies, including the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the Department of Agriculture, which have considerable impact on State and local Civil Defense. The Office of Civil Defense has eight regional offices which assist States with their Civil Defense planning.

Each State government directs and coordinates the Civil Defense activities of the State, its counties, townships and other political subdivisions.

Governors, mayors, and other community officials oversee the Civil Defense programs in the areas under their normal authority. With the assistance of their Civil Defense staff, these officials provide planning and leadership for government functions in emergencies. The governor appoints a State Civil Defense Director who is in charge of Civil Defense and is often charged with the defense mobilization activities throughout the State. Mayors appoint city directors with similar local defense responsibilities. Final responsibility, however, remains with the regularly elected heads of government.

Cities, large and small, face many problems in protecting their people during emergencies. Many communities have already developed emergency plans and have assigned responsibilities to their employees. City workers are being trained for special emergency tasks, and volunteer helpers are receiving training to augment regular employees.

Counties have also been actively developing emergency plans. County government officials know that farmers will have the vitally important responsibility of feeding the nation during the post-attack period. Rural survival plans are often developed by county government in close cooperation with the County Agricultural Agent, local farm associations, granges, farm cooperatives, and other local voluntary organizations.

The task of informing every citizen about nuclear attack, and what he can do about it, is carried on by National, State, and local government Civil Defense agencies. These organizations also provide specific training to the hundreds of thousands of volunteer workers who must be prepared to assist constituted government agencies in shelter management, decontamination efforts, rescue work, firefighting, first aid, and to restore necessary services.

Today many Americans who have informed themselves about the danger facing the Nation feel an obligation to take positive action. Each individual's preparedness adds to the defensive strength of the Nation, When the citizen takes such action, he not only serves his country, but also has the satisfaction of having done all that can reasonably be expected of him to .improvethe chances of his own survival and the survival of his family and community. Under attack conditions initial Iifesaving actions will have to be taken first by individuals, families, and communities. In the chapters that follow is information on what actions to take to improve the odds for survival.

CHAPTER II

WARNING AND COMMUNICATIONS

A dependable warning system is a vital part of civil defense. In the nuclear age no one can know the number of seconds, minutes or hours of warning we might have before an attack. An ultimatum might set a deadline; enemy bombers can be tracked while hours away; but enemy missiles can arrive almost unannounced. Fortunately, it appears likely that almost every missile would be directed against our military targets, such as SAC bomber bases and missile sites, and our air defense nerve centers. In an attack of this kind, many of our cities might have hours of warning before the arrival of the enemy bombers which might attack them. Other cities, however, near military targets or otherwise subject to missile attack, might have only minutes of warning.

However, even brief warning receivedby radio or public warning devices would give precious, lifesaving time to act. It should be kept in mind also that there would be a significant period of time, in many areas several hours, between the explosion of nuclear weapons and the arrival of radioactive fallout.

A WARNING SYSTEM

Current Warning Systems Network

Warning depends upon discovering approaching aircraft or missiles as far from the Nation's borders as possible. This warning must be rapidly transmitted to the general public. The National Warning System (NAWAS), together with State and local warning systems, make up our Civil Defense Warning System. Telephone, radio, teletype, and special systems are used to flash warnings throughout the States and their political subdivisions. Sirens, horns, whistles, voice-sound systems and similar sound-producing devices are used to warn the public.

NORAD

To provide the necessary early warning, the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD)-a joint United States-Canadian defense system-maintains a surveillance network that includes ground radar installations and radar-equipped aircraft across the northern reaches of North America. Far to the north, lines of detection stations face the North Pole, Europe, Russia and Asia. Other radar-equipped planes and radar picket ships are on duty off our shores, watching and listening for danger that might be approaching across the Atlantic or Pacific.

Detection begins at the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning Line), a radar wall extending some 4,000miles across the Arctic, through the Bering Sea, and into the North Pacific. Navy picket ships and radar-crammed patrol planes extend the DEW Line far out to sea.

The mid-Canada Radar Line, shown in figure 5, is some 600 miles south of the DEW Line. The Pinetree Line of this huge radar network parallels the United States-Canadian border.

Offshore detection lines are formed by radar-equipped picket ships, aircraft and blimps.

BMEWS

The U.S. Air Force has recently set up a system of giant radar installations that will spot missiles thousands of miles across the Arctic. This system, called BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System), is especially designed to give warning of approaching intercontinental missiles. BMEWS installations are located at Thule, Greenland, and Clear, Alaska. A third at Flyingdales Moor in England will be operational in 1963. BMEWS reports can establish (1) that hostile missiles have been fired, (2) the areas from which they were fired, and (3) the estimated missile target. In a matter of seconds electronic computers analyze the signals, compute data, and transmit findings to the North American Air Defense Command.

NAWAS

The backbone of the Civil Defense Warning System is the National Warning System (NAWAS) which links the OCD National Warning Center at NORAD Headquarters and 6 OCD Warning Centers at NORAD Regions with 500'IVarning Points in the continental United States. Once it has been determined that attack is probable or imminent, OCD Warning Centers disseminate an Air Raid Warning and supplemental information concerning type and direction of attack, and Warning Time (time available before attack) to the 500 Warning Points. They, in turn, relay the warning and the Warning Time to approximately 3,500 secondary warning points, who pass the warning to local officials responsible for warning the public.

The attack warning system is always at wartime readiness. This system is tested regularly.

Warning Signals

There are two Civil Defense warning signals to alert the public to approaching enemy attack. Everyone should know what to do when each of these warning signals is sounded. These warning signals can be sounded on horns, whistles, or sirens. Regardless of the warning device used, each person should be able to recognize each signal instantly and know what action to take.

Alert Signal

A STEADY 3-to-5-MlNUTE SOUNDING of the siren or other warning device is the "Alert" signal. This signal is used if there is evidence of impending attack. When the Alert is heard, each person should turn on the radio for emergency instructions. The Alert signal will mean that there is some time to take predetermined or survival actions, such as movement to public or family shelters. The survival measures must be predetermined in case of this warning and incorporated into the local Civil Defense survival plan. Whatever an individual is to do should be done at once. Family practice and drill should also be held periodically.

Take Cover

A WAILING TONE OR A SERIES OF SHORT BLASTS FOR 3 MINUTES on sirens or other signaling devices means take cover. This signal is used to indicate that hostile attack is imminent and that time permits only the most rapid movement to shelter. It is essential, then, to go as quickly as possible to the nearest shelter. People who are in a building should move at once to a marked shelter area if one is available in the building, otherwise to the best protected part of the building. People who are outside should run, not walk, to the nearest cover.

An "all clear" signal will not be sounded on public warning devices. Information on the further action required will be passed by voice communication media, probably radio.

LOCAL WARNING DEVICES

Local warning devices vary from community to community, as noted above. The most important considerations, however, are that the warning devices be in sufficient number and of sufficient intensity to be heard by the entire community. Indoor warning devices such as Bell and Lights, Muzak, telephone calling, etc., can also be utilized. Periodic testing of local devices helps insure their adequacy and readiness for any emergency, and familiarize the public with the meaning of the signals.

NEAR

The National Emergency Alarm Repeater (NEAR) System, the name given to OCD's prototype indoor warning system, entered one of a number of engineering tests October 1962 at Phoenix, Ariz. At that time, a converter was installed and testing began on the Arizona Public Service Company system. This engineering test phase will continue through June 1964. In addition, several different prototype NEAR receivers will be tested and operational control methods for the system will be tested.

This system is designed to provide a capability for almost instantaneous warning of impending attack for the indoor public. It will make warning available to about 96 percent of the population in homes, offices, factories, schools, and in other places of public assembly. It will be particularly valuable in bringing warning to rural areas where outdoor warning systems would be too expensive to install. The NEAR system is activated by a special signal transmitted over electric utility lines.

The receiver for the NEAR signal is a small box approximately a 3½-inch cube (see fig. 9). It can be plugged into any standard 120-volt receptacle. When activated by the signal transmitted over the electric utility system lines, it produces a loud, annoying buzzing sound which may be heard over the usual indoor noises.

The NEAR system will supplement sirens and other outdoor warning devices and systems.

Receipt of the NEAR signal is the order to seek shelter immediately!

CONELRAD

CONELRAD (CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiations) was devised to provide radio communications in a national emergency while denying enemy bombers the use of radio beams as an aid in finding targets. This is accomplished by having television and FM stations cease their regular transmission and selected AM stations to go to either 640 or 1240 kilocycles.

The basic defense requirements for CONELRAD have decreased as the potential of attack with ballistic missiles has increased. Recently, the Department of Defense determined that, it was no longer essential to minimize radiation by non-Government transmitters as possible navigation aids to an enemy. Accordingly, the CONELRAD system is now known as "The Emergency Broadcast System." This system, when completed, should ensure civil governments a more effective means of communication with the public. Also, OCD, in cooperation with the radio broadcast stations, is building shelters in selected radio stations, to allow them to continue broadcasting under fallout conditions.

SHELTER COMMUNICATIONS

Telephones are expected to be the principal means of communication between community shelters and between the shelters and the local government Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It is also expected that the telephone system will be backed up by radio. As this plan is carried into effect, information applying to all community shelters could be broadcast by radio. Information for or from a particular shelter would be conveyed by telephone. The necessary communication equipment should be installed by the local community.

Within large shelters, information and instructions to occupants may be provided by public address systems.

In large community shelters, communications equipment will be operated by specially trained staff members. Each local government Emergency Operations Center will transmit instructions and directions to shelters within its area.

If, when warning is sounded, shelter staff members discover that for some reason a community shelter cannot be occupied safely, they will immediately call the local operations center for instructions. The Center, on the basis of all available information, may order that the shelter be closed and its occupants moved to other nearby shelters or that the occupants remain where they are and make the best of the situation.

CHAPTER III

MODERN WEAPONS AND RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT

BOTH THE MILITARY FORCES and the civilian population of the United States may be endangered by the effects of modern weapons. Our country must prepare to defend itself against any weapon which might be used in an attack. There are four possibilities: Conventional, chemical,biological, and nuclear.

CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS

Weapons which depend on TNT or similar nonnuclear explosives for their effectivenessare classified as "conventional". These include many of the weapon types used during World War I, II and the Korean War-shells, torpedoes, rockets, mines, and bombs. Preparation for defense against nuclear attack is more than adequate to prepare for coping with conventional weapons; the converse is not true.

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL AGENTS

Many studies inside and outside Government have been made concerning the relative threat posed to the survival of this Nation by nuclear weapons and chemical and biological agents. These studies quite conclusively indicate that, at the present time, nuclear weapons pose the most serious threat to the survival of our Nation. The studies concede that chemical agents could be used overtly or covertly against the United States in the event of an attack. Chemical agents, however, are not considered a major strategic threat as they are effective mainly if used against tactical targets of limited area. These studies also indicate that biological agents are a potential threat for the future. Knowledge about practical application of biological agents is insufficient to indicate when, if ever, this threat might become a reality. Hence, research on methods of detecting, identifying, reporting, and analyzing and defending against biological agents will continue. This potential threat is being kept under constant review.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Destructive Capabilities

A nuclear weapon is usually described in terms of the total energy it can release in comparison to the number of tons of TNT required to release the same amount of energy when exploded. Thus, the detonation of a l-megaton (1-MT) nuclear bomb releases the same amount of energy as the explosion of approximately 1 million tons of TNT. The results of the World War II bombing attacks on Coventry, England, and Hiroshima, Japan, can be compared. In the Coventry raid, the largest mass air raid on England, 437 aircraft dropped 394 tons of high-explosive bombs, 56 tons of incendiary bombs, and 127 parachute bombs. The results were: 380 persons killed, 800 injured. At Hiroshima, one bomber dropped one nuclear bomb. The results were: 70,000 killed, 70,000 injured. The weapon used in the Hiroshima raid was of the 20-kiloton (20-KT.) "A-bomb" class (equal in explosive force to approximately 20,000 tons of TNT). Yet, the Hiroshima bomb is now considered a weapon of limited power when compared to current "H-bombs" which can produce explosions equivalent to the explosion of many millions of tons of TNT.

A nuclear explosion releases a large proportion of its energy in the form of a flash of light or heat, creating a giant fireball. Its intense light and heat can cause skin burns and fires at great distances from the point of detonation. Powerful blast and shock are likewise produced.

Nuclear explosions alone among the various types of weapons produce nuclear radiations. The initial (immediate) nuclear radiation that accompanies the blast and heat wave is usually defined as the radiation occurring within the first minute after the explosion. Its effects are limited to the immediate neighborhood of severe blast damage. About 90 percent of the total energy released by a nuclear weapon appears in the forms mentioned above. The remaining 10 percent of energy is released as the residual nuclear radiation associated with the radioactive materials from the explosion. These, materials and other debris are drawn upward into the ascending cloud, returning to earth as FALLOUT.

An enemy might use nuclear weapons in various ways, depending on the results he seeks. He must consider the system for delivering the weapons, such as aircraft for dropping nuclear bombs or missiles armed with nuclear warheads. He must also consider the effects of various weapon yields and types of burst, because the power of an explosion and its point of detonation largely determine how much of an area would be destroyed, what types of partial or total damage would be inflicted, and how widespread the radioactive fallout and other secondary effects would be. For instance, a nuclear weapon may be detonated high in the air, or at the surface of land or water, or even after the weapon has penetrated below the surface.

An air detonation results in the formation of very small fallout particles which travel with upper level winds for long periods of time. When the particles drift down to earth, they are widely distributed and pose a relatively small radiation danger. However, detonations at or near the surface of land, or below the surface, result in "local fallout," which means that much larger particles are formed and a large fraction of them settles to earth during the first 24 hours. This early contamination near the burst and for many miles downwind is a far greater hazard than fallout released high in the air by an air detonation, which may take years to settle out.

Effects of the Explosion

The point directly beneath the center of a nuclear explosion is called ground zero. The surrounding land, objects, and persons would suffer varying amounts of damage, depending on their distance from that point and the size of the weapon. For weapons which burst at or near the surface, damage may be expected to vary generally with distance from ground zero. Closest to ground zero, destruction may be virtually complete with few survivors to be found. Moving away from ground zero, the probability of survival increases, while damage and destruction of structures tends to become less severe. The area of light but appreciable damage (shattered glass, kindling of dry fuels) extends as much as 10 miles for a 5-MT burst.

The pattern of effects in an actual explosion would resemble a series of distorted, roughly concentric areas, never neat circles, because of hills, and valleys, large buildings or other obstacles near ground zero. As the altitude at which the bomb is detonated is increased, the areas of physical damage will decrease until at high altitude detonations the blast wave may not reach the ground and the predominant effect would be the thermal radiation.

Fire Hazards

A large portion of the energy in the detonation of a nuclear weapon is given off as heat. This heat is intense enough, beyond the range of any physical damage to structures, to ignite "kindling fuels" exposed to it either outside or inside buildings through windows. Papers, fabrics, and thin or dry rotten wood are "kindling fuels." Fires in these materials may spread to heavier fuels-furniture, rooms, fences, porches, etc.-and then grow to involve entire buildings or groups of buildings in the absence of any attempts to extinguish the fires when small. In the presence of a ground wind the fires would merge and form probably several large moving fires or "conflagrations." These conflagrations would be similar to those which have swept through Chicago in 1871, Baltimore in 1904,the Maine forests in 1947, and the Bel Air section of Los Angeles in 1961. In the absence of a ground wind and in combination with several other factors-large congested area with many fires-a "fire storm" might develop. The fires merge into a large fire with a vertically rising column of hot gases and smoke. Strong in-blowing winds are created which, in turn, fan the fire to a greater intensity. The conditions for this type of fire are believed to exist in only certain portions of a few American cities and are not regarded as serious a threat as the thousands of individual fires and numerous conflagrations which could more likely occur. The spread of fires from a nuclear attack would be limited by barriers such as open space, rivers, wide expressways, rainfall and distribution of burnable material. The number of fires that might initially occur from a nuclear attack could be significantly reduced by attention to proper maintenance of buildings and cleanup programs, and extinguishment of those individual fires that did occur while they were still small and easily controlled by simple measures.

An example of the possible effects are illustrated by the following example of a 5-MT surface burst. Other weapons of larger sizes are possible and detonations may be at various altitudes-all of which would change the effects from those in the following example.

Effects of a 5-Megaton Burst

A 5-megaton nuclear weapon explodes with a brilliant flash that lasts about a minute. A quick burst of nuclear and heat radiation emerges from the fireball. The spurt of initial nuclear radiation can be lethal within a radius of 2 miles. The heat rays and immediate radiation are followed by a blast (shock) wave which loses much of its damaging force over a distance of about 10miles. With the blast wave comes a violent wind which picks up loose objects and carries them outward.

A 5-MT burst at ground level would leave a crater about one-half mile wide in the area of the explosion; it would destroy nearly everything within the radius of a mile from ground zero. It would also destroy most buildings two miles from the point of explosion, push steel-frame buildings sideways, and start fires.

The destruction 5 miles away would be less severe, but fire and early fallout could be significant hazards.

Ten miles away, most buildings would remain intact but fires would be started indirectly by the blast wave which follows a burst, not by the heat from the fireball. The blast wave could rupture gas lines and short-circuit wires within houses and buildings, which would add to fire hazards. Flying glass and early fallout would also be major dangers.

Somewhat farther away, all buildings would remain standing. The fading blast wave would take longer to arrive, but would still shatter many windows. The most acute danger at these greater distances downwind from the explosion would be from early fallout, which might begin to arrive in some areas within one-half hour to a few hours, depending upon the distance and wind conditions at the time.

The blast, heat, and fire caused by a nuclear explosion could cause widespread destruction, but radioactive fallout would be a much greater hazard. It could spread over thousands of square miles, covering a much greater area than the area endangered by fire and blast, and sicken or kill unprotected people many miles from the point of detonation. Although only a small fraction of the total energy expended by a nuclear explosion is released as nuclear radiations, it is a highly important fraction. What, then, is radioactive fallout?

THE NATURE OF FALLOUT

In a surface burst, large quantities of earth or water enter the fireball at an early stage and are fused or vaporized. When sufficient cooling has occurred) the fission products and other radioactive residues become incorporated with the earth particles as a result of the condensation of vaporized fission products into fused particles of earth, etc. A small proportion of the solid particles formed upon further cooling are contaminated fairly uniformly throughout with radioactive fission products and other weapon residues, but in the majority the contamination is found mainly in a thin shell near the surface. In water droplets, the small fission product particles occur at discrete points within the drops. As the violent disturbance due to the explosion subsides, the contaminated particles and droplets gradually fall back to earth. This effect is referred to as the "fallout." It is the fallout, with its associated radioactivity which decays over a long period of time, that is the main source of the residual nuclear radiations.

Time of Fallout Arrival

It takes time for fallout to drop from the nuclear cloud, even close to the burst, and the size of the particles is an important factor in determining the rate of its return to earth.

Significant amounts of fallout begin to arrive in the immediate vicinity outside a blast area about 30 minutes after an explosion. People some 20miles away may have an hour to seek protection from the fallout. At a distance of 100 miles, the fallout may not arrive for 4 hours or more. The fallout will continue to cover an increasingly larger area, and may eventually cover several thousand square miles. Some areas that will receive fallout might not get it until 24 hours after the explosion, and lighter deposits of fallout may continue for many hours afterwards. Outside of areas affected by blast and heat, then, the earliest and most immediate serious danger following a nuclear attack could be from local fallout.

The time of fallout arrival at various distances and directions from the points of explosion (ground zero) depends on the winds and upon the height of the explosion. Layers of air move in various directions at different heights. Fallout distribution is determined primarily by high altitude winds that often blow in a quite different direction from the ground level winds. In a 1954 test of an H-bomb, the fallout reached a point 160 miles downwind about 8 hours after the explosion and continued to fall for several hours.

As much as 80 percent of the radioactive material from a land-surface burst of a nuclear weapon may return to the earth as early fallout within the first day, and will assume an irregular pattern stretching from the downwind neighborhood of the blast-damaged area. Early fallout descends so quickly and in such heavy concentration that the hazard from it is much greater than that of the widely distributed, slow-falling types of worldwide fallout. The remaining radioactive material rises high into the sky, is blown around the world by high winds and. falls back to earth over a period of months or years.

Some peacetime tests of nuclear weapons have caused worldwide fallout. Quantities of radioactive isotopes have risen into the stratosphere and have come down slowly afterwards as very light fallout, creating fears of health hazards. It should be understood that slow-falling worldwide fallout resulting from a war waged with nuclear weapons would be much greater in quantity than the fallout from peacetime tests. However, the main concern should be protection against wartime close-in or local fallout.

Area of Severe Fallout

The region of severe local fallout lies downwind from the point of burst. It is impossible to predict with accuracy how large this area will be or what shape it will take because so many conditions can affect it. The area of severe local fallout might stretch 5 miles or more upwind of ground zero and 150 to 200 or more miles downwind depending on the strength of the wind and the bomb yield. The pattern could be irregular in outline, and fallout within the area might not be evenly distributed. There might be local or regional hot spots as well as other areas with very little fallout. These variations could result from differences caused by local hills, valleys, lakes and streams, or from wind, rain, and other local weather conditions. Also, heavier deposit in central areas than at the periphery is the rule.

The extent and location of a fallout area arid the levels of radiation in that area are determined by:

Altitude of the bomb burst, Power and design of the bomb, Size, shape and density of the fallout particles, Atmospheric conditions such as air currents and the direction and speed of the winds, particularly those up to perhaps 80,000 feet, Snow and rain, Nature of the ground surface.

The Nature of the Atom

All matter is made up of one or more simple materials known as elements. The total number of naturally occurring elements is 92. Among the common elements are the gases--hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen; the solid nonmetals--carbon, sulfur, and phosphorus; and various metals such as iron, copper, and zinc. A lessfamiliar element, which is used as a source of atomic (or nuclear) energy, is uranium, normally a solid metal.

The smallest part of any element that can exist, while still retaining the characteristics of the element, is an atom of that element. Thus, there are atoms of hydrogen, or iron, or uranium, and so on. The hydrogen atom is the lightest of all atoms, but the atoms of uranium are among the heaviest found in nature. The atom of one element is the smallest unit that can combine with the atom of another element to produce 'a chemical reaction. For example, common salt known as sodium chloride (NaOl) is a combination of one atom of sodium (Na) and one atom of chlorine (Cl). When atoms unite chemically, they form molecules; for example, one atom of oxygen is represented by the symbol O, but the normal oxygen molecule exists as a combination of two atoms, or O 2

Atomic Structure

The atom contains three primary types of particles--protons, neutrons, and electrons. The inner core of the atom, called the nucleus, is composed of both protons and neutrons. The protons are electrically charged and are referred to as having a positive (plus) charge, whereas the neutrons are not electrically charged. The only atom which is an exception to the above is that of ordinary hydrogen, which doesnot contain a neutron.

Electrons are very tiny particles that carry a charge of NEGATIVE electricity. They surround the nucleus and can be thought of as revolving around it in about the same fashion that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun. Every atom can be pictured as a tiny "solar system." The "sun" of the atom is its nucleus and the "planets" of this sun, revolving in orbits around it, are the electrons.

Radioactivity

The essential difference between atoms of different elements lies in the number of protons in the nucleus. A hydrogen atom, for example, contains only 1 proton; a helium atom has 2 protons; and a uranium atom has 92 protons. Although all the nuclei of a given element contain the same number of protons, they may have different numbers of neutrons. The resulting atomic species,which have identical atomic numbers but which differ in their masses, are called "isotopes" of the particular element.

Radioactivity is the process whereby isotopes of certain elements spontaneously emit particles and/or rays from the nuclei of their atoms. Some elements are naturally radioactive, whereas others can be made artificially radioactive by bombarding the nuclei. Significant initial radiation from a nuclear explosion includes gamma radiation and neutrons. Significant later radiation (fallout) includes gamma rays and beta particles. Beta particles are high-speed electrons, and gamma rays are similar to X-rays although usually more penetrating than X-rays.

Natural radioactivity is characterized by the ability of certain types of atomic nuclei to decay spontaneously, giving off alpha, beta, or gamma radiations, or combinations of these. Radium, for example, is one of about 50 naturally radioactive atomic species.

In a nuclear explosion, various isotopes of many normally stable elements can be created. Although most are radioactive, they produce beta and gamma radiation; none produce alpha.

Fission

Nuclear fission is the splitting of heavy atomic nuclei. The nucleus of an atom of a heavy element such as uranium may be split into two or more parts. This atom splitting is accompanied by the release of energy.

Self-sustaining fission reactions occur only with the heavy elements uranium, plutonium, or thorium. When a fissionable nucleus is split by a neutron, it releases energy and one or more neutrons. These released neutrons may split other fissionable nuclei, releasing more energy and more neutrons. In an atomic explosion this reaction becomes self-sustaining.

Fusion

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is the joining together of light atomic nuclei to forma heavier nucleus. Such fusion can only be accomplished under conditions of very high temperature (millions of degrees). If two nuclei of light atoms fuse, the fusion is accompanied by the release of a great deal of energy. The energy of the sun, for example, results from the fusion of certain light atoms to form heavier ones. Much of the power from the so-called hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) results from the fusion process. Atoms formed by the fusion process are not radioactive; atoms formed by fission process are radioactive.

Detecting the 'Presence of Fallout

Radioactive debris-fallout-may be of many sizes. Of course, the larger, heavier particles come down closer to the explosion. Particles the size of sand or table salt may be carried some miles downwind from the explosion. Smaller particles stay in the air much longer and travel much farther before reaching the ground. Whether or not the particles are visible, the nuclear radiation given off by them cannot be detected by the senses directly. The radiation from fallout cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt; instruments must be relied upon to detect and measure the radiation.

There are various types of radiation-measuring instruments, including dosimeters which are used to measure the total radiation exposure of personnel and survey meters which are used to measure the rate of radiation. Civil Defense personnel, called radiological monitors, have been given special training in the use of these instruments.

Radiation Not Transferred From Fallout

Nuclear radiation from fallout can damage living things, but it does not cause the damaged matter to become radioactive. Thus, if fallout particles are on the body of a person or animal, instruments may detect nuclear radiation coming from that contamination but, if the fallout particles are removed, no radiation will be detected. If radioactive fallout drops on a body of water, the water itself does not become radioactive. After the radioactive fallout has been removed the water itself is not radioactive. The same principle applies _to water in storage tanks, or to food in cans or other containers. Mere exposure to radioactive fallout does not make the water or food dangerous.

Kinds of Radiation

Fallout from a nuclear explosion emits beta particles and gamma rays.

Beta particles have a maximum range of only 10 to 12 feet in open air (average range 3 to 4 feet) but they do not penetrate materials easily. Several layers of clothing can protect the body. But if enough new fallout remains on exposed skin for some time (hours), the beta particles can cause severe burns. Some beta particle emitters have long half lives and if substantial amounts enter the body, some damage may result.

Gamma rays pose the greatest threat, since they are long-range and extremely penetrating. They may be likened to a kind of invisible light to which all things are partly transparent. In contrast to the thin amount of material needed to stop beta particles, only 50 percent of the gamma rays are stopped or absorbed by about 17 inches of wood. In a fallout area the amount of gamma rays reaching the body can be reduced to acceptable levels by putting enough shielding (mass) between a person and the source of radiation. In general, the denser the material, the less thickness is required for shielding. If the shielding is thick enough and dense enough, it would cut gamma radiation to such a low level that it can do little harm.

Fallout Distribution

The size and design of a nuclear weapon, type of burst, and wind condition chiefly determine the amount and distribution of radioactivity in a fallout area. Since these things can't be predicted, actual field measurements of nuclear radiation would be necessary following an attack.

Measurements of radiation levels are made at sheltered monitoring stations, where monitors can take quick readings outside of shelters and by mobile monitors when levels are low enough to allow extensive field activity. An area of high radioactivity may be monitored from an airplane.

Radiation dose is measured in units called the "roentgens" (pronounced "rent-kins"). It is named after W. K. Roentgen, the discoverer of X-rays, and is the measurement of X-ray or gamma radiation. A smaller unit often used is a milliroentgen, which is one thousandth of a roentgen. Remember that the roentgen is a unit of radiation exposure.

HEALTH HAZARDS FROM RADIATION

Internal and External Radiation

During the early postattack period, external radiation is the primary problem and is the major concern in this section. However, radiation damage can result from either internal or external nuclear radiation. Consumption of heavily contaminated food and water could cause some internal radiation damage. This damage would be minor in relation to the external radiation danger.

Foodstuffs contaminated with fallout contain many different radio-isotopes. Once inside the body, some of these isotopes are concentrated in specific organs, tissues, and bones. For example, iodine concentrates in the thyroid gland. Strontium 90 behaves much like calcium and is deposited primarily in the bones.

Radiation From Natural Sources

Living things are exposed to radiation from natural sources every day. Natural nuclear radiation comes from radioactive rocks and soil; other radiation comes from far out in space. The individual sees nothing and feels nothing, but the radiation damages or destroys some of the body cells. The effects on an individual's health are not serious because very few cells of the body are involved.

Inside the body there are very small amounts of naturally radioactive materials (potassium 40 and carbon 14). Additional amounts are taken in through food, water, and air. Soil and rocks contain potassium 40 and uranium, thorium, and radium. Tiny amounts of these materials are taken into the body with food and water.

Small amounts of radiation can be received for medical purposes without significant harm. The average tuberculosis chest X-ray exposes the chest to an amount of between one-tenth to one-half roentgen. Even large amounts of radiation can be applied to limited areas of the body without being fatal. Cancer specialists often bombard cancerous area with massive doses of radiation, destroying more cancer cells than normal cells.

During the average lifetime, every human being receives about 10 roentgens of radiation from natural sources.

Exposure to Radiation

When large amounts of radiation are absorbed by the body in short periods of time, sickness and death may result. In general, the effects of radiation exposure stay with people and accumulate over a period of time. Few people get sick who have been exposed to 100 roentgens or less. Exposure to more than 300 roentgens over a period of a few days will cause sickness and may cause death. And death is expected to ensue for almost everyone who receives an exposure of 600 roentgens over a period of a few days. The effects of similar exposures over a period of months or years are still under study, though in general, even a fairly large dose of radiation absorbed over months or years is not as dangerous as when absorbed over a few days. In the former case, the body is able to repair much of the cell damage as it occurs.

The table below shows the effects of various amounts of short term radiation exposure.

RADIATION DOSE (ROENTGENS) EFFECT 50 Smallest dose detectable in an individual by laboratory methods. 75-100 May cause transient nausea on day of exposure in 10% of the people exposed. 200 Largest dose that does not cause illness severe enough to require medical care in the majority of people (90-95%) 450 Will cause death to about 50% of the people exposed, 3 to 4 weeks after exposure. 600 Will cause death to almost everyone so exposed, 2 to 3 weeks after exposure.

Radiation Sickness Not Contagious

Persons and animals exposed to large amounts of radiation will develop radiation sickness. Radiation sickness is neither contagious nor infectious; a person cannot "catch it" from others. People or animals suffering from radiation sickness can be helped without fear of "catching" radiation injury from them. However, a person or animal with "radiation sickness" could be suffering from a massive infection, and should be treated accordingly. Again, fallout radiation cannot make anything radioactive. Food and water that have been exposed to fallout radiation are contaminated only to the extent that they contain fallout particles or dissolved radioactive material. Exposed food that may have particles on it should ·be washed, brushed, or peeled. Fallout particles can be removed from water supplies by sedimentation or filtering. People who have fallout particles on their bodies or clothing probably would not carry enough to endanger other people, but they should clean themselves for their own protection.

Radiation Sickness

People may show symptoms of radiation sickness if they have received a dose of from 100 to 550 or more roentgens. Such symptoms as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, may appear in the first day or so, then about a week may pass before other symptoms appear. These later symptoms may include loss of weight, loss of appetite, bleeding, discolored spots on the skin, paleness, redness, swollen mouth and throat, and general discomfort.

Symptoms of three degrees of radiation sickness are: Mild-the especially sensitive person will show some nausea, lack of appetite, and fatigue within a few hours after exposure. He should rest but can continue normal activities. Recovery will be rapid. Moderate-the same symptoms appear, but well within two hours of exposure, and more markedly. Vomiting and even prostration may occur. By the third day, recovery may seem complete, but symptoms may recur in the next few days or weeks. Severe-again, all the early symptoms show up and may vanish after a few days. But after a week or more, fever, mouth soreness and diarrhea may appear; gums and mouth ulcerate and bleed; and, in about the third week, the patient's hair may start to fall out. Recovery may take 7 to 8 weeks. When exposure has been overwhelming, death comes in hours.

Symptoms should be treated in this way: General rest. Aspirin for headache. Motion sickness tablets for nausea. Liquids for diarrhea and vomiting, but not until vomiting has stopped (ideally, 1 tablespoon of table sale to 1 quart of cool water, to be sipped slowly). This solution can be used as a mouthwash for sore mouth.

It is important to remember that many of the symptoms may also appear in people who do not have radiation sickness at all. Symptoms such as nausea, lack of appetite, and fatigue may be seen in persons subject to extreme anxiety and emotional stress.

Individual Exposure Dose

Exposure to radiation of individuals should be kept as low as possible. This would be done in the immediate postattack period by using the best available shelter for the period of time necessary to ensure survival. If it becomes necessary to leave shelter for essential items, the dose rate and the time of exposure will determine the amount of radiation that an individual receives. A simplified method of calculating dose would be to multiply the dose rate by the time of exposure ( e.g., 3 roentgens per hour times 4 hours equals 12 roentgens). Generally, individuals should obtain guidance on permissible dose from their local Civil Defense officials.

Median Lethal Dose

A measuring point for the effects of extreme whole-body exposure that is often used is called the median lethal dose. Usually abbreviated as MLD, or LD/50, it is the radiation dose delivered over a short period of time that is expected to kill 50 percent of exposed persons (or animals) within about a month, An acute dose is that received when the whole body is exposed for a short period of time-up to about a week. About 450 roentgens (acute dose) is the estimated median lethal dose for man, as compared to about 325 roentgens for dogs or 800to 900 for rats.

RADIOACTIVE DECAY

Radiation rate or intensity from fallout decreases with time-that is the radiation level, as measured in roentgens per hour, drops lower and lower. This falling off is known as radioactive decay.

The "half-life" of a radioactive element is the time that it takes for a given amount of the isotope to decrease in radioactivity to half its original value. For instance, a form of cobalt (cobalt 60) has a half-life of about 5 years. This means that a measurement of 200 r/hr., if repeated 5 years later, would have fallen to about 100 r/hr.; 5 years after that it would have fallen to about 50 r/hr., and so on.

Each radioactive isotope has a different half-life, and this ranges from a small fraction of a second to billions of years. The passage of seven half-lives of a radioactive isotope decreases its radiation level to about 1 percent of its initial radiation level. The passage of 10 half-lives decreases the radiation to about one-tenth of 1 percent of the initial radiation.

The mixture of isotopes formed after a nuclear burst-the mixture that makes up fallout-is so complex that it is not possible to calculate the exact decay rate. However, from experimental measurements, a rough approximation indicates that for each sevenfold increase in time, the radioactivity of the mixture found in fallout drops to about one-tenth of its former value. In general, the radioactivity at 4:9 hours after the explosion will have dropped to about 10 percent of its amount at 7 hours. Within about 2 weeks, the radioactivity can be expected to decay by another factor of 10. But even this level of radiation can be dangerous if there is a heavy concentration of fallout, and the decay rate may differ in some cases.

Decay Cannot Be Speeded Up

It must be emphasized that the nuclear radiation in fallout cannot be destroyed. Neither boiling nor burning, treatment with chemicals, nor any other action will destroy or neutralize radioactivity. Because of radioactive decay, fallout will become less harmful with the passage of time, but there is no known way to speed up the decay process. Fallout cannot be made harmless quickly. However, fallout can be removed from many contaminated surfaces.

PROTECTIVE MEASURES AGAINST RADIATION

Protection from external radiation exposure is a combination of three things: Time, distance, and shielding. That is, a person may protect himself by:

Shielding (shelter), Distance (decontamination, movement), Expostlre control (combination of 1 or 2 above with time-scheduled exposures)

In a fallout area, shielding is the only dependable means of protection. Methods of providing shielding are discussed in Chapters IV and VI, in which shelters are considered in detail. People within a well-stocked shelter have placed mass between themselves and the source of radiation, and they should remain behind this mass until the radiation has decayed to levels permitting activity outside of the shelter.

Defense Against Fallout

Persons seeking shelter after a nuclear attack should remember that the introduction of radioactive material into shelter areas can be minimized by such ordinary precautions as closing doors and windows. Unnecessary movement in and out of shelters should be avoided whenever there is a possibility that fallout is near. Prolonged contact with fallout material is hazardous.

Following a nuclear attack the air would be contaminated by radioactive fallout to the extent that it Contained Fallout Particles. The most hazardous fallout particles-early fallout-would reach the earth in the first day after the detonation, but their mere passage through the air would not contaminate the air. Some radiation will probably penetrate all shelters, but fallout particles in harmful amounts should be and can be kept out of shelters. People in underground shelters could keep fallout particles out of their shelters by having a simple hood over the air-intake pipe. Special filters are not needed for small basement family shelters. However, group shelters that have high velocity air-intake fans might need filters on the air-intake system to keep fallout particles out.

Special Clothing Offers Little Protection

Fallout gamma radiation would pass through any type of protective clothing that would be practical to wear. Heavy and dense materials such as earth and concrete are needed to stop the highly penetrating gamma rays. Tightly woven outer clothing could be useful-particularly for emergency workers-in keeping fallout Particles off the body, but the wearer would not be protected from the Gamma radiation given off by the particles. The worker would wear the outer clothing when in a fallout contaminated area and then leave it outside or brush or wash it thoroughly before entering a noncontaminated area.

No Special Antiradiation Medicines

Many experiments have been conducted to develop a special medicine to protect against the effects of radiation. Thus far, there seems little likelihood that a pill, or any other type of medicine, will soon be developed that can protect people from the effects of fallout radiation.

Decontamination

Contamination is the deposit of radioactive material on the surfaces of structures, area, objects, or people following a nuclear explosion.

Decontamination is the reduction or removal of contaminating radioactive fallout from a structure, area, object, or person.

Self-decontamination

Contamination could be caused by fallout material settling on persons outdoors while fallout was descending or by entering a very dusty area after fallout had ceased.

Self-decontamination should be accomplished only after a person has assured himself that he is protected from the far greater hazard of the fallout field of radiation in his area. Therefore, if one is caught in the open when fallout begins he should immediately seek shelter and then remove a.nycontamination from his person by brushing, shaking or washing as appropriate under the circumstances. Some community shelters may contain a decontamination area in which showers would be available and a change of clothing might be appropriate. In most cases simple wiping or washing of hands, face, and clothing, would reduce the contamination to insignificant levels.

Decontaminating Food and Water

It is unlikely that food and water inside a building would be sufficiently contaminated to be dangerous to eat or drink. If food supplies do become contaminated many types of food can be treated to remove the radioactive material. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be washed or peeled to remove the outer skin or leaves. Food in cans, covered jars or closed containers such as plastic bags can be decontaminated by washing or wiping the material off the container. The contents would not be contaminated. Similar cleaning methods appropriate to the type of food involved would in most cases be sufficient.

Water supplies in the home (water heater or toilet tank) or shelters would not require decontamination. However, there is a possibility of contamination of public water supplies. Serious contamination of public water supplies is unlikely. Should this occur, however, a water softener in the home is an effective method of decontamination, as is distillation, when practical. It should be noted that mere boiling of water contaminated with fallout is of absolutely no value in removal of the radioactivity. It is of interest also, that the regular water treatment (coagulation, sedimentation, filtration) by public authorities will remove most of the contaminated material.

Area Decontamination

The decontamination of buildings, streets, and equipment, might be necessary before an area could be used for its intended purpose. Civil Defense authorities would undertake this type of decontamination operation. Since radioactive contamination is similar to dirt, its removal by water or sweeping could be done by fire department or public works personnel using their day-to-day operation equipment. Many communities have organized decontamination teams for this purpose.

For the individual who might have occasion to decontaminate in his home, common methods of cleaning could be used. Thus, brooms, or vacuum cleaners might be useful. But this should be undertaken only on instructions from local authorities.

MEASUREMENT OF RADIATION

As mentioned previously, the unit of measurement for gamma radiation doses is roentgens or milliroentgens.

In evaluating the effect of nuclear radiation on living things, we are concerned not.only with total amounts of radiation received, that is, the dose, but also with the dose received within a given amount of time-the dose rate. We want to know not only how much the total exposure dose is, but also how fast the exposure dose is building up.

Total accumulated radiation exposure, or total dose, is expressed as so many roentgens. The rate of radiation exposure at a place of interest is expressed as roentgens per unit of time (usually roentgens per hour). This is sometimes called radiation intensity, or radiation level, but more often "dose rate." Because the human senses cannot detect nuclear radiation, special instruments have been developed to measure it. These devices are either ratemeters or dosimeters (dose meters).

A ratemeter will indicate the intensity of the radiation. It is analogous to a speedometer in a car except that it measures roentgens per hour rather than miles per hour. Thus, an indication of whether to leave the shelter for a brief period can be obtained from a ratemeter reading made just outside the shelter. The dosimeter can be used to show the total amount of radiation to which a person has been exposed during an emergency period. It is analogous to a mileage indicator in a car, but it measures total roentgens rather than miles.

The Citizen's Instrument Kit

A citizen's instrument kit is now commercially available. In the event of a nuclear attack, the set of instruments in the kit can be useful, especially to the occupant of a home shelter.

The kit consists of a ratemeter, dosimeter, and charging unit. The ratemeter can be used to measure the intensity (dose rate) of radiation at a specific time; while the dosimeter is used to measure the total amount of radiation accumulated over a period of time.

Relation of Federal, State and local Monitoring

Wind currents determine where fallout would be deposited as the result of a nuclear attack. Therefore, in the event of an emergency the U.S; Weather Bureau would prepare and issue forecasts and estimates of areas likely to be covered by fallout to States and territories. These forecasts can be used to predict where fallout is likely to be deposited and approximately when it will arrive there. The intensity of fallout radiation, however, would not be predicted. Intensity can be determined only after the attack when measurements will be made with instruments.

A Federal network of fixed monitor stations is being developed that uses the facilities of many Federal agencies. Many facilities of the Weather Bureau, the Federal Aviation Agency, and the Department of Agriculture are already in use. This network, combined with State and local monitoring, is designed to provide radiation information that can be used to assist in making decisions for protective, remedial, and recovery action.

The Federal Government is providing equipment for radiological monitoring stations and operators are being trained to use this equipment. A total of 150,000 monitoring points are being established in protected locations, with communications capability to the local Emergency Operating Center.

The Office of Civil Defense trains radiological monitor instructors and radiological defense officers at its Staff College in Battle Creek, Mich., and at its Civil Defense Training Centers at Brooklyn, N.Y., and at Alameda, Calif.

Radiological Monitoring in Community Shelters

A radiological Defense (RADEF) Officer, serving in the local government's Emergency Operating Center, directs the technical operations of monitors in his area.

Some community shelters will be selected to serve as special monitoring and reporting stations. Such stations will evaluate and report the radiological situation in the shelter and also measure and report unsheltered radiation dose rates and dosages.

A radiological monitoring kit is provided that contains dosimeters, ratemeters, charging units, accessories, batteries, and instruction manuals. With these instruments the monitor will be able to provide information to the shelter manager and the local emergency operating center. For example, if dose rates in shelters vary in different locations it might be advisable to move persons to minimize the dose they would receive.

CHAPTER IV

COMMUNITY SHELTERS

FALLOUT SHELTERS are necessary because they offer the most reasonable protection against the widespread danger of fallout. As shown in Chapter I, they can save 40 to 120 million American men, women and children, depending on the nature and weight of an attack.

While individual shelters will protect some of the people in a community, the major part of the local population will need protection in community shelters. For this reason, American communities need to devote much of their Civil Defense effort to the preparation of community shelters. Such shelters will provide fallout protection for large groups of people if and when the need arises.

In addition to protecting the population against radioactive fallout, community shelters will effectively contribute to postattack recovery. Trained shelter staffs assigned to each community shelter before the attack can organize their respective shelter groups during the period of shelter occupancy. As organized groups in devastated areas, these survivors may form the nuclei of community recovery efforts. Survivors from home shelters can join these groups during the postshelter period. Skills identified or utilized during the period of living in community shelters could be very valuable in postshelter operations.

The Department of Defense will issue federally procured shelter provisions to local governments for placement in public fallout shelters having a protection factor of 40 or greater (radiation outside the shelter would be 40 times greater than radiation inside) and a capacity of at least 50 persons. Previously, such provisions were supplied only for those shelters having a protection factor of 100 or greater. Marking of these additional shelters with official Civil Defense fallout shelter signs was begun during the Cuban crisis. This action is designed to utilize, to the maximum, protection for the people in existing structures.

The National Shelter Survey Program has identified over 70 million shelter spaces in existing buildings and in mines, caves, tunnels, and subways, with a protection factor of 100 or greater, and an additional 35 million shelter spaces with protection factors ranging from 49-99. The shelters with protection factors of 100 or greater tend to be concentrated in cities, and more in the northern than southern regions of our Nation. The use of shelter spaces in the 40-99 protection factor range provides a broader base of protection in the areas most deficient in shelter with the higher protection factors.

Defense Department studies, approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for both military and civil defense planning purposes, indicate that over 90 percent of the people whomight otherwise die from the effects of nuclear radiation could survive in shelters with a 40 protection factor during nuclear attacks which could occur over the next few years. Continuous review of enemy capabilities in relation to shelters with protection factors of 40 to 99 will be made to assure their future adequacy in effectively reducing potential fatalities under predictable radiation conditions.

THE NATIONAL SHELTER SURVEY

The National Shelter Survey was undertaken to find and identify those spaces in public and private buildings and in caves, tunnels and subways which could be used for community shelters. Every shelter with sufficient spaces and with a protection factor of 20 or more was considered. Approximately 600 architect and engineering firms were under contract with the Federal Government to carry out the survey. They gathered pertinent data on local structures, assisted in locating the owners of buildings, identified each acceptable space and made cost estimates for improvements.

After the capacities of existing fallout shelters were determined estimates were made on the cost of improving those structures having a protection factor of 40 to 99 and substandard habitability and capacity. For example, the habitable shelter capacity of many existing buildings can be substantially increased by improving the ventilation. It is estimated that the improvement1 of ventilation alone will provide additional shelter space in existing facilities for millions of people.

Building owners are being asked to make their facilities available for use as community shelters, if space on their premises qualify as community shelter sites, by signing a permit of "license." (The building owner can terminate the license on 90-day notice if he so elects.) The owner who has signed such a license has demonstrated patriotism and concern for the safety of his fellow citizens in a very practical and meaningful way. He is entitled to the admiration and thanks of the residents of his area.

The National Shelter Survey was undertaken to locate every qualified shelter. The local Civil Defense Director has the responsibility to decide which qualified shelters that have been licensed by their owners, will be marked and provisioned with food, water, medical kits, radiation detection instruments, and sanitation kits.

When an institution such as a school or hospital decides to construct a community shelter or to modify an existing space, the directors of the institutions and Civil Defense Director will be able to participate in the project. They can help solve such problems as providing efficient shelter construction, fitting the use of the shelter into the overall community plan, preparing the shelter for occupancy, providing adequate warning and communication systems, planning for the earliest possible emergence from the shelter, and training people in the use of radiation detection equipment and other skills needed by the shelter staff. Through their efforts, they can focus the attention of the entire community on the need for additional community shelter spaces, beyond those located by the survey in existing buildings.

A shelter in a school or hospital basement is often only a partial solution to a community's need for emergency shelter spaces. A recognition of the fact may stimulate the energy and resources of the community to develop other shelters and accomplish a more complete solution to the problem of providing community shelter spaces for the entire population. Recognition of this fact will also result in additional home shelters.

BLAST AND FALLOUT SHELTERS

Most structures provide some protection against blast, heat and radiation. Many parts of existing buildings provide good protection against fallout radiation and some measure of protection against blast and heat. Good protection against blast usually requires special shelters built of reinforced concrete or steel. After a nuclear explosion, the greatest danger to people who live outside the areas where nuclear weapons are detonated will be radioactive fallout. A fallout shelter will provide the necessary protection from the hazards of fallout radiation.

Personal and other special considerations may make home shelters more practical or desirable for certain individuals or families than community shelters. For example, in small rural and suburban communities, families may live a considerable distance from the nearest community shelter. For these families, a home shelter will provide more accessible fallout protection. Other families may prefer to have a home shelter for personal reasons.

For most of the population, community shelters provide the best answer to fallout protection. People away from home at the time of an attack should have immediate shelter available. As a member of a group, a person may better face the problems of shelter living. People could expect to find more special skills, for example, medical skills, represented within a group of 50 or more persons than with a small family unit. A large number of people could also share any necessary radiation exposure, for example, in leaving a shelter area for a short time to search for additional supplies. This would minimize the exposure to each person.

A community shelter can also have peacetime uses. It might be used advantageously by the community as a cafeteria, community meeting hall, or as a local Civil Defense Training Center.

TYPES AND DESIGNS OF COMMUNITY SHELTERS

Community shelters may consist of shielded space in a basement, in underground chambers, in the inner cores of buildings, in subways or in other suitable space. The exact nature of the space or design may vary greatly.

A community shelter must provide the minimum essentials required to support life. There must be sufficient living area and adequate air for the expected number of occupants. Ten square feet of floor space per person is considered minimum provided there is adequate ceiling height and at least 3 cubic feet of fresh air per person per minute. Without forced ventilation or adequate natural draft, approximately 500 cubic feet of space for each inhabitant should be allowed.

Planning Factors in Utilizing Shelter in Existing Buildings or in Providing Additional Community Shelter.

In addition to certain construction details, several other considerations must be included in planning community shelters. One of the most important factors concerns the location of the shelter.

Community shelters should be situated close to population centers. They should be located near the people who will occupy them. An excellent shelter which people cannot reach within a short time is of limited value.

Attention should be given to day and night variations in population patterns. For example, on a weekday, large numbers of people are normally concentrated in downtown areas. Late at night or on weekends many are at home or outside the downtown areas. The locations and number of community shelters should include planning for such variations.

A shelter should be accessible. If a shelter is located several floors above the ground, consideration must be given to access by stairway. Because of power failure, elevators or escalators may not be operable.

Electric power availability must also be considered in shelter planning. Performance of vital functions will require lighted spaces. There may be injured persons who will need medical aid. Other important functions, such as the operation of communication and ventilation equipment, will also require power. Therefore, it is desirable in planning to include provision for an alternate power supply where it can be determined that there is a high probability that public power will fail under attack conditions.

Fresh air is the most important requirement in a shelter. If the shelter capacity is based on minimum space requirements, then at least 3 cubic feet of fresh air per minute per person are required. When ventilation is by natural draft, the capacity of a shelter is determined on a volume basis. When the shelter is above ground and can be adequately ventilated, 10 square feet per person is the basis for determining the capacity. Good grade commercial filters are desirable on mechanical ventilation systems. If filters are used they should be properly shielded.

Heating devices which utilize a flame should not be used in a shelter because they consume valuable oxygen and may endanger the shelter occupants.

When new buildings are being constructed, fallout protection should be included in the designs. For example, the "safety core" design concept used in the school shown in figure 31 will provide adequate fallout protection for a nominal sum. The thick-walled central core with a concrete roof contains activity rooms which are divided and reinforced by the walls of the library and rest rooms. Baffle walls projecting from the building shield the surrounding classroom windows.

Many communities or neighborhoods need meeting places for various civic groups and local organizations. Others may require space for a community recreation hall or cafeteria or for public automobile parking. Teenagers often need a place for their after-school activities. A community shelter can serve these and similar purposes. In figure32 a PTA meeting is adjourning for coffee in one section of the shelter while people are using the branch library in another section. An underground shelter such as this can be built under a playground or other public property without interfering with the present uses of the aboveground area.

PREPARING, ORGANIZING AND MANAGING COMMUNITY SHELTERS

In a civil defense emergency, proper staffing, management, and operation of a community fallout shelter can be vital to the survival of shelter occupants. Those in the shelter must function under an organized plan which takes into account the peculiar problems of shelter life, the special dangers of radioactive fallout, and the need for cooperation.

Shelter supplies provided by the Federal Government are the minimum needed to sustain life. Food is limited to specially prepared crackers. No blankets or cots will be provided under the Federal Shelter-Provisioning Program. However, communities may augment the federally supplied material at their own option and expense. Another solution is for families to bring essential supplies with them to community shelters.

The plans that must be made for living and surviving in a community shelter must take into account the many physical and psychological problems that could arise. Childbirth, injury and death will occur in the shelters. Occupants may be crowded with little oppor tunit y to move abou t . Th e y will en c ounter an una cc ustomed lack of privacy , unfamiliar nois e s, u n ple a s a nt odors , and other dis c omforts or in c onv e nien ces . Feder a lly sto c k e d food will sust a in life , but will be monotonous. C ertain foods and supplies may be in short supply or nonexistent. Some occupants m a y be worried ab out th e ir own c h a nc e s for survival , a bout mi ss in g member s of their f a milies, a nd about the cir c umstances of postattack living. In such situations it would not be surpri s ing if some occupants s uffered mental a n g uish and annoy e d other s in the group.

Prior planning and org a nization must contemplate handling su c h situ at ions. In e a ch localit y, planning a ctiv i ties ar e c a rried out und e r the guidan c e of a lo c al C i v il Defens e Dir ec tor. He and his st a ff of trained per s onnel deal with the o v erall probl e ms rel a t e d to c ommunity sur v i v al and s ele ct a nd train other persons to t a ke lead e rship responsibili t ie s in lo ca l c ommunity shelt e rs. Each lo c al a rea should have a protected emergency op e rating c enter , whi c h will provide a "seat of governm e n t" during em e r ge ncies , hou s ing for lo ca l governmental offici a l s a nd the C ivil Def e n se st a ff. Aft e r an a t t a c k , situa ti ons may oc c ur which pre ve nt s om e st a ff per s onnel from r eac hin g a n em erge n cy op e r a tin g c enter b e for e fallout arri ve s. In spite of the ab s e n c e of se v eral s ta ff memb e rs , it i s e xp ecte d that mo s t e m e rgen c y operating ce nt e rs will be a bl e t o c arr y o ut pr ev iously pl a nn e d op e r a ti o n s . E v ery e m e r ge n cy o p e r a tin g c en te r will be r es ponsible for the community sh e lt e r s in i t s a re a . If a n i nt e r s h e lt e r co mmuni cat ions sys t e m i s func t ionin g , p e r so nn e l a t t h e ce n te r will provid e t ec hni ca l g uidan ce a nd a d v ic e to l ea de rs in c ommunity s h e lt e r s during and ' a fter t he per iod of sh e lt e r c o nfin e m e nt . The y will a l so m a int a in co mmuni c ation, i nso f a r a s p o ss ibl e, with em erg e n cy oper a ting cent e rs a t s t a te and feder a l l eve l s .

Ac tu a l man age m e n t a rr a ng e men ts m a y diff e r f o r e ac h c ommunity s h e lt e r. Th e a rr a n geme n ts w ill d e p e nd upon t he s h el ter's siz e, c ap aci ty, l a y o u t , s uppli es, e quipm e n t, an d st o c k of food a nd w a ter. E ve r y c ommuni ty s h e lter , ho wev er , w ill r e quire l e ad e r s hip. Thi s l e ad e r s hip is b est s uppli e d by pe rs on s tr a ined b e fore an e merg e n c y. S t a t e a nd lo c al gover nm e nts a r e follo w in g F e d e ral C iv i l D e f e n se r ecom me n d at ion s in se le ct in g a nd tr a ining a s helter manag e r and a st a f f for e a c h c ommuni t y sh e lt e r .

Th e s h e l te r ma na ge r s h o uld b e a ma n w ho h as a l rea d y d emo n st r a t e d l ea d ers hi p i n hi s commu ni ty . He s h o uld b e th e type of p e r son w ho faces e m ergenc i es wit h ca lm resou r cef uln ess . Hi s tra ining i n c lu des i n f o rm ation l ead i ng t o a t h oro u g h un d e r stan d ing of the radiat i o n d a n ge r an d assoc i ated da n gers o f mo d er n wa r , a n a p p r ec i ati o n of m et hod s o f g roup ma n agement , and an ac tu a l exper i e n ce o f li v ing fo r a t i m e in a comm u nity s h e l ter. He r ep r esents t h e a u t h orit y of hi s lo ca l g o ver n me n t.

In a typical plan for community shelter organization, the shelter m a nager will have to have help with various aspects of shelter direction. In many shelters there will be need for a deputy for operations to oversee on-going shelter functions; a deputy for education and information to oversee the activities of community shelter occupants; and a deputy for supply and maintenance to oversee all shelter material needs. In some shelters, the shelter manager will also need an administrative assistant who will transcribe staff messages and reports, keep the shelter log , and relieve the manager of as much operational detail as possible.

In those communities where preattack assignments of people to specific shelters can be made, other shelter duties can be distributed among the expected occupants. In most community shelters, however, the staff will have to be selected from among the shelter occupants, based on the skills and knowledge found among them. Each shelter should have a small advisory committee to act as a . clearing house for matters involving relationships between the shelter management staff and other occupants. The committee would be responsible for presenting problems to the manager and his deputies and for communicating to the group any problems the management may be experiencing.

The deputy for operations and members of his staff (radiological monitors, the chief of safety-police and fire control-sanitation and feeding personnel) must organize the physical layout of the shelter for most efficient use. They must plan the registration and feeding arrangements. During the period of shelter confinement, they must oversee all shelter safety, health and sanitary facilities and generally maintain order.

The deputy for operations and the radiological monitors direct the operation of all monitoring and communications equipment.

Throughout the period of shelter confinement, a 24-hour monitoring and communications watch should be maintained.

The deputy for information and education will take charge of informational programs during the period of shelter confinement. He and his staff will prepare announcements, conduct dis c ussions, and otherwise keep occupants informed. They will also promote recreational and social activities designed to maintain morale and meet spiritual needs. Discussions conducted during the period of shelter occupancy will stress the needs of the expected postattack environment. Limited physical exercise and social activities can be important in reducing the tensions of shelter confinement and some participation by all, regardless of age, sex, or ability, should be encouraged.

In order to carry out his responsibilities during the current period of shelter preparation, the deputy for information and education may be stocking as many books, games, writing materials and similar supplies in the shelter as he can obtain through donations from the community. He should try to provide items for all age and interest groups expected to occupy the shelter. Since shelter space is at a premium, this type of material should be compact and not reduce the capacity of the shelter.

During the current period of shelter preparation, the deputy of maintenance and supply and his staff should acquire supplies, both from governmental sources and community contributions, and look after their proper storage and maintenance. During the period of actual shelter occupancy, the supply staff will be in charge of and will issue all shelter supplies, including food, water, drugs and other heath and sanitation items. Supplies should be stored so they are protected and can be issued in an orderly manner. When the radiation levels outside the shelter are low enough to allow for brief journeys outside, additional supplies may be brought from nearby sources.

Men of the community should be selected and trained as auxiliary policemen to serve in shelters. When an actual warning is received, these men will direct others to the shelter and will assist in maintaining law and order within the shelter throughout the period of occupancy. They must be men who can exercise good judgment under stress, for they must be needed to calm excited and emotionally disturbed people.

Other duties for which men and women may be selected and trained during the current period of shelter preparation include those of distributing food and water, rescue and fire prevention. Persons trained in medical self-help, in radiological monitoring, and in the operation of communications equipment will be vital to the successful operation of any community shelter.

Keeping Order

The shelter manager and his staff should try to confine their activities to meeting serious emergencies. Problems directly involving health and safety should remain staff responsibilities. In other matters, however, shelter occupants should be encouraged to solve their own problems, including certain behavior difficulties. Occupants must be encouraged to develop self-reliance, to help one another, to adjust willingly to the needs of others, and to help keep formal operating rules a matter of general agreement. The more occupants do for themselves, the more they will lighten the load on the shelter staff and less tension will result. Effective and orderly shelter living will depend to a great extent on the occupants and their willingness to cooperate.

SHELTER SUPPLIES, MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

In conjunction with the National Shelter Survey, the Federal Government is marking and stocking acceptable community shelters with certain essential supplies and equipment. These supplies are secured from Federal warehouses. The anticipated shelf life of these supplies is approximately five years.

Each shelter will be stocked with a minimum quantity of food and water. A 10,000-calories supply of food will be provided for each perso n i n the form o f s pecia l crac k ers resemb lin g gra h a m crac k e r s. Water co n ta i ners, a l s o s u pplied by t h e Federa l Government, wi ll be fi ll ed wit h water. O n ce empty, t he water containers can be u se d as chemica l toi l ets . I n a ddit i on t o foo d an d wate r , shelte r stocks wi ll in c lud e san i tation ki ts. These ki ts i nc lu de everyday i t e m s fo r san i tat i o n n eeds an d m ater i a l s fo r c on vert i ng t h e wate r sto r a ge co n ta i ne r for u se as a to ile t . Addit ion a l fl uid s w ill b e ava il a ble from wa t e r t r a pp ed i n the buildin gs a nd in con ta in e r s brough t to the shelter by i ts oc cup a n t s.

S i nce p r ofessiona l m edi ca l assista n ce m ay be l im i ted i n a n y p a r t i c ul ar s h e l te r , a medica l ki t with in s t r u ct i o ns i s i nc lu de d i n the s h e l ter pro vi sions .

One of t h e most i m portant i tems to b e i nc lud e d i n any she l te r i s the ra di o l og i ca l monitor ing k i t . These - ki ts contai n r ad i at i on detect i on eq ui pme nt to permit t r a i ned m o ni t or s to dete r m i ne the rad i o l ogical s i t u at ion wi t hi n t h e s hel ter a nd to s u r vey t h e a r e a nea r the sh e l te r.

S peci al Suppli e s

S om e c om m uni ty s hel te r s w ill be lo cate d nea r pub li c o r p rivat e h om es f or t h e aged o r infirm, or ho sp i ta l s. T hi s i mposes s p ec i a l re quir ements w h ic h may be m et by t h e comm u n i ty . In any sh e l ter whe r e occ up ants may b e expecte d to i nc lu de di abetics or c hron ic inva li ds, s u ppl i es sho uld inc l ude i ns ul in, hypo d ermic need l es, and specia l dr u gs and foo d s . I nfant s or very sma ll c hildr e n wil l n eed powdered formula mixtures, canned or powdered milk, water, canned baby foods, nursing b o ttles and nipples, a nursing bottle funnel, and an adequate supply of disposable diapers. Such special supplies Should be brought in by the persons needing them.

Care must be taken to ensure proper storage of the items in the shelter. Storage should be carefully planned so that no more space i s taken up than is absolutely necessary. However, certain safeguards are required . The package is intended to protect the product from physical damage and chemical deteriorat i on. Temperature is the most important variable condi t ion in storage of s helter supplies, with relative humidity next in importance. High storage temperature, dampness, and insect or rodent infestation are the major causes of deterioration of packaged products. Rigid supervision and cooperation will be required for best utilization and distribution of the limited supplies. Since much of any damage which may occur will be "hidden," thorough periodic inspections are necessary.

CHAPTER V

INDI VI D UAL AND F AMIL Y P R EPAREDNESS FO R SHE L TER LIVI N G

(Emergency Shelter Action)

W H E T HER ME MB E R S OF A F A MILY e x pe c t t o occ u py a c o mm uni ty s h e l t e r o r a h ome s h e l t e r in the event o f a n atta c k , t h e y mu st b e pre pa r ed t o be g i n a c omp l e t ely d if f e r e n t way o f li fe f r o m t h at w hi c h t h e y Ha v e kno w n . I t w ill b e a tim e for co u r a ge, f a i t h , r es our ce fuln ess, and mu t u a l h e l p. In a war e merg e n c y, t h e c h a n ge in p e r s o na l m an n e r a nd L eve l of li v i n g may be dr a m atic f r om p l enty t o pri va ti on .

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES IN A COMMUN I TY SHELTER

Durin g t h e t im e p e opl e mu st re m a in in si d e a c ommuni ty s h e lt e r , t h ey mu s t b e pr e p are d t o f ace a nd s olv e p roblem s w i t h o u t out s id e ass is ta n ce . As l o ng a s r a di at ion l ev el s in t h e a r ea a r o und the s h e lt e r a r e high , no ou tsi d e help ca n b e e xpe c t e d. More o v e r , no o ne will be able to l eave t he s h e lt e r to ob t a in a s s i s t a n ce from ou ts id e .

Th e s h e l te r m a n a g e r and his s taff will p r ov i de t rain e d le a d e rship f o r t h e c ommu n i ty s h e l te r b u t t h ey w ill n ee d t h e co op e ration of a ll o cc up a nt s . The h e al t h , sa f e ty a nd c omf o rt of e v e r y on e w ill d e p e nd on eve r y o n e' s w orking to get h e r. D ec i s ion s will ha ve to b e mad e , sever al k ey j o b s w ill h av e to b e fi ll e d , an d vit a l pro g r a m s a nd act ivitie s will h a v e to b e c omm e n c ed. Th e s e t hings ca nno t b e done w ithout e a ch p e r s on doing hi s p a r t. A s piri t of c o o p e r a ti o n will ma k e t he si t u a tion e a s i e r a nd w ill i n c r eas e th e e ff ect iv e n es s of i n di v idu a l and g roup e fforts.

One of th e m o st effe c tive ways to minimize an x ie