In Time of Emergency | Page 9

in sketch).

PREPLANNED TILT-UP STORAGE UNIT PLAN E
A tilt-up storage unit in the best corner of your basement is another
method of setting up a "preplanned" family fallout shelter.
The top of the storage unit should be hinged to the wall. In peacetime,
the unit can be used as a bookcase, pantry, or storage facility.
In a time of emergency, the storage unit can be tilted so that the bottom
of it rests on a wall of bricks or concrete blocks that you have stored
nearby.
Other bricks or blocks should then be placed in the storage unit's
compartments, to provide an overhead shield against fallout radiation.
The fallout protection offered by your home basement also can be
increased by adding shielding material to the outside, exposed portion
of your basement walls, and by covering your basement windows with
shielding material.
You can cover the above-ground portion of the basement walls with
earth, sand, bricks, concrete blocks, stones from your patio, or other
material.
You also can use any of these substances to block basement windows
and thus prevent outside fallout radiation from entering your basement
in that manner.
* A PERMANENT OUTSIDE SHELTER. If your home has no
basement, or if you prefer to have a permanent-type home shelter in
your yard, you can obtain instructions on how to construct several
different kinds of outside fallout shelters by writing to the U.S. Office
of Civil Defense, Department of Defense, Washington, D.C. 20310.
There is no charge for these.
WHEN TO LEAVE SHELTER
You should not come out of shelter until you are told by authorities that

it is safe to do so. Special instruments are needed to detect fallout
radiation and to measure its intensity. Unless you have these
instruments, you will have to depend on your local government to tell
you when to leave shelter.
This information probably would be given on the radio, which is one
reason why you should keep on hand a battery-powered radio that
works in your shelter area.
If you came out of shelter too soon, while the fallout particles outside
were still highly radioactive, you might receive enough radiation to
make you sick or even kill you.
Remember that fallout particles can be seen, but the rays they give off
cannot be seen. If you see unusual quantities of gritty particles outside
(on window ledges, sidewalks, cars, etc.) after an attack, you should
assume that they are fallout particles, and therefore stay inside your
shelter until you are told it is safe to come out.
* * * * *
CHAPTER 5
IMPROVISING FALLOUT PROTECTION
SUMMARY
BEFORE AN EMERGENCY
1. If there is no public fallout shelter near your home and you have
decided not to prepare a permanent or preplanned shelter in your
basement or yard, make sure that you have on hand now the materials
and tools needed to improvise an emergency shelter at home. These
would include shielding material (for an inside shelter), and lumber and
a shovel (for an outside shelter).
DURING AN EMERGENCY

1. If you have no better shelter to go to, improvise an emergency shelter
at home.
2. Usually, the best place for an improvised shelter would be in your
basement or storm cellar.
3. If you don't have a basement or storm cellar, you might be able to
improvise a shelter in the crawl space under your house, outside in your
yard, or (as a last resort) on the ground floor of your house. In some
places, a boat would provide some fallout protection.
IMPROVISING FALLOUT PROTECTION
If an enemy attack should occur when you are at home, and you have
made no advance shelter preparations, you still might be able to
improvise a shelter either inside or outside your house. In a time of
emergency, the radio broadcasts may tell you whether you have time to
improvise a shelter or should take cover immediately.
An improvised shelter probably would not give you as much protection
as a permanent or a preplanned family shelter, but any protection is
better than none, and might save your life.
The best place to improvise a shelter would be the basement or storm
cellar, if your home has one.
SHIELDING MATERIAL NEEDED
To improvise a shelter you would need shielding materials such as
those mentioned on page 25--concrete blocks, bricks, sand, etc. Other
things could also be used as shielding material, or to support shielding
material, such as:
--House doors that have been taken off their hinges (especially heavy
outside doors).
--Dressers and chests (fill the drawers with sand or earth after they are
placed in position, so they won't be too heavy to carry and won't

collapse while being carried).
--Trunks, boxes and cartons (fill them with sand or earth after they are
placed in position).
--Tables and bookcases.
--Large