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Today it was announced by the White House that if you are cauht in a nuclear explosion you should expect to wait 24-72 hours before they do anything.  You read that right, no significant federal response to a nuclear attack would be given for 1-3 days.  This is yet another reason to prepare.

The fear is that terorrists are likely to use nuclear bombs.  Al Queda, according to Obama, has been trying to get a weapon for a long time, he added that they would be likely to use it if they got it.  Crimnial organizations all over seek to line their pockets with money.  Some have sought the components to make a nuclear bomb, there have been 18 documented cases of theft or loss of the two key components to a nuclear weapon.

In part preparing for a nuclear disaster is about knowledge.  The 7/10 rule, having medication, a place that is sheltered.  In part it is about stocking up on clean food and water.  After a nuclear detonation (or dirty bomb) the fallout contaminates open wells, lakes, ponds, etc as well as the top 18 inches of top soil.  If you were relying on these for food you may become disappointed to learn that consuming them can kill you.Simply put, radiation causes you to feel nausea which usually includes vomiting.  You may also get diarrhea with blood mixing in near the end.  This is caused by tiny little particles which make you sick.  They attach to your clothing and skin.  If you are exposed to have to take off all your clothes and scrub with a brush to get the particles off.  Every inch of your body should be scrubbed if you do not have a proper suit.  This is often unplesant, can lead to you being sore, but it is required if you want to live  and if you do not want to cause others near you to get radiation sickness.  Anywhere these particles go they will bring with them sickness and eventually death.

Radiation can damage bone marrow, and more is made between your chest to your knees.  If your marrow is damaged enough you will die without a replacement.  Additionally the radiation will damage your blood.  Blood contains a lot of different particles, red blood cells carry oxygen to your brain and vital organs, the white ones fight infections.  Platlets are the first stage to stopping blood loss by clotting the blood.  There are other components in the blood that are just as essential to life and they can become damaged due to radiation exposure.  Exposure is bad, you do not want any.

If you are forced to go out into the fallout (you will not survive the actual blast of a nuclear explosion without protection like a blast shelter) or are trapped outside when it hits, you will want to get out of it as quickly as possible.  Rain can carry the particles down so avoid rain.  Rivers and lakes can be contaminated previously so avoid wading through them.

Try to find some place with as much mass as possible.  A basement is better than nothing but try to cover the windows with bricks, sand bags or dirt.  The more mass between you and the fallout the more protection you have.  Mass is your friend.  If you are able you can line the walls with furniture, books or other items to increase the mass of the walls protecting you.  Do not forget about the roof, if it is thin you will still have very little protection.

Immediately upon finding shelter stay away from everyone else and try not to touch very many things.  You may be  covered in tiny particles that are what is going to make people sick.  If family wants to be near you or touch you advise them to stay back until you can clean the fallout off.  You must change your clothes and anything you were previously wearing should be discarded.  Everything should be new and not previously exposed to the fallout.  You must shower and use a stiff scrub brush to brush away the particles.

Exposure times are dictated by the level of radiation in the medium you were exposed to.  Every 7 hours radiation drops to 10% of its previously level.  Lets say that a radiation level (R) is lethal at 450.  If R=1000 then in 7 hours R=100.  Additionally if you spend 30 minutes outside when R=1000 you will have enough exposure to kill you.  Likewise after 7 hours you need to spend over 4 hours outside to get the same level of exposure.  During those 4 hours the radiation is further dropping.

Just because your exposure does not kill you does not mean you are safe.  Less than lethal doses of radiation can cause cancer or other medical conditions.  There is a reason that you get a lead vest put on you when you get an X-ray and why the radiologist hides behind a wall.

50R is generally damaging to your blood.  450R about half the people will die in a month.  It may take weeks or months for you to succumb to the radiation poisioning, so if you had exposure you should get checked out when the hospital becomes an option again.

Fallout is far more lethal to far more people than the initial blast.  Terrorists may kill a few hundred thousand in the initial blast but the fallout will kill or make severely ill millions.  Fallout can spread very far, carried by winds and dropped by rain.

If you have potassium iodide you can take that.  Generally you consume this with food or milk so you do not feel sick from the medicine.  The adult dosage is often 130mg, and it will help your thyroid by preventing it from absorbing radioactive iodine.  Pro-ki is one such brand, however there are others.

The particles are also harmful if they get in your lungs or stomach.  Do not eat or drink anything that may have been exposed.  You cannot scrub your insides with a brush to get the particles off.  If possible wear a CBRN mask (chemical biological radiological nuclear) with a new filter.   This will prevent you from inhaling the particles.  If you do not have a mask it is recommended that you improvise with whatever is at hand.  Limited protection is better than no protection.  Cover your nose and mouth with a clean cloth or anything else available.  Remember though if the cloth is contaminated already you may be forcing more particles in your lungs by holding it tightly to your nose and mouth.  Use your best judgement when improvising.

If you have to go outside, remember it is the particles that make you sick (technically the emissions from those particles).  If you wear “disposable clothes” and tape pants to your boots with a good strong tape like duct tape, tape gloves to a long sleeved shirt and so on there are fewer places for the particles to get onto your skin.  Later you can carefully remove the clothing and discard it making it easier to clean up.  Ideally you would want to have a full body suit specifically suited for radiation, remembering that the outside of the suit becomes contaminated until cleaned and should not be touched.  Many people will not have such a suit and must rely on improvised protection.  Mass keeps the emissions from getting you, there is virtually no mass in a shirt or jeans, so you can still have high exposure levels.  Keep out of irradiated areas until they become safe if at all possible.  The improvised suit only helps to make cleanup easier and less painful.  Remember it is better to go into an irradiated area than to stay in an unsafe shelter.  A roof collapse will kill you, depending on exact exposure levels radiation may not.  Use your best judgement.