In Time of Emergency | Page 9

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.
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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 appliances (such as washers and dryers).
--Books, magazines, and stacks of firewood or lumber.
--Flagstones from outside walks and patios.
IMPROVISING A BASEMENT SHELTER
Here are two ways of improvising fallout protection in the basement of a home:
Set up a large, sturdy table or workbench in the corner of your basement that is most below ground level.
On the table, pile as much shielding material as it will hold without collapsing. Around the table, place as much shielding material as possible.
When family members are "inside the shelter"--that is, under the table--block the opening with other shielding material.
If you don't have a large table or workbench available--or if more shelter space is needed--place furniture or large appliances in the corner of the basement so they will serve as the "walls" of your shelter.
As a "ceiling" for it, use doors from the house that have been taken off their hinges. On top of the doors, pile as much shielding material as they will support. Stack other shielding material around the "walls" of your shelter.
When all persons are inside the shelter space, block the opening with shielding material.
USING A STORM CELLAR FOR FALLOUT PROTECTION
A below-ground storm cellar can be used as an improvised fallout shelter, but additional shielding material may be needed to provide adequate protection from fallout radiation.
If the existing roof of the storm cellar is made of wood or other light material, it should be covered with one foot of earth or an equivalent thickness of other shielding material (see page 25) for overhead shielding from fallout. More posts or braces may be needed to support the extra weight.
After the roof has been shielded, better protection can be provided by blocking the entrance way with 8-inch concrete blocks or an equivalent thickness of sandbags, bricks, earth or other shielding material, after all occupants are inside the shelter. A few inches should be