In Time of Emergency | Page 3

bones and burns.
* FOLLOW OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS
* * * * *
CHAPTER 2

UNDERSTAND THE HAZARDS OF NUCLEAR ATTACK
SUMMARY
1. The main hazards of a nuclear attack are blast, heat, fire, and fallout
radiation.
2. You may be able to protect yourself against blast and heat by getting
inside a shelter or taking cover, before the nuclear explosions occur.
You may be able to avoid fire injuries by putting out small fires or
escaping from large fires that might occur in your area.
3. You can protect yourself against fallout radiation by getting inside a
fallout shelter--if possible, before fallout particles begin drifting
down--and by staying there until you are told to come out by authorities
who have the equipment to measure radiation levels.
4. After a nuclear attack, food and water would be available to most
people, and it would be usable. If any fallout particles have collected,
they could be removed before the food is eaten or the water is drunk.
People suffering from extreme hunger or thirst should not be denied
food or water, even if the available supplies are not known to be free of
fallout particles or other radioactive substances.
5. Infants and small children should be fed canned or powdered milk (if
available) for awhile after the attack, unless the regular milk supply is
uncontaminated. They should not be given water that may contain
radioactive substances, if other water known to be pure is available.
6. A person cannot "catch" radiation sickness from another person.
UNDERSTAND THE HAZARDS OF NUCLEAR ATTACK
When a nuclear bomb or missile explodes, the main effects produced
are intense light (flash), heat, blast, and radiation. How strong these
effects are depends on the size and type of the weapon; how far away
the explosion is; the weather conditions (sunny or rainy, windy or still);
the terrain (whether the ground is flat or hilly); and the height of the

explosion (high in the air, or near the ground).
All nuclear explosions cause light, heat and blast, which occur
immediately. In addition, explosions that are on or close to the ground
would create large quantities of dangerous radioactive fallout particles,
most of which would fall to earth during the first 24 hours. Explosions
high in the air would create smaller radioactive particles, which would
not have any real effect on humans until many months or years later, if
at all.[2]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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