FALLOUT PROTEC
KNOW AND
DO
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H-6
DECEMBER
1961
CONCERNING
THIS
BOOKLET
One
of the first tasks
assigned
to
me
by
the President,
after I
assumed responsibility for the Federal
Civil Defense
Program
last August, was to
give
the American
people the facts they
need to
know
about
the dangers of a
thermonuclear attack
and
what they can
do to
protect themselves.
This booklet
attempts
to
provide the facts.
^
The
factual
information in this booklet has been
verified by
independent scientific
authority, and represents
the
best
con-
sensus of
the scientific
community that
we can establish.
The booklet also
describes the national civil
defense program.
This program necessarily
rests
on judgments about what
are
prudent precautions
in the light of our
knowledge of
what
might happen and
our evaluation of scientific
facts.
Judgments
may differ.
It is my considered judgment
that this is a reason-
able and
prudent
program
—and that it is the
best
program we
can have,
measured against the other
priorities
of our
national
life.
/^^^S.
A^^
yi^.
Secretary
of Defense
WHAT
YOU
SHOULD KNOW
AND
WHAT
YOU SHOULD
DO
How
to
survive attack
and
live
for
your
country's
recovery
The
purpose of this booklet
is to help save
lives if a
nuclear
attack should ever come to
America.
The foreign and
defense
policies of your
Government make such an
attack
highly
un-
likely, and to keep it
unlikely is
their most important
aim.
It
is for this reason
that we have
devoted
so
large an
effort to
creating
and
maintaining our
deterrent forces.
However,
should a nuclear attack ever
occur, certain
preparations
could
mean the difference between
life and death
for you.
The need for preparation
—
for
civil defense
—
is
likely
to
be
with
us
for
a
long time,
and
we must suppress
the
temptation
to reach
out
hastily for
short-term solutions.
There is no
panacea
for protection
from nuclear
attack.
In a
major
attack
upon our country, millions
of people would
be
killed.
There
appears to
be
no practical program
that would
avoid
large-scale
loss
of life. But an effective program of
civil
defense could save
the lives of millions
who
would not otherwise
survive. Fallout
shelters
and related preparations, for example,
could
greatly
reduce the
number of casualties.
President
Kennedy, speaking
on
July
25,
1961,
put it this
way: "In the
event of attack, the lives
of those
families
which
are
not hit
in the nuclear blast and fire can still be saved if they
can be
warned to take shelter and if that
shelter
is
available.
We owe that kind
of insurance
to
our families and
to our
country."
The President
was talking about
shelter
from radioactive
fallout. The
blast,
heat, and
fire of
a
nuclear
explosion are
appallingly
destructive.
But
radioactive
fallout could spread
over
thousands
of square
miles,
covering a
much greater
area
than the
area
endangered
by
fire and
blast. Fallout
would
be
a
potential killer
of
millions of
unprotected persons, but
it
also
is a
hazard
that
individuals and
communities can
prepare
for
through
reasonable
programs and
actions. A fallout
shel-
ter program
is one
of these.
This booklet
contains
information
about
a shelter
program—
what the Federal
Government in-
tends to do,
and
how State
and local
governments, and
indi-
vidual citizens
can
work
together to bring
it into being as
a
sound
measure
of national
preparedness.
There is
much we can do
together,
and perhaps
the first
step
is to take a
clear look at
nuclear
warfare and
what it could
mean
to the
world as we
know it today.
There is no
escaping the
fact that
nuclear conflict
would
leave
a tragic
world. The
areas of blast
and
fire would be
scenes
of havoc,
devastation, and
death. For
the part
of the
country outside
the
immediate
range of the
explosions,
it
would
be
a time of
extraordinary
hardship—
both for
the Nation
and
for the individual.
The effects of
fallout radiation
would
be
present in areas not
decontaminated.
Transportation and
communication
would
be
disrupted. The
Nation
would be
prey to strange rumors and
fears. But if effective
precautions
have been taken in
advance, it need
not
be
a
time of
despair.
These
are somber subjects,
and they
presuppose a
catastrophe
which
can
be
made
very unlikely
by
wise and positive
policies,
pursued
with
imagination and
faith. Still,
realistic prepara-
6
tion
for
what
might
happen is far more useful
than blindness,
whether
from fear
or
ignorance. A sane
and sober person can
assume
that,
whatever
comes to pass, he
would draw on his re-
serve of
courage
and
intelligence—
and
the unquenchable
will
to
live—and begin
to
build again.
The experience would
be
terrible
beyond imagination and de-
scription. But there is much that can be done to assure
that it
would not mean the end of the life of our
Nation.
There are no
total
answers, no easy answers, no cheap
answers
to
the question of protection from nuclear attack. But
there
are answers. Some of them
are
in this booklet.
WORDS
TO
KNOW
A-BOMB AND H-BOMB. Popular terms
for
what
should cor-
rectly be called nuclear weapons. An atomic
or A-bomb
explodes through the fission (splitting)
of
atomic nuclei; a hy-
drogen
or
H-bomb is called a thermonuclear weapon
because
tremendous
heat
is
needed
to
start the
fusion
process.
KILOTON. The
power
of nuclear weapons is
measured in
equivalents of the explosive
energy of TNT.
A one-kiloton
weapon has the explosive equivalent
of
1,000 tons of TNT.
MEGATON.
The
explosive
equivalent
of one million tons of
TNT. In
this booklet,
a five megaton nuclear
weapon ex-
ploded
at
or near
ground
level
is
assumed
as a basis for
describ-
ing explosive
effects. There are
much larger weapons which
could
do more damage,
but the damage
from larger weapons
does not
increase in
direct ratio to the
size
of
the weapons.
GROUND
ZERO. The
surface point
at
or
above which
a
nu-
clear
weapon
detonates.
FIREBALL.
The large,
swiftly expanding
sphere
of hot
gases,
producing
brilliant light
and intense heat,
that
is
the
first man-
ifestation
of a nuclear
explosion.
After
about
a
minute,
the
fireball
fades
into the
atmosphere.
BLAST
(SHOCK)
WAVE.
The
near-solid
wall
of air
pressure
produced
by a nuclear
explosion.
Beginning
at
more
than
2,000
miles
per hour,
its speed
decreases
rapidly
with
distance.
BLAST
WIND. The wind
gust which travels
with
the
blast
wave
and
may be of many times
hurricane
force.
ROENTGEN.
A unit for measuring
an amount
of
radiation
exposure.
INITIAL
(PROMPT) RADIATION.
The burst
of gamma
rays
and neutrons sent
out from
the explosion
during the
first
minute
after
detonation. Initial
radiation is most
deadly within
about two
miles
of ground zero.
FALLOUT.
The radioactive
debris
of
a
nuclear
explosion,
which eventually
falls
to earth in particles.
The amount
of
fallout
is enormously
greater
if a weapon
detonates
on
or near
the
surface than
if it explodes high
in the air. Large
amounts
of earth
are drawn
up by the fireball.
High in the sky,
radio-
active
elements
are incorporated
into the earth
particles,
which
are scattered
by
winds and in time
fall to the
ground.
FALLOUT
RADIATION.
The radiation
emitted
by
fallout
particles.
Each particle
of fallout
gives off radiation
as though
it were
a miniature X-ray
machine.
This radiation
consists
chiefly
of beta rays (dangerous
only if fallout
particles
touch
the skin
or are
swallowed or inhaled)
and gamma rays.
Gamma
rays, like X-rays,
are very
penetrating,
and create the
need for
protective
shields (fallout
shelters).
EARLY FALLOUT.
The
fallout that
returns
to
earth
during
the first
day.
This booklet
is
mainly
about early
fallout. The
radioactivity
of such fallout
decreases rather
rapidly at first,
and more slowly
as time
passes.
SOME BASIC
FACTS
The
probable
effects of nuclear attack
and the relative
value
of
certain protective
measures are complex
subjects.
There is
no attempt here
to discuss them in great detail,
but
to present
information that
might
be
helpful in
understanding
the
overall
problem.
EfFects of
a
5-megaton
burst
A
five-megaton nuclear
burst
at
ground
level would
destroy
most
buildings two miles from the point of
the explosion.
Steel-frame
buildings would be knocked sideways
and great
fires started.
The destruction
five
miles
away
would be
less severe, but
fires and early fallout could be a
significant hazard.
At 10
miles,
sturdy buildings
would remain intact. At this
distance fires
probably would not be started by
the fireball, but
might be started by
the blast wave which could
rupture
gas
lines
and
short-circuit wires.
Flying glass
would present
a
major danger, as would
early
fallout.
At 50 miles from the bomb burst,
all
buildings would
remain
standing. The fading
blast wave would take
about
five minutes
to arrive,
but would
still shatter many windows. The greatest
danger at this distance would be from early fallout which would
begin arriving
in some areas
within
three or four hours, depend-
ing upon
weather
conditions at the time.
Danger of fire storms
When
nuclear
or incendiary bombs
strike a highly
combusti-
ble city area,
they can create a
"fire storm";
the rising column of
hot
gases draws
in surrounding
cool air, producing inward-
blowing
winds that confine the fire storm
to the
blast
damage
area.
Primary
fires
would be a much greater hazard than
fire
storms.
For
maximum fire damage, a
nuclear weapon must be
detonated
high in
the
air. This
would
eliminate
most
of
the po-
tential
fallout
hazard.
The
spread
of
fires
from a
nuclear
attack
would
be
limited
in
the same
ways
as
are
peacetime
fires
—
by
barriers
such as
open
space,
rivers,
highways,
by
rainfall,
and
by
varied
distribution
of
burnable
material.
Exposure
to radiation
During the
average lifetime,
every
human
being
receives
about
10 roentgens
of nuclear
radiation
from
natural sources.
In addition,
people are
exposed to
small
amounts
of radiation in
dental
and chest
X-rays
and
even from the
luminous
dials of
wrist
watches.
When
large amounts
of radiation
are
absorbed
by
the body
in
short periods
of time, sickness
and
death
may
result. In
gen-
eral,
'the effects
of radiation
stay with
people
and
accumulate
over a
period of
time. Few
people
get
sick who
have
been
ex-
posed
to 100
roentgens
or less.
Exposure
to
more than
300
roentgens
over a
period
of a few days
will
cause
sickness in
the
form of
nausea, and
may cause
death.
And
death is
certain if
a person
receives
an exposure
of
1,000
roentgens
over
a
period
of
a
few days.
Young
people might be
injured more by
nuclear
radiation
than
older
people.
This is because
young
people
are more
apt
to
absorb
radioactive
elements
into
their
bones and
internal
organs than
are older
people.
Since
young
people are
potential
parents, they
should be
protected as
much
as
possible
following
a
nuclear
attack to
minimize the
possible
genetic effects
on their
descendants
resulting
from
too much
exposure
to
nuclear
radiation.
Radiation
sickness
not
contagious
Radiation
sickness is
neither contagious
nor
infectious.
Fall-
out
radiation cannot
make
anything
radioactive.
Food and
water that
have been
exposed to fallout
radiation are
contami-
nated
only
to
the
extent that they
contain
fallout
particles.
Ex-
posed food
that
may have
particles on it
can be
made safe
by
washing, brushing, or
peeling.
Fallout
particles
can be re-
moved
from water
supplies
by
sedimentation
or filtering.
Peo-
10
pie who have fallout particles on their bodies or clothing
prob-
ably
would
not
carry enough
to
endanger
other people,
but
they should wash themselves for their own protection.
Long-term
effects of radiation
Following
a nuclear
attack,
most radioactive elements
in
fall-
out would
decay rapidly,
losing
most
of
their power
to harm.
However, for
some
time thereafter
the hazard
could continue
to
restrict normal
activities
in some
parts of the country.
A few
elements,
such
as strontium
90,
cesium
137,
and
carbon
14,
are
long-lived
and could
harm humans
in some
ways, such
as by
being absorbed
by food plants.
However,
the long-term
dam-
aging effects
of such
exposure are not
yet known
in great
detail.
Radiation
in the
air
Following
a nuclear attack
the air
would
be contaminated
by
radioactive
fallout
only to the
extent that
it contained
fallout
particles.
The
most
dangerous
fallout
particles
—
early
fall-
out—
would reach
the earth
in
the first
day
after the
detonation,
but their
mere
passage through
the
air would
not contaminate
the
air.
Fallout
particles
in harmful
amounts
would not
be
present
in
basement family
shelters.
People in underground
family
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
shelters. However,
group shelters
that have
high-velocity
air-intake fans
would have to
have
filters
on
the
air-intake
system
to keep fallout
particles
out.
How early
fallout looks
The
most
dangerous fallout
—early fallout
—
would
consist of
radioactive
particles
that are
relatively
large
and heavy
—about
the
size
of
table
salt or
fine sand.
The
chances
are
you
could
see the
particles
although
you could not
detect the radiation
from
the
particles
without
the use of
a
special
instrument.
11
Special
clothing
offers
little
protection
Fallout
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
fallout rays.
Certain
types
of
protective
clothing
could
be
useful
—
particularly
for emergency
work-
ers
—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
clothing
when in
a
fallout
contaminated
area, and
then
discard
it or
brush and
wash
it
off
thoroughly
before
entering a
non-contaminated
area.
Little hope
in special
medicines
Although
many
experiments
have
been
conducted,
there is
little
likelihood
that a
pill or any
other
type
of
medicine
will
be
developed
that can
protect
people
from
the
effects
of
fallout
radiation, so
that
shielding
from
fallout
becomes
necessary.
Evacuation
vs.
shelter
Two
conditions
make
pre-attack
evacuation
of less
general
value as a
protective
measure
for
nuclear attack
than it
appeared
to
be a
few years
ago:
the danger
of
radioactive
fallout
to un-
sheltered
evacuees,
and
the decrease
in
the probable
attack-
warning
time
if an
enemy
should
attack
with
high-speed
mis-
siles.
However,
the
problem
of mass
movement of
people
in
the
event
of
a
nuclear
attack is
still a
significant
one because
plans
must
be
made
to get
people
into
shelters
rather
rapidly.
Also,
it
may be
necessary
to
move
people out
of
severely
damaged
areas
after an
attack.
Probable
reaction
to disaster
Experience
has
shown that
many
human beings
act
coopera-
tively
when
disaster
strikes,
many feel
helpless, a
few
panic.
Disaster studies
indicate
that
information,
planning,
and
prepa-
ration
clearly
increase
the extent
of
cooperative
and
construc-
tive behavior
following a
disaster.
12
A
NUCLEAR
EXPLOSION:
FIRST,
THE BLAST
A five-megaton
nuclear weapon
explodes
with a brilliant
flash that lasts about a minute. A quick burst of
nuclear and
heat radiation emerges from ground zero, the
point of the ex-
plosion. The spurt of
nuclear
radiation
(wavy lines extending
from
the
fireball)
is called
initial
radiation or
prompt radiation
and
kills within
a
mile
or
two.
The heat rays
(straight lines)
can kill unprotected people up to 10 miles
away
and may start
fires
beyond that. The heat rays and initial
radiation are fol-
lowed
by
a blast
wave
which starts at more than 2,000
miles an
hour,
but loses much of its damaging force
by
about
10 miles
out. With the blast wave comes
a
violent wind which
picks
up loose
objects and bears them outward. In the illustration
here, the weapon
has burst at ground level,
leaving a crater
about half
a
mile
across and 200 feet deep.
Nearly everything
within
a radius of a mile of ground zero would
be
destroyed.
13
NEXT:
FALLOUT
STARTS
DESCENDING
As the
brilliant
fireball rises
in the sky, it
draws up
a vast
amount of
earth that is
melted or vaporized
and
contaminated
by
the
radioactive residue
of the
explosion. A
little later
this
material, condensing in
the cold
upper air
like rain or
snow,
starts
falling back to
earth because,
like ash
from a fire, it
is
heavier than
air. It is
called fallout
because it falls out
of the
sky,
wherever the winds
may blow it. You
cannot
tell from the
ground
which way it
will be carried
because its
scatter is de-
termined
by
high-altitude winds,
which may be
blowing
in
a
different direction
from the
ground-level
winds you can
ob-
serve.
About
five miles
from the explosion,
me
heavier
par-
ticles—
early fallout—
would reach the
ground
in
half
an
hour.
Twenty miles
away, people may
have nearly an
hour to
get
ready. One
hundred miles away
the fallout
may not start for
four to six
hours. All
this early fallout, which
carries the bulk
of the
radiation danger, descends in less
than
24
hours.
The
less
dangerous
lighter particles—delayed
fallout—might stay
aloft for
months.
CRATER 5
Ml. 2
Ml.
100 Mi.
GROUP ACTION:
COMMUNITY
SHELTERS
Experience in Europe in
World
War
II and other
human
experiences under
disaster conditions have
pointed
to distinct
advantages of the community
or neighborhood
fallout
shelter
when compared with the
family shelter.
There
are several
reasons why
group shelters are
preferable
in
many circum-
stances:
1. A larger than
family-size
group
probably
would
be better
prepared
to face
a
nuclear
attack
than
a single
family,
particularly
if
some
members
should
be
away from
home
at the time
of an attack.
2. There
would
be
more
opportunity to
find first
aid and
other
emergency skills
in
a
group,
and the risk of
radia-
tion
exposure after
an attack could
be more widely shared.
3.
Community
shelters
would
provide
shelter
for
persons
away
from
their
homes at
the
time of
an attack.
4. Group
shelters
could serve
as a focus
for
integrated
com-
munity
recovery
activities
in
a
post-attack
period.
5.
Group shelters
could serve
other community
purposes,
as
well
as offer protection
from
fallout
following
an attack.
For
these
reasons
the
Federal
Government
is undertaking
a
number
of
activities
—involving
guidance,
technical
assistance,
and money
—
to
encourage
the
development
of
community fall-
out
shelters.
(See "Organizing
for
Civil
Defense.") The
over-
all
program,
which
got underway
with
the National
Shelter
Survey,
aims at
securing
group fallout
shelters
in existing
and
new
structures,
stocking them
with
essential
supplies, marking
them,
and
making
them
available
to the
public in an
emergency.
15
A
model
public
shelter
and
community
center
As a
model
for
its
hundreds
of
communities. New
York
State
expects
to
have a
dual-purpose
shelter, like
the
one below,
on
display
at
the
Westchester
County
Airport
by
May of 1962.
Many growing
communities
or
neighborhoods
are cramped
for space
in
which
small civic groups
can hold
their meetings.
Gregarious
teenagers often
have no
after-school
hangout where
they
can
relax with sodas
and
play the jukebox.
This shelter
can
serve
such
purposes
admirably;
here a Scout
meeting is
going on in
one
section
while
adults
attend an
illustrated lecture
in
another.
Requiring no
surface
space except for its
entrances,
the
shelter can
be
built
under a
school
playground or
other civic
property
without
interfering
with present uses.
The
shelter,
built of
corrugated
metal
arches
buried
under
several
feet of
earth,
can
vary in
size.
New
York's
will
have
three
arches,
each 10
feet
high, 20
feet
wide, and
100
feet long.
A steel
surface
door
will lead
to
a
corridor-tunnel
providing
entry
to all
arches.
Arches can
be
reinforced
with
metal
ribs
for extra
blast
protection.
,
-mfrntiasaiif
16
Built-in
shelter
in new structures
Added
safety
against fallout radiation
can
be
built into a new
structure
without great
extra cost.
Sometimes the necessary
protection can
be
assured
by using
the
"safety
core"
design
principle
illustrated in the school
building below.
Even
though it
has
no
basement,
the
school
house provides a
shelter
that is also
useful for
other purposes. The
thick-walled central
core
with concrete-slab roof
contains "activity rooms," divided
and
reinforced
by
the
walls of a library
and
rest rooms. Pro-
jecting baffle walls
shield the windows of surrounding
class-
rooms.
17
A city building
provides
fallout
protection
After a
nuclear
attack, a tall
apartment or
office
building 10
miles or
more
from the
explosion could
be
one of the safest
refuges.
In this
drawing the people
have
taken
shelter from
radioactive
fallout in an office
building.
Because the
gamma rays given off
by
fallout penetrate
much
like X-rays, the people
taking shelter in
the building
shown on
the
opposite
page
have put as
much mass of material as possible
between
themselves
and
the particles
which have settled on
the
roof, ground, and
other
horizontal surfaces.
Above ground,
they
have gone
to the middle
of the building; below
ground,
they
have found shielding
in a
basement corner. Those
in the
main
basement are
shielded from radiation by the
surrounding
earth,
by
partitions, and
by
the
whole mass of the building
above. On the
upper
floors, people have
shielded
themselves in
the "core"
of the building.
They have avoided
the floor
with
the setback and terrace
because of
radiation
from the
fallout
piling
up
there.
(For better
protection on any
floor, it is
advis-
able to keep
below the
window-sill level.)
Because
the tall
building
shields
lower floors
from some
radiation, people
have
taken
shelter in more
rooms on
that side. But no one
has
taken
cover
on the ground and top
floors because
the
shielding there
is inadequate.
18
PI
I 111
INDIVIDUAL
ACTION:
FAMILY
SHELTERS
^ Families
living in
rural or sparsely
settled
areas may find that
family
shelters are
the only
feasible
solution to
their
falloii
shelter
problem.
Others
may
have personal
preferences f'
>
family shelters.
There are a
number
of ways to
construct
home shelters. S
eral types
are
shown here.
All
of
the shelters
shown
here cai.
be
built
with about
SI
50 worth of
materials or
less,
it mate-
rials,
such as
the lumber used
in a
basement lean-to
shelter,
are
available
at little or
no cost,
some persons
could
build these
shelters
for considerably
less
than SI
50.
In
all of the
shelters,
the danger
from
fallout would be at
least 100
times less than to
unprotected
persons.
This
family is
building
a
basement compact
shelter of
sand-filled con-
crete
blocks. Solid
concrete blocks are used
for the
roof shielding.
This type
of shelter also could
be
built
of
brick
or structural
tile.
20
Construction
drawings on
these
and
other family shelters can
be
obtained
by
following the
instructions on
the
last
page of
this
booklet.
In selecting
shielding
material for any
shelter, sand
or earth
can be
substituted for
concrete or
brick,
but
for
each
inch of
solid
masonry you
need
an
inch and a
half of sand
or earth.
Adding
shielding
material to a
shelter will
improve the protec-
tion
offered
by
the
shelter, but it
also may increase
the cost
of
the shelter.
This
sand-filled
lean-to
base-
ment
shelter
will
accom-
modate
three
persons.
The
house
itself
gives
partial
shielding.
Sandbags
are
used
to
block
the end
of the
shelter.
"'^
This
backyard
plywood shelter
can be
built partially above ground
and
mounded
over with
earth, or be
built
totally
below ground level.
A
gravel
drain under
the shelter
and a
ditch outside
help keep it dry.
The
family blocks
the
entrance
with sandbags
after entering the
shelter.
21
A
number
of firms have entered the home shelter field. As
in any
new commercial activity there are abuses.
Advertising
claims may
be
misleading; designs
and products may
be
inade-
quate.
Your State and
Federal governments will
do
what they
properly can to
minimize these
abuses,
but the most effective
discouragement to
those taking advantage of the rising interest
in
home shelters is
your caution and shrewdness. You
will
have the cooperation
of the Better Business Bureau, your
local
Civil Defense director,
and
of
your local. State, and Federal
government
officials
concerned
with such matters.
Trade associations
that are interested in the shelter construc-
tion business
have
offered
their cooperation
in making home
shelter
plans
available to the public and in working with others
to
maintain
a high
level of
business
practice. Several of these
are listed
on
the last page of this booklet.
In the event of a
nuclear attack,
be
prepared to live in a
shelter
as long as two weeks,
coming
out
for short trips only if neces-
sary.
Fallout
would
be most
dangerous in the first two days
This
prefab backyard
shelter for four can
be bought
for under
$150.
The
price includes the corrugated
steel-pipe unit (4-foot
diameter),
entry
and
air
vent pipes.
22
after an attack, and even if you
were inside a
shelter
you prob-
ably would have absorbed
some radiation.
Your
freedom of
action would depend on
your
radiation exposure
during
the
critical period after the
fallout descends. So,
never expose
yourself unnecessarily to radiation.
This
four-person
basement-corner shelter is made of
curved
asbestos-
cement
sheets
which
are
covered
with sandbags. Materials
cost about
$125.
LAST-MINUTE
IMPROVISED
MEASURES
In the nuclear age,
nobody can
guarantee you so many
min-
utes,
hours, or days of
warning time. An
enemy
ultimatum
might set a
deadline; enemy
bombers could be tracked
while
hours
away; but enemy
missiles could
arrived unannounced.
However,
even the briefest
warning
you
might
get by radio
or
sirens would
give
you
the precious,
live-saving time to act.
The
two public
warning signals are:
A
3-
to
5-minute STEADY TONE,
meaning, turn
on your
radio for
directions from local authorities.
23
A
3-minute
WARBLING
TONE or SHORT BLASTS, mean-
ing take cover
immediately.
There are at
least two
situations that could increase the
se-
verity of the
danger you
would face:
A
plan of action
but no
time
to
put it into
effect, or time to act but
no
plan
of action
—
no
shelter, for
example.
A
plan but no
time
Your
first
warning of
nviclear attack could be the
flash of
an
explosion.
Don't look at
it. Quick action
during
the next few
seconds could
save your
life.
If you
are
inside, dive
under or
behind the nearest desk, table,
sofa or
other piece
of sturdy
furniture. Try to
get in a shadow;
If you have no basement,
you can improvise
a
shelter
by
digging
a
trench next
to
the
house,
and
making
a
lean-to structure with
house
doors. Pile the dirt from
the trench and
other
heavy
objects
on
top of
the doors and
at
the sides for
as
much radiation
shielding
as
possible.
24
it will help shade you
from
the
heat. Lie curled
on
your side
with your hands
over
the back of your neck, knees
tucked
against your chest.
Stay
away from windows, or
turn your
back
to
them—they admit heat rays and also may
shatter.
If
you
are outside,
run into
a building and assume the
same
curled-up
position. If possible,
face
a corner.
If
you
cannot get into a building, seek the
lowest, most
protected
spot, such as
a
ditch, gutter
or depression in a lawn.
Lie in the
cvirled position.
Face away from loose or
breakable
objects.
If you
are far enough away
from the explosion
you may feel
no
effect at all. But stay
put for
five
minutes to
be
sure.
By
then
the blast effects
will have
passed or lost their force.
You
will
have
at least
half
an hour to find fallout protection.
Time
but no plan
If
you should receive
warning
of an attack
but do not
have
a plan
of
action—
no
shelter to
go
to, for
example
—
your first
actions should
be
to guard
against
the hazards
of fires set
by
the
heat of a nuclear
explosion. Get
rid
of svich quick burning
things as oily rags, curtains,
and
lampshades.
Get rid
of
old
newspapers and magazines,
or stack
them
in the basement if
you
plan
to improvise a
fallout
shelter there. Shut
off main
electric and gas lines until the fire danger
has passed.
If
your
house has Venetian blinds,
lower
and
shut them to bar flying
glass
and
screen
out some of the blast's fierce heat. Fill
buckets,
sinks,
a
bathtub, and other containers with water.
Then turn
your
attention
to fallout protection. There are
six general
guidelines to keep in mind for improvising
last-
minute
fallout
protection:
1.
A basement is usually better
than aboveground floors, par-
ticularly in private
residences. (In large commercial
or
civic buildings, however,
the central areas of middle
floors
could offer good protection.)
2. A
corner
of
a basement that
is below ground level is better
than
the center
of
the
basement.
3.
On aboveground floors,
improvise shelter
away
from
out-
side walls.
25
When
improvising
shelter, keep
it
small.
Concentrate
the
shielding
mass
immediately
around
and
above you
to
conserve
construction
time.
Stay
away
from
windows
and
outside
doorways.
They
are
weak
points in
your
fallout
shield.
Also,
windows
could
be
shattered
many
miles
beyond
the severe
blast
damage
area
of a
nuclear
explosion.
If
caught
in the
open,
try to
get to
some
substantial struc-
ture,
such as
a
large
commercial
or civic
building,
a
tun-
nel,
or
cave.
If
none
of these
is
readily
available,
look
for
a
culvert,
underpass
or
ditch
—
anything
that will get you
below
ground
level
—and
improvise a
shelter.
This
man is
improvising a
fallout
shelter
in
a
basement
corner
by
stacking
heavy
material
on and
at
the
open
sides
of
a
sturdy
table.
Piling
dirt
and
other
heavy
material
in the
basement
window
wells
will
improve
his
margin of
protection.
26
SHELTER
SUPPLIES
Not
every item
on this chart is
vital to life. (The most essen-
tial ones
are outlined
in color.) But
even
though you might be
able to
leave your shelter
briefly after
a
day
or two,
you should
prepare to be
completely
self-sustaining
for at least two weeks.
EATING
UTENSILS
AND FOOD
27
The
one
essential
is
water;
most
people
can
live no
more
than
four
days
without
it.
The
minimum
for a
shelter is
one
quart
of
fluid
per
person
per
day;
if
space is
available
near the
shelter,
a
gallon
of
water a day
per
person
would
provide for
your com-
fort,
including
washing.
Some
items,
such as
tools,
should
be
kept
handy but
need
not
be
inside
the
shelter
itself.
CIVIL
DEFENSE
INSTRUCTION
MATERIAL
1
1 1
III uu
m
RUBBER
SHEETING
—
@
((®
RADIATION
METERS,
radio!
I
EXTRA BATTERfES
CHARGER
RATE
METER.
BATTERY-POWERED
RADIO
DOSIMETER
WITH AERIAL
TOOLS
AND
OTHER
ITEMS
SCREWDRIVER
W
III
i^
I^^Bf
CANDLES
^^"
FLASHLIGHT
EXTRA
BATTERIES
CALENDAR
CROWBAR
28
EMERGENCY
HOUSEKEEPING
Following is a
checklist of
preparations for, and best
ways
of,
living in close
confinement for
the
two
days to
two weeks
when a shelter may
have to be your
home.
Also
included
is a resume
of the first aid
information you
may need.
Water
It is more
vital than food. Humans can live on a quart of
water or
other fluid a day, but an
allowance
of a
gallon
is far
more comfortable, especially in a warm shelter.
Store water
in five-gallon
or larger
containers
to conserve
space. If
you use small
glass
containers,
seal
them well
and
pack
them with
newspapers
or wadding
to
prevent breakage.
Some
may
want to
test
their
stored water for
smell
and taste
every three
months,
but it is
not necessary
for health.
Odorous
as
it might
become,
it
will
still
be usable
in an
emergency.
Announcements
on
your radio
may tell
you whether
local
water
supplies
are safe.
If
they are
not,
you can
preserve a
consider-
able
safe
water
supply
in
your house
by
closing
the
water
shut-
off valve
leading
in from
the street.
The
water
in toilet flush
tanks,
pipes,
hot
water
tanks,
and
similar
home
sources
is
drinkable.
Unless
authorities
have
pronounced
it
safe,
try
to avoid
using
water from
outside the
house or open
sources
(lakes,
reservoirs)
after
the
attack
without
purifying
it.
Germs or
radioactive
material,
or both,
may
get
into water.
Cloudy
or unclear
water
29
should
first
be
strained
through a paper
towel or several
thick-
nesses
of clean cloth,
or else
be
allowed to
settle in a deep
container and then
siphoned off.
After that,
it may be freed of
germs
with water
purification
tablets, obtainable at
drug
and
sporting goods
stores, or
by
boiling
vigorously for a
few min-
utes,
or
by
adding
20 drops
of iodine to a
gallon of
clear water
or 40
drops to a
gallon of
cloudy
water. Then let it
stand
for
30
minutes.
Liquid
household bleaches
of the
sodium hypo-
chlorite type
can
also
be used.
The label
usually gives
instructions.
Radiation in
itself does
not affect
water. It is
only if the
radioactive
particles
themselves get
into water that
the water
becomes
dangerous.
There are
effective
ways to
decontaminate
water
containing
radioactive
particles.
The particles
can
be
removed
by
the
simple
filtering process
with paper or
cloth that
Enlarged
view
of
a
ratemeter
scale.
This
particular
model
must
be
exposed
to
radiation
for
certain
specific
times to
measure
the
dose
rate
(inten-
sity)
of
radiation.
Enlarged
view
of
a
dosimeter
scale.
The
instrument
is used
to
measure
the total
amount
of
radiation to
which
a
person has
been
exposed.
30
was
described
earlier, or
by
running the
water through one of
the
devices that are sold
to soften
water for home use. Perhaps
an
easier way would be to
mix a
handful of clay soil
with each
gallon of water
and allow
it to settle out over a period
of
a
day.
Radiation
meters
Because
gamma
rays,
like X-rays,
are not
detected by
any
of
the five
senses, each
shelter should
have
some
simple
instru-
ments to
detect and
measure
them.
Instruments
developed
specifically
for
home use
can
be
ordered
through
department
stores and
other
retail outlets.
Having
these
instruments
does
not
automatically
provide you
with
simple
solutions
to
prob-
lems of
radiation
exposure
since
the
relations
between
dose
rate, total dose,
time,
radioactive
decay,
etc.,
must be
learned.
Instructions
will
be
available,
however, on
how to
interpret
the
instrument
readings.
If these
are
studied
and
understood
in advance,
the
instruments
can
be
of
great value in
intelligently
planning
your action
in a
fallout
situation.
A
ratemeter
will tell
what the
intensity of
the
radiation
is.
It
is
similar to a
speedometer
in a
car except
that it
measures
roentgens per
hour
rather than
miles
per hour.
Thus, from
a
ratemeter reading
made just
outside
the
shelter, you
can get
an
indication
of whether it
is safe
to
leave the
shelter for
a brief
period.
The
dosimeter
will
show you
the total
amount of
radiation to
which you
have
been exposed
during an
emergency
period. It is
similar to
a mileage
indicator
in a
car but
it
measures
total
roentgens
rather
than miles.
Carefully
study
the instructions
provided
with these
instruments
by
the manu-
facturer.
At
right is a
kit of
radiation
instru-
ments
developed
specifically
for
home use—
a
ratemeter,
dosimeter,
and
charger.
Other
models are
being
developed.
31
Food
Wherever
you
live—
in the country,
city apartment, or
subur-
ban
house
—
you
should
keep
a
two-week
supply of food on hand.
Large
community
shelters
in existing
buildings are
going to be
stocked
by
the
Federal
Government
with
emergency foods.
But for
the present,
and
especially
for apartment
residents
who
may have
to take
quick
refuge in the
central
core
or
basement
of their
building, a good
plan
is
to keep
handy a box
or basket
with rations and
water.
In
planning a
two-week
supply
of food for
whatever shelter
you
will use,
bear
these things in
mind:
Ten thousand
calories
will
be
adequate
for an
adult during
an inactive
two-week
shelter stay.
Select
familiar foods
(they
are
more
heartening
and
acceptable
during times
of stress)
and
food
that
will last for
months
without
refrigeration
and
can
be
served
without cooking.
Suggestions:
canned
meat, fish,
poultry, beans,
peas and
fruits; cereals
and
tinned baked goods;
cheese
spreads,
peanut butter
and
jellies with
crackers;
evapo-
rated or
dried
milk.
Pick cans
and
packages
of a
size suitable
to
your
family's
needs
for one
meal;
this
prevents
spoilage and
offers you
greater
daily
variety.
Keep
all foods
in
their
original
containers.
Those
that do
not
come in
cans should be
wrapped
and tape-
sealed
in polyethylene
sheets.
Write
the date
of purchase
on
cans
or
packages,
and use oldest
purchases
first.
After a
nuclear attack,
food stored
indoors should be
safe to
eat. That
is
especially true of
food in
freezers and
refrigerators,
which should,
of course,
be kept
closed as
much as
possible.
Eat
the
perishable foods
first,
especially
if
electricity and gas
are
cut
off.
Bread is
still edible
even
when moldy;
sour
milk is
drinkable.
Fruits and
vegetables
with
"rotten"
spots cut
out
are
safe to
eat; if they
have been
exposed to
fallout, wipe,
wash
and
peel them,
disposing of
wash-water
and
peelings outside
the shelter.
Throw out
canned
foods if
bubbles
appear in the
juices,
even
though they
smell all
right. In
an
emergency,
most
canned
and packaged
animal foods can be
eaten
by
humans
without
harm.
32
A
hand-operated
air blower, like this
one at the
left,
would provide ample
ventilation
for
any
underground fam-
ily shelter.
Other
models
are
being
developed.
Ventilation
Fresh air
is more
vital
than food
and
water. A basement
home
shelter
will
get
its
air via door
cracks
and other
crevices
through
which
fallout
particles are
unlikely to
drift.
But well-
sealed
community
shelters and
home
underground
ones will
need
ventilation systems
because
even at rest
a
person should
have at least
three cubic
feet of
air
a
minute.
In
many home
underground
shelters a
three-inch intake pipe
is
installed to
suck in
fresh air
by
means
of
a
hand-operated
blower
that is
cranked
periodically, and
an exhaust pipe
is set
up to
vent stale air.
The
air-intake pipe
should extend
at least
a
foot above the
ground, and have a
weather cap
over it to keep
out fallout particles.
Community shelters
should have an
air filter to
remove par-
ticles
that may get
into the
ventilation system.
Since
this filter
may collect
radioactive material,
the people
in the
shelter should
be shielded
from it. No
blower is
necessary for the
outlet or
exhaust pipe
because of
the pressure
created
within the
shelter
by
the intake
blower. In smaller
shelters the
outlet pipe
may
be
unnecessary because
air would
leave through
cracks around
the
door. Blowers are
available at
hardware stores.
Radiation sickness
The
principal
ailment unique to
nuclear
warfare is
radiation
sickness. Its
severity depends
on the
amount
of
radiation to
which
a person is
exposed and
on
the length
of the
exposure
time.
That
is
because
the body can
take a
certain
amount of
radiation damage
and repair it
without
serious
permanent in-
jury. It
is only when one
gets too
much too fast
that
sickness
33
or possibly
death may result. Radiation sickness is not
con-
tagious,
regardless of how much exposure the victim has
had.
It
is
important
to know that many of its symptoms may appear
in anyone
subjected at any time to
anxiety and
great stress.
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 hour
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 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 may
ulcerate
and bleed;
and,
in about
the third
week,
the patient's
hair
may start to
fall out.
Recovery
may
take seven
to
eight
weeks.
When exposure
has been
overwhelming,
death comes
in
hours or weeks.
Treat
symptoms in
this
way:
General
rest.
Aspirin
for
headache.
Motion-sickness
tablets for
nausea.
Liquids as
soon
as
possible
for diarrhea and
vomiting, but
not
until
vomiting
has stopped
(ideally, one
teaspoon
of table
salt
to one
quart of
cool
water, to
be
sipped
slowly).
For sore
mouth,
this
solution
can be used
as a
mouthwash.
First
aid
Since doctors,
medical supplies,
and
other
aids
may
not be
available
to
everyone
for days or
even
weeks in
some
areas, it
is
important for at
least one
adult
in
every
family
to
know
standard
first aid.
Civil Defense
units, in
cooperation
with Red
Cross
Chapters,
give courses you
can
take.
In
addition,
a new
training course
in
Medical
Self
Help, with a
reference
hand-
book,
contains
valuable
information
on
what to
do
should
professional medical
care be
unavailable to
you
because
of
emergency conditions.
34
There
are five basic
first-aid
rules that
everyone should
know.
They are:
How
to stop
bleeding. The
average adult body
contains
only six
quarts
of
blood;
the
loss
of one
quart is
serious, so
bleeding
has priority over
all other
emergencies.
Apply pres-
sure to the
wound at once
—with your
hand if
nothing else is
available, although a bandage,
clean
cloth, or
sanitary
napkin
will help
prevent
infection. But don't
waste time
looking
for
them.
Don't wash the
wound. Apply
pressure hard
and fast,
bringing the edges
of the wound
together if
you can. You
may
have to continue
the pressure
for
30
minutes.
Never apply
the old-fashioned
tourniquet
except as a last
resort. It may
cost the
patient his limb.
ARTIFICIAL
RESPIRATION
35
Breathing
difficulties.
Getting
air into
the
victim's lungs
fast is
vital.
Remove
throat
obstructions
such
as
mucus,
debris,
a
jarred-loose
denture.
If
he
is
breathing,
place
him on
his
stomach,
head
to one
side
so
that
blood or
secretions
will not
flow
into air
passages.
If he is
not
breathing,
apply
mouth-to-
mouth
respiration.
Tilt
victim's
head
back to
"sword-swal-
lower"
position
(a
blanket
or
pillow
under
shoulders
will help),
pinch
his nose
shut
(see
drawing), seal
your
open
mouth over
his,
inhale
deeply
through
your
nose and
exhale
deeply
into
his
mouth
12 to 16
times
a
minute for an
adult, 20
for a
child.
Continue
this
for two
hours, even
if life
seems
extinct,
before
giving up.
As he
revives,
adjust
your breathing
rhythm
to
his.
If the
patient
has a
chest
wound,
cover
it
with an
airtight
dressing.
Handling
fractures.
Simple
bone
fractures
show
themselves
by
being
tender
to
touch, or by
the
unnatural
shape
of
the
affected
part,
or
by
swelling
and
change
in
skin
color.
Com-
pound
fractures
are
indicated
by
broken
skin,
sometimes
with
the bone
protruding.
Splint
the
fracture
wherever
the
patient
lies
before
moving
him,
firmly
supporting
the
broken
limb.
Burns.
Light
burns
(reddening
of the
skin)
need not
be
covered,
and can
be
treated
with
pain
relievers
or
left
alone.
Deeper
burns,
where
blisters
and
especially
destruction
of
tis-
sue
under
the
skin occur,
should be
covered
with a
clean
dress-
ing.
No
ointments
or
salves
should be
used.
Fluid
that
oozes
from the
burn
and
forms a
crust
is a
good
dressing in
itself.
Don't
puncture
blisters
unless
they
are
likely to
break;
in
this
case
make a
small
slit at the
edge.
If the
burns are
severe,
get the
victim
to
drink a
salt
solution
if possible
(one
level
teaspoon
salt
to
one
quart
of
water)
in
small
amounts.
A
gallon
during
the
first 24
hours
is
not too
much.
Comfort.
Reassuring
the
patient
in a
confident
way is
vital.
Move
him
only
if necessary
and
then as
little
as
possible.
It
may be
useful to
place
the
patient in a
slightly
head-down
posi-
tion. Do
not
give
alcoholic
drinks
as a
stimulant.
36
Sanitation
In
the
limited space
of a
shelter, good
sanitation is
not
merely
a
matter of
comfort;
it could
be
a
matter
of life or
death.
The
familiar,
old-fashioned diseases
can
still kill as
surely as
blast or
radiation, and
intimate
living makes
contagion easy.
Probably
the biggest
single problem
is
the disposal
of
human
waste,
which can
spread such
diseases
as typhoid,
dysentery, and
diarrhea.
The most
elemental device is a
metal pail
with
a
tight
cover. A
better
expedient,
especially
where elderly
persons
are
involved,
is to make a
commode by
cutting
the seat
out
of
a
chair and
placing
the pail under
it. In
either case a
supply
of
plastic
bags,
obtainable
at department
stores, is needed,
a bag
being placed in
the pail
with its top
overlapping
the pail
rim.
A small
amount
of disinfectant
(creosol
or household
bleach)
can
help control odors
and insect
breeding.
A larger can
with a
cover, such as a
garbage can,
should be
available to
store the plastic bags
after use.
After
two days,
the
container can be
placed
outside the
shelter. At a
later
time, bury such
waste under
one to two
feet of earth.
Garbage
should be
handled and disposed
of in
the same way.
It is best
wrapped first in
several thicknesses
of newspaper,
which
ab-
sorbs some
moisture and helps
hold down odors.
Then
put it
in a covered can.
Control
of
vermin
Measures to
control
vermin would be
vital in the
event of an
attack, but
some
measures
can be
taken
now.
The
shelter area
should be
painted
or
sprayed
with a
five
per cent
solution of
DDT
or other
insecticides
containing
chlordane,
dieldrin,
Diazinon, or
ronnel—taking
the
usual
precautions
against in-
halation or skin
contact.
Repeat
every
few
months.
Lice and
other body-infesting
insects can be
eliminated by
dusting
with
a 10
per cent
DDT dust
which
should be
kept
on the body
and
in clothing for
24 hours.
The
shelter
should
be
stocked with
screening
material, a fly
swatter, mouse
and rat
traps.
Do
not
use spray
insecticides
in an
occupied
shelter;
there is
danger
of
explosion or of
injuring
eyes and
lungs.
37
FIRST
STEPS
TOWARD
RECOVERY
The
world
and
your
community
would be
shattered
by
a
nuclear
war.
Normal
services
would be
disrupted;
essential
skills
could
be
in
short
supply;
equipment
you
had
taken
for
granted
might
not be
available.
You
would
face
the
aftermath
of
a
catastrophe,
but
if
there
had been
previous
planning,
you
need
not
face it
alone.
Using
community
resources
As
in
the case
of
natural
disasters,
community
action
is
by
far
the
best
way to
do
all that
must
be
done
to
recover
from a
nuclear
attack.
Local
governments
have
at
hand
many
organ-
ized
units,
such
as
the
police
and
fire
departments,
the
county
road
commission
and
the
health
department,
whose
survivors
can serve
as a
hard
core
for
organized
recovery
actions
immedi-
ately
after
people
can
emerge
from
shelters.
Government
agen-
38
cies,
military units,
and other
organizations, such as construction
companies
and the
repairmen of the public
utilities, would help
to
repair damage
and restore
service
as
soon as possible—
as
they
have in
past natural disasters.
But many more helpers would
be
needed.
Wherever you might be,
in a community
or
family
shelter, your help would be
needed. If your community is lucky
and
receives little
fallout, you may be needed
to
help a neighbor-
ing
gommunity.
The
communities
that
are
well
organized
and
have planned
their
recovery
actions
would be
able
to return
to
tolerable
liv-
ing
conditions
in
the
shortest
time.
The first job
in
this
would
be
to
clean up
pre-selected
areas
to
make
them
safe
for living
outside
of shelters.
The
initial
action
may
well
originate
with
organized
units
in community
shelters
—from
the
basement
of
the
city
hall, from
a
shelter at a
school
—or it
could
come
from
groups in
several
shelters
working
together. As
groups,
they
would
have more of
the
manpower,
equipment,
and communi-
cations
needed to
start the job.
Getting
rid of
fallout
The process
of
removing fallout
particles
from
exposed
sur-
faces
and
disposing
of the
particles in
places
where
they
cannot
harm
people
is
called
radiological
decontamination.
Paved
areas
could be
decontaminated
with
firehoses or
street
flushers,
using
high-pressure
nozzles,
and
with motorized
street
sweepers.
Roofs could be
decontaminated
with fire hoses.
Unpaved
areas
could
be
decontaminated
by
scraping
off or
plowing
under a
thin top
layer of soil.
This could be
done
with
large
earth-
moving equipment—
such as
motorized
scrapers and
motor
graders—
on
large open
areas,
and
with bulldozers,
tractor
scrapers, shovels and
wheelbarrows
on
smaller areas
around
houses
and trees.
Another method
would be
to
cover a
con-
taminated
area
with clean earth.
In
decontaminating
paved areas,
crews could
flush the par-
ticles into
storm drains
or into
ditches,
where the
particles
could be
covered
with clean
earth or picked up
and
hauled to a
dumping
area. The
scrapings
from the
unpaved
areas could
be
dumped
in
a
pile about
100 feet
from
occupied
areas, or
39
hauled
away.
The
dumping
area
might
be
a
gully,
refuse
area,
or even a
vacant
lot roped
ofiF
at a
safe distance.
Since
the
most
effective
and
rapid
methods
of
decontamina-
tion
would
involve
the
use of
crews and
equipment
working
in
large
areas,
the best
places
to
start the
decontamination
are
likely
to
be
at
schools,
shopping
centers
and
downtown
areas,
and
at parks
and
open
fields
where
large
equipment
can operate.
It is
vital that
communities
set
aside in
advance
many
rallying
points
where
people can
meet to start
work after
an attack.
If
you are
in a
home
shelter
and
have a
ratemeter, you
should
wait
until the
radiation
level has
fallen
to a
point
where you
can go
out
for
about
an
hour
without
receiving
more
than
a
few
roentgens.
You
could
use
this
time to go
to your
local school,
shopping
area
or other
designated
gathering
place and
join
with
your
neighbors
in
community
decontamination
efforts.
If you
do
not
have a
radiation
instrument,
stay in
shelter
until you
are
assured, by
radio, by
contact
from
local
author-
ities,
or
by
other
means,
that
clean
areas are
established
near
you and
that it
is safe
to
proceed
there.
In
areas of
heavy
fallout
where
the
first
decontamination
actions
can be
started,
if
well
organized,
within the
second
week
after
attack,
there
is
relatively
little
danger
from
fallout
par-
ticles
getting
on
people
doing
cleanup
work—
especially
if
normal
habits
of
personal
cleanliness
are
maintained.
The
most
likely
articles
of
clothing
to
pick up
fallout
particles
are
shoes, so
keep
them
brushed
clean.
On a
farm
If
you
live
on a
farm,
your
pre-fallout
preparations
will
have
a
lot to
do
with
your
cleaning
up
afterward.
You
should
place as
much of
your
livestock
and
produce
in
barns as you
can. A
normally filled
hayloft
affords
some
shield-
ing from
fallout
radiation
for
animals
below.
Farm
machinery,
troughs, wells, and
any
produce you
cannot
get
into
barns should
be
covered
with
tarpaulins.
You should
store
as
much
water in
covered
containers as
you can,
taking
the
precautions
already
outlined.
Afterward,
any livestock
exposed to
fallout could
be
washed
or
brushed to
remove
fallout
particles.
Water
from
wells and
40
streams
would
be
safe
for
animal
use.
Even
water
standing
in
a
pond
could
be
use
since
fallout
particles
would
settle
to
the
bottom.
Pond
water
could
be
made
even
safer by
stirring
up
a
clay
bottom
and
then
letting
it
settle
out.
Feed
and
fodder
stored
under
cover
should
be used
first.
If
no
other
feed
is
available,
animals
could
be
turned
out
to
pasture
after a
few
days
when
the
radioactivity
has
decreased.
Farm
animals
and
poultry
would be
an
important
source
of
human
food
and
they
should not
be
allowed to
sicken
and
die
from
thirst
and
starvation.
Animals
which
have been
exposed
to
early
fallout
or
which
have fed on
contaminated
pastures
could
be
slaughtered
and
the
muscle
meat
would
be fit
for
human
consumption.
Internal
organs,
however,
such
as
the
liver
and spleen,
should
not be
eaten
unless
no
other
food
is
available.
It
would be
easier to
preserve
meat on
the
hoof
than on
the
hook.
Hogs
and
steers
could be
kept
alive
even
with
water and
feed
containing
early
fallout
particles.
Animals,
like
humans,
can
have radiation
sickness.
If
the
radiation
level in
your
area
indicates that
animal
sickness
may
be
widespread, you
probably
will be
told
and
given
instructions
on
slaughtering.
Care
must
be
taken in
slaughtering
to
prevent
contamination
of
the
carcasses by
fallout
particles
from
the
hides
and
digestive
tracts.
Chickens
and eggs
would be
a
particularly
important
direct
food
resource
because
they
are
relatively
resistant
to
radiation,
especially if
they are
raised
under
cover
using
safe
packaged
feeds.
Milk
from cows
that
have
grazed on
contaminated
pastures
would be
radioactive, but
in the
absence
of
other food in
an
emergency,
it could be
used.
Potatoes,
corn, and
other field
crops
exposed to
early fallout
would be
safe to eat
after
cleaning.
Grain that
has been
covered,
as
in elevators,
would be safe.
Threshing
would
reduce
the
amount of
fallout
particles in
grain.
Threshed
grain exposed
to fallout
could
be
made
safer
by
washing.
If
county agents
are
available, they
can help
you decide
what
crops,
pasturage,
and methods
will be
best and
safest
to use.
Seeds of
all sorts are quite
resistant
to
radiation and do
not
require
any special
protection.
41
ORGANIZING
FOR
CIVIL
DEFENSE
Fallout
shelter
is only
one part
of a
complete Civil Defense
Program.
The
details of a
Civil
Defense Program
may change
with changes
in
the kinds
of
missiles that
might
be
used against
us.
But
the
essential
elements
of the
program remain the
same.
They
consist of a
warning
system to
alert the
civilian population
to
an
imminent
attack; a
system of
shelters equipped
and
pro-
visioned
to
furnish
protection
against those
effects of an at-
tack for
which protection is
feasible
—i.e.,
radioactive fall-
out;
and a
system to
provide training and
equipment, so that
the
survivors
can monitor the
effects of the attack
and carry out
the tasks
of
decontamination,
fire fighting, rescue, and
recon-
struction,
that
would
be
necessary
to restore a
functioning
society.
An
effective civil
defense requires
the participation of every
citizen. It
calls for
advance planning
at
every
level
of
govern-
ment
—
local,
State, and national.
This planning must
be
flexi-
ble
enough to adapt
itself
to
changes in
enemy weapons and
tactics.
It
must be
comprehensive
enough
to
cover people
liv-
ing under
widely different ^conditions
from ranch houses,
to
apartment buildings, to
frame cottages.
Responsibilities
The
Federal
Civil Defense
Act
puts the
responsibility
for
civil
defense
jointly on
the Federal
Government
and the
States.
Until this
year,
there has
been
little
interest, and
less
money
available
for civil
defense, so
that it
has not
been
necessary
to
define
responsibilities
precisely.
Now
we
have
launched
a
major
program.
Under
this
program, the
Federal
Government
has assumed
four
responsibilities:
First,
to keep
track of the
na-
ture of
the threat
which
the
Civil Defense
Program
must
be
de-
signed to
meet; second,
to
prepare
information
about
the
threat
and how
it can be
met;
third, to
bear a
major part
of the
costs of
42
certain
kinds
of
civil
defense
activities,
where such
sharing
will
stimulate
State
and
local
and
private
activities;
and,
fourth, to
provide
technical
assistance
through
State
and
local
channels
for
civil
defense
planning.
Your
State
and
local
governments,
on
the
other
hand,
have
the
operating
responsibility
for
civil
defense.
An
individual
must be
able to
look to
some
agency
of
his State
or
local
Govern-
ment
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
is
preparing
to
assist
the
States
with
technical
help and
matching
funds
for
certain
pro-
grams.
The
key
element
in
our
new
program
is
the
provision
of
fall-
out
shelter.
We
expect
community
shelters
to
protect
a
large
part
of
the
population; but
we
recognize
that
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.
National
shelter
survey
We
have
already
taken
the
first
step
towards
a
realistic
Civil
Defense
Program
by
launching
the
National
Shelter
Survey.
The
survey
will
identify
the
approximately
50
million
shelter
spaces
that are
now
available
in
existing
buildings,
tunnels,
subways,
and
other
structures
to
provide
protection
from
radioactive
fallout.
Many
of these
spaces
in the
central
areas
of
large
population
centers
would be
exposed
to
destruction by
blast
and
fire in
the
event
of a
nuclear
attack.
But
the
pattern
of
attack
cannot be
predicted,
and
existing
shelter
is
more
widely
distributed
in
relation
to
population
than
appears
to
the
casual
observer.
Further,
this
space
is
immediately
available,
and
the
cost
of
identification,
marking,
and
stocking
is
less
than
$4
per
space.
43
All
such
shelter
spaces,
accommodating
50
or
more people,
and
which
would be
open
to
the
public
in an
emergency,
will
be
marked
and
stocked
with
essential
food,
water,
first-aid
kits,
and
radiation
detection
instruments.
Proposed
shelter
incentive
program
The
President
plans to
seek
funds
from
the
Congress to sup-
port a
Federal
Shelter
Incentive
Program
in
which
the
Federal
Government
would
meet a
substantial
part of
the
costs
of pro-
viding
fallout
shelters
in schools,
hospitals,
and
other
public
welfare
institutions.
The
program
is
designed
to
encourage
the
construction
of
fallout
shelter in
these
essential
community
facilities.
Many of
these
institutions
are
in
excellent
locations
for
group
fallout
shelters,
but
many
of
them
have
very
limited
resources
of
their
own to
pay
for
shelter
construction.
The
Federal
Shelter
Incentive
Program
would
help to
fill
this
gap.
The
plan
provides
a
Federal
grant
of
something
less
than
actual cost
for
every
shelter space
meeting
approved
standards,
and
created
in
public,
or
private
non-profit
institutions,
en-
gaged
in
health,
education,
or
welfare
activities. A
substantial
number
of
these
shelters
would be
dual
purpose,
serving a
use-
ful
peacetime
community
purpose, in
addition
to
offering
pro-
tection
from
radioactive
fallout
in
the
event of
attack.
In order to
qualify
for
incentive
payments,
each
shelter
would
have to
accommodate
a
minimum
of 50
people,
and
would
have
to be
open
for
public
use
in
time
of
emergency.
Upon
com-
pletion,
each
shelter
would
be
identified by
the
continuing
operations
of
the
National
Shelter
Survey,
and
would
be
marked
and
stocked
with
food,
water,
first-aid
kits, and
radiation
detec-
tion
instruments.
All
schools,
colleges,
hospitals,
clinics,
and
welfare
institutions
would
be
eligible
for
shelter
incentive
payments,
provided
they
were
operated by
a
State
or
local
government
unit,
or by
a
private
non-profit
organization.
The
Federal
Shelter
Incentive
Program,
together
with
the
Federal
Shelter
Survey, is
expected
to
stimulate a
good
deal
of
additional
construction
and
modification
of
shelter
space.
The
primary
responsibility
for
exploiting
the
exemplary
effect
of
the
Federal
programs
lies
with,
the State
and
local
civil defense
44
organizations.
Their
success
will depend
largely
on their ability
to
organize
a local
civil
defense
program in
each community.
This
effort
includes not
only the
provision of shelter,
but an
adequate
system of
warning,
of
radiological
monitoring, and
of
training
and
information
on
survival techniques.
Other
federal
programs
Every
citizen
needs to
know how he
will be
warned
of
im-
minent
attack, where
he
will
take
shelter,
how he
should behave
in the
shelter,
and what he
should expect
when he
emerges from
it.
In addition,
as many
citizens as
possible should
be
trained
in the
techniques of
shelter
management,
radiological
monitor-
ing,
decontamination,
rescue,
fire fighting,
and restoring essen-
tial
service.
Besides
helping to build
shelters,
the Federal
Government
will
help in
building
these other
elements of the
Civil Defense Pro-
gram
in a
number of ways.
The
Federal Government
helps to
provide warning
against
an attack.
The
National Warning System
carries the
warning
signal from the
Headquarters of the
North American
Air De-
fense
Command to
State warning points.
From these
points
the States send
the
warning
to
local warning systems.
The
Office
of Civil Defense
is studying
national
installation of
a
new warning
system,
the
NEAR System,
which would
bring
the warning
into
every home
with electric power.
The NEAR
system
operates through
signal generators placed
in the elec-
trical power grid. These
generators would
be
actuated directly
by
the National Warning
System,
and in
turn, actuate
buzzers
plugged or wired into home electrical
circuits.
The Federal
Government is providing equipment for
50,000
radiological monitoring stations, and is
training operators
for
this equipment. The
eventual plan calls for
150,000
of these
monitoring
points to be
established in selected community
shelters and tied
into a control point
at the local
emergency
operating center.
The
job
of educating
every citizen
on
the
results of
thermo-
nuclear
attack, and what he can do
about it, is
necessarily the
responsibility of State and
local civil defense
organizations. So
45
is the job
of
giving specific training to the literally hundreds
of
thousands
of volunteer
workers who must
be
prepared to
under-
take
decontamination, rescue
work, firefighting,
first aid, and
restoration of
necessary
services.
The
Federal Government
has
available a
wide
range
of
informational and instructional
litera-
ture,
including
course material,
technical manuals,
and training
aids. It
also
conducts schools to which States may send civit
defense
operating officials
and civil defense
instructors. These
instructors can then
conduct technical training at the local level.
These
Federal
schools
will offer
instructor-training courses
in
shelter
management,
radiological ofl&cer
training,
radiological
detection,
civil defense
director-training, civil
defense opera-
tions
and
plans.
This
training is provided at
Federal
expense,
and the
Federal
Government
helps
pay travel costs to
and from
the
schools.
The
training materials
will
be
prepared and pack-
aged
for the
instructor's
use in his
home State.
The
Federal
Government,
through
the Department of
Health,
Education,
and
Welfare, also
provides
instructor
training and
instructional
material
for an adult
education
course in
the ele-
ments of
civil defense,
which is
currently
being conducted in
15
States,
and
will
be
extended to
cover
35
States
by
next sum-
mer.
The President
plans
to
seek
funds from the
Congress to
cover the entire
country.
Shelter,
warning,
radiological monitoring,
training and edu-
cation are
all parts of a
total
community civil defense
program.
The
res|>onsibility
for integrating
these parts, and
relating the
whole
to the
needs and
capabilities of the
community, neces-
sarily falls
on the State
and loca|
civil defense
organizations.
The
Federal
Government is
prepared to help in
major ways. As
has been
indicated,
it has
already begun,
through the
National
Shelter
Survey, to make
civil defense a
reality.
46
MORE
INFORMATION
IS
AVAILABLE
In
addition
to
this booklet,
there is a
considerable
amount
of
published
information
available
from State
and local
Civil De-
fense
offices on
various
aspects
of
Civil
Defense.
A new
booklet,
Family
Shelter
Designs, published
by
the
Department
of
Defense, Office
of Civil Defense,
containing con-
struction
drawings
and step-by-step
construction procedures
for
building
eight types
of
family fallout
shelters, will
be
made
available
without
charge
from State and local
Civil Defense
offices.
Several
associations
have
developed plans for
family shelters,
available upon
request.
These
include the
following:
American
Concrete Pipe
Association
228
North LaSalle
Street, Chicago
1,
111.
American
Iron
and
Steel
Institute
150
East
42nd Street, New
York
17,
N.Y.
Asbestos Cement
Products
Association
509
Madison
Avenue, New York
22,
N.Y.
Douglas
Fir
Plywood Association
1 119 A
Street, Tacoma
2,
Wash.
National
Concrete Masonry
Association
1015
Wisconsin
Avenue, N.W., Washington
7,
D.C.
National Lumber
Manufacturers
Association
1619
Massachusetts
Avenue, Washington
6,
D.C.
Portland Cement
Association
33
West Grand
Avenue, Chicago
10,
111.
Structural
Clay
Products
Institute
1520 18th Street,
N.W., Washington
6,
D.C
U.S. GOVERNMENT
PRINTING
OFFICE: 1961
O—
621904
EPARTM
!137
