In Time of Emergency by United States. Office of Civil Defense (book recommendations based on other books .TXT) 📖

What Would Happen in an Enemy Attack

If the U.S. should be attacked, the people who happened to be close to a nuclear, explosion--in the area of heavy destruction--probably would be killed or seriously injured by the blast, or by the heat of the nuclear fireball.

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People a few miles away--in the "fringe area" of the explosion--would be endangered by the blast and heat, and by fires that the explosion might start. However, it is likely that most of the people in the fringe area would survive these hazards.

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People who were outside the fringe area would not be affected by the blast, heat or fire. Department of Defense studies show that in any nuclear attack an enemy might launch against us, tens of millions of Americans would be outside the fringe areas. To them--and to people in the fringe areas who survived the blast, heat and fire--radioactive fallout would be the main danger. Protective measures against this danger can be taken.

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What Is Fallout?

When a nuclear weapon explodes near the ground, great quantities of pulverized earth and other debris are sucked up into the nuclear cloud. There the radioactive gases produced by the explosion condense on and into this debris, producing radioactive fallout particles. Within a short time, these particles fall back to earth--the larger ones first, the smaller ones later. On the way down, and after they reach the ground, the radioactive particles give off invisible gamma rays--like X-rays--too much of which can kill or injure people. These particles give off most of their radiation quickly; therefore the first few hours or days after an attack would be the most dangerous period.

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In dangerously affected areas the particles themselves would look like grains of salt or sand; but the rays they would give off could not be seen, tasted, smelled or felt. Special instruments would be required to detect the rays and measure their intensity.

Fallout Would Be Widespread

The distribution of fallout particles after a nuclear attack would depend on wind currents, weather conditions and other factors. There is no way of predicting in advance what areas of the country would be affected by fallout, or how soon the particles would fall back to earth at a particular location.

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Some communities might get a heavy accumulation of fallout, while others--even in the same general area--might get little or none. No area in the U.S. could be sure of not getting fallout, and it is probable that some fallout particles would be deposited on most of the country.

Areas close to a nuclear explosion might receive fallout within 15-30 minutes. It might take 5-10 hours or more for the particles to drift down on a community 100 or 200 miles away.

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Generally, the first 24 hours after fallout began to settle would be the most dangerous period to a community's residents. The heavier particles falling during that time would still be highly radioactive and give off strong rays. The lighter particles falling later would have lost much of their radiation high in the atmosphere.

Fallout Causes Radiation Sickness

The invisible gamma rays given off by fallout particles can cause radiation sickness--that is, illness caused by physical and chemical changes in the cells of the body. If a person receives a large dose of radiation, he will die. But if he receives only a small or medium dose, his body will repair itself and he will get well. The same dose received over a short period of time is more damaging than if it is received over a longer period. Usually, the effects of a given dose of radiation are more severe in very young and very old persons, and those not in good health.

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No special clothing can protect people against gamma radiation, and no special drugs or chemicals can prevent large doses of radiation from causing damage to the cells of the body. However, antibiotics and other medicines are helpful in treating infections that sometimes follow excessive exposure to radiation (which weakens the body's ability to fight infections).

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Almost all of the radiation that people would absorb from fallout particles would come from particles outside their own bodies. Only simple precautions would be necessary to avoid swallowing the particles, and because of their size (like grains of sand) it would be practically impossible to inhale them.

People exposed to fallout radiation do not become radioactive and thereby dangerous to other people. Radiation sickness is not contagious or infectious, and one person cannot "catch it" from another person.

Protection Is Possible

People can protect themselves against fallout radiation, and have a good chance of surviving it, by staying inside a fallout shelter. In most cases, the fallout radiation level outside the shelter would decrease rapidly enough to permit people to leave the shelter within a few days.

Even in communities that received heavy accumulations of fallout particles, people soon might be able to leave shelter for a few minutes or a few hours at a time in order to perform emergency tasks. In most places, it is unlikely that full-time shelter occupancy would be required for more than a week or two.

Many Kinds of Fallout Shelters

The farther away you are from the fallout particles outside, the less radiation you will receive. Also, the building materials (concrete, brick, lumber, etc.) that are between you and the fallout particles serve to absorb many of the gamma rays and keep them from reaching you.

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A fallout shelter, therefore, does not need to be a special type of building or an underground bunker. It can be any space, provided the walls and roof are thick or heavy enough to absorb many of the rays given off by the fallout particles outside, and thus keep dangerous amounts of radiation from reaching the people inside the structure.

A shelter can be the basement or inner corridor of any large building; the basement of a private home; a subway or tunnel; or even a backyard trench with some kind of shielding material (heavy lumber, earth, bricks, etc.) serving as a roof.

In addition to protecting people from fallout radiation, most fallout shelters also would provide some limited protection against the blast and heat effects of nuclear explosions that were not close by.

Chapter 4 (pages 23-32) discusses the various types of fallout shelters that people can use to protect themselves in case of nuclear attack.

Food and Water Would Be Available and Usable

From many studies, the Federal Government has determined that enough food and water would be available after an attack to sustain our surviving citizens. However, temporary food shortages might occur in some areas, until food was shipped there from other areas.

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Most of the Nation's remaining food supplies would be usable after an attack. Since radiation passing through food does not contaminate it, the only danger would be the actual swallowing of fallout particles that happened to be on the food itself (or on the can or package containing the food), and these could be wiped or washed off. Reaping, threshing, canning and other processing would prevent any dangerous quantities of fallout particles from getting into processed foods. If necessary to further protect the population, special precautions would be taken by food processors.

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Water systems might be affected somewhat by radioactive fallout, but the risk would be small, especially if a few simple precautions were taken. Water stored in covered containers and water in covered wells would not be contaminated after an attack, because the fallout particles could not get into the water. Even if the containers were not covered (such as buckets or bathtubs filled with emergency supplies of water), as long as they were indoors it is highly unlikely that fallout particles would get into them.

Practically all of the particles that dropped into open reservoirs, lakes, and streams (or into open containers or wells) would settle to the bottom. Any that didn't would be removed when the water was filtered before being pumped to consumers. A small amount of radioactive material might dissolve in the water, but at most this would be of concern for only a few weeks.

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Milk contamination from fallout is not expected to be a serious problem after an attack. If cows graze on contaminated pasture and swallow fallout particles that contain some radioactive elements, their milk might be harmful to the thyroid glands of infants and small children. Therefore, if possible, they should be given canned or powdered milk for a few weeks if authorities say the regular milk supply is contaminated by radioactive elements.

In summary, the danger of people receiving harmful doses of fallout radiation through food, water or milk is very small. People suffering from extreme hunger or thirst should not be denied these necessities after an attack, even if the only available supplies might contain fallout particles or other radioactive substances.

Before an emergency

1. Learn what outdoor warning signals are used in your community, what they sound like, what they mean, and what actions you should take when you hear them.

2. Make sure you know the difference between the Attack Warning Signal and the Attention or Alert Signal (if both are used in your community).

During an emergency

1. When you hear the warning signals, or warning information is broadcast, take prompt action.

2. If the Attack Warning Signal sounds, go to a fallout shelter immediately (unless your local government has told you to do something else). After you are in shelter, listen to a radio for more information and instructions.

3. If there is no public or private shelter you can go to, try to improvise some fallout protection. As a last resort, take cover in the best available place.

4. If there should be a nuclear flash--especially if you feel the warmth from it--take cover instantly, and then move to a fallout shelter later.

An enemy attack on the United States probably would be preceded by a period of international tension or crisis. This crisis period would help alert all citizens to the possibility of attack.

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If an attack actually occurs, it is almost certain that incoming enemy planes and missiles would be detected by our networks of warning stations in time for citizens to get into shelters or at least take cover. This warning time might be as little as 5-15 minutes in some locations, or as much as an hour or more in others.

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How you received warning of an attack would depend on where you happened to be at that time. You might hear the warning given on radio or television, or even by word-of-mouth. Or your first notice of attack might come from the outdoor warning system in your own city, town or village.

Many U.S. cities and towns have outdoor warning systems, using sirens, whistles, horns or bells. Although they have been installed mainly to warn citizens of enemy attack, some local governments also use them in connection with natural disasters and other peacetime catastrophes.

Different cities and towns are using their outdoor warning systems in different ways. Most local governments, however, have decided to use a certain signal to warn people of an enemy attack, and a different signal to notify them of a peacetime disaster.

The Standard Warning Signals

The two "standard" signals that have been adopted in most communities are these:

THE ATTACK WARNING SIGNAL. This will be sounded only in case of enemy attack. The signal itself is a 3- to 5-minute wavering sound on the sirens, or a series of short blasts on whistles, horns or other devices, repeated as deemed necessary.