The purpose of Poetslife is to promote the art and discipline of American Tactical Civil Defense for families and small businesses and to contribute practical American civil defense preparedness guidance for all Americans through my articles in the The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA.ORG) Journal of Civil Defense and leadership as the volunteer Vice President of TACDA.

11/01/2022

Civil Defense - Winning Practical and Tactical Steps

Civil Defense has been around since the Old Testament. 
And for good reason.
It will save your life, your family members, your neighbors, your state, and your nation. 
Look it up.
Here is my Civil Defense Radio interview that provides a good introduction the field of civil defense and how it can help you and your family prepare for and respond to natural and manmade disasters.
Here, I will explore practical and tactical steps to win in Civil Defense.

Brief Definition of Civil Defense

Civil defense as used here includes all the tasks taken to ensure the safety of citizens from attack (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) as well as from the negative impacts of natural disasters.
At the very core of civil defense is the protection of children. In the United States, it is mostly done by unpaid volunteers in support of front-line emergency personnel with oversight by the government.
For background, see the Wold War Museum and the Titan Missile Museum websites.

Civil Defense History: WWII to Today

Civil defense for children has been practiced from the beginning of time, but here we will briefly analyze civil defense from the end of World War II until today. I will then offer several ways to help children with various aspects of good civil defense planning, supplies, and tactics.
From the end of World War II through the 1950’s and 1960’s, the emphasis was on training children on how to “duck and cover” or find shelter from incoming nuclear weapons.
There was also an emphasis on building shelters, often in the basement or backyard. Fallout shelters were built because nuclear war at the time were a good possibility and they were one way to reduce the loss of life should the unthinkable happen.
For the Duck and Cover film that was widely shown to children in the 1950’s and 1960’s, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWH4tWkZpPU). For fallout shelter videos, see: History Brief: For Family Fallout Shelters, see the History Brief at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLoiQ9pZjfk)
Today there are many YouTube videos mocking these videos, viewing them as laughable because the nuclear war they prepared for never happened or the shelters and supplies gathered were never going to save anyone.
I disagree.
Given the international tensions at the time and how close we came to nuclear war (I know a Marine who was in Guantanamo Bay and another who was in Florida ready to deploy during the Cuban Missile Crisis…both assure me we were one call away from a nuclear war at that time), those preparations were prudent.
Moreover, preparing to live by preparing to deal with known contingencies (civil defense) has been essential to human survival for thousands of years.
And before laughing too hard, consider that citizens then knew the threats and took measures to prepare to meet and overcome them. How many citizens can say the same today? Witness the panic buying as hurricane Florence approaches.

Physical and Health Civil Defense

Build your immune system with walking, exercise, sunshine, Vitamin D, Play and Fun. This is critical to maintaining your health to counter the effects of virus, germs, bacteria and the other ancient enemies of mankind. 
Rinse your mouth with hydrogen peroxide daily. It kills germs, bacteria and viruses. Notice your dental hygienist now makes you rinse with hydrogen peroxide before working on your teeth. They know.
Back in March of 2020, our local mayor shut down children's playgrounds and put police tape around the equipment.
When I asked him why and told him he was doing the worst thing possible, he said, "This is what Governor Hogan ordered."
When I said he could show courage and stand up to the Governor as the Governor was compromised by CCP money, he threatened me.
I know because I donated $3,000 of my personal emergency fund to supply the Mt. Airy Police and the Maryland State Troopers at the Frederick barracks with proper PPE (gloves, masks, etc.) from North America Rescue.
Meanwhile, this same Governor appeared in the news stating he was supplying Maryland first responders with PPE. False.
Result? Children who should have been building their immune system at the playground instead were isolated at home and played computer games.
As Firesign Theatre Radio taught us: "Everything you know (about the Wuhan Flu) is wrong!"
Now that this pandemic is ending, consider what was done correctly and what was done wrong. These lessons can be applied in the future.
Use goat milk soap: It will melt the fat in the fat anneals of the Wuhan Flu. 
Have an EMP-Hardened thumb drive and a Whistle on your key ring: After manmade or natural disasters, most small businesses go out of business due to the destruction of their data...not the event. Keep an EMP-hardened thumb drive on your key ring. Use it to back up your data daily.
Keep a whistle on your key ring to contact others in an emergency. Purchase a few extras to protect your girlfriend, wife, daughter, niece, aunt, grand mother, etc.
Buy WaterBricks: Do not ever be in this situation: Water. Water. Water...everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Buy WaterBricks now to have plenty of clean water for you, your family and your neighbors. See here and here.
Use My Blog Posts to Learn Natural Disaster CD: If you need to learn about tornadoes, see here and here. For hurricanes, see here and here and here. For fires, see here. For snow storms, see here
Drive to a fire house if your car or truck breaks down
Fire houses have men who know engines, electrical systems, software, tools, and what you need to get your truck or car fixed fast. 
Drive to a clinic or hospital if your body breaks down: Hospitals and clinics have men and women who know the mechanics of the body and healing and what you need to get your body fixed quick.
Practice Smiling: You can actually trick the brain into positive thoughts by faking a smile, kind of a variation on fake it until you make it. I kid you not. Practice smiling when at your computer, watching TV and videos, or driving.
Your body sends messages to the brain of happiness, endorphins are released, and you prevent anxiety, depression, and suicide. Vets...pay attention.
Just like a shot of botox can fool the brain into happiness, avoid anxiety, and PTSD, so too with just smiling. Try it for a week. You will be amazed at the results.
It is OK to Cry: Grieve when you have to. That includes crying to get out your physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and other pain. 
God gave you a gift to relieve you of the pain...crying.
In disasters, fights, combat, and assaults I have been in, it is not unusual for the best to absorb the pain, ignore the emotions, and get the mission accomplished. 
But the pain does not dissipate unless you work to make it go away.
Crying is a valuable tool to do that. Choose your time. Grieve. And you will be able to move on.

Spiritual Civil Defense

God can do for you what you cannot do for yourself: No one lasts long in Civil Defense without depending on God's help. 
Basically, if you depend on your own skill stack and do not tap God's Skill Stack, you will burn out
So...Rejoice always. Pray always. Rejoice always. Pray always. Rejoice always. Pray always. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Share your Civil Defense gifts with others: It is the Golden Rule. 
You have a knowledge that saves lives and property. Share it with others. 
You serve with and through others in Civil Defense as in all earthly pursuits. Loners do not last long in Civil Defense. 
Practice Chivalry: Sacrifice for the women and children you love.
You survive with and through others: In manmade and natural disasters, loners go first. Do not be a loner. Reach out to others. More importantly, know who the others are who you need to survive and establish relationships with them now.
Catholics know your faith: Remember the 7 sacraments, practice them, and enjoy the grace-filled life and joy of being Christian. 
Go to Mass. Receive Communion. Make a good confession. Get your children and grandchildren baptized.
And...there are sacramentals that can help you get through. Say your rosary. Wear a scapular and blessed saints medals along with the BVM medal. Listen to Father Altman. Listen to Taylor Marshall. Avoid the Marxist Jesuit pope. Keep FAITH before fear.
Depend on Jesus. The government will not save you. 
FEMA will not save you. Do not be that guy in the 9th Ward in New Orleans saying, "Where's FEMA? Where's FEMA? Where's the Man!" 
The Man is not coming. 
Politicians and bureaucrats will not save you or your family. 
You must save yourself. 
This is a Civil Defense fact I have witnessed for 35 years.
Take measures to prepare yourself and your family for natural and manmade disasters NOW. 
They will continue to strike as they have for thousands of years. 
Chance favors the prepared.

Strategic Civil Defense 

Introduction to Civil Defense: Here is my Civil Defense Radio interview that provides a good introduction the field of civil defense and how it can help you and your family prepare for and respond to natural and manmade disasters.
Visit the National Museum of Civil Defense to discover the rich history of Civil Defense planning, equipment, strategy and policies in the United States.
We just had our first NMCD board of directors meeting to create a valuable experience to learn the art and everyday practice of Civil Defense.
The NMCD Facebook page is absolutely brimming with Civil Defense history, equipment, strategy, tactics and knowledge. 
Visit the NMCD Facebook page today.

Details will Save Your Life: When I did physical training in the United States Air Force Officer Training School in San Antonia, Texas, a young enlisted guy would lead us from a stage. Over the public address system, he would repeat over and over again, "DETAILS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!" .
Thirty five years later I have learned the truth of that saying.
Many times.
Details like wearing the proper foot gear on your feet to carry you quickly during a manmade or natural disaster.
It is essential to your safety and life. 
For example, I use Keen boots and alpaca inserts to assure proper footing in any situation. Both are American made.
It is a small detail, but comfortable, sturdy, dependable boots and a soft, germ fighting insert to wick away sweat are essential to make sure I can perform at an optimal level in an emergency.
Think of other details you need to address to survive, make a list, and address those details.
Your family depends on you so prepare in advance.
"DETAILS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!"

Poetslife Civil Defense Resources

TACDA Resources

TACDA.ORG has disaster education coursework, years of the Journal of Civil Defense you can research, a blog, and many, many resources you can use to learn Civil Defense for you and your family. Please do.


Get some historical perspective about what we are going through in the United States now. It happened in France long ago.


P.S. Here are fun atomic posters. 


10/27/2022

1721 Boston Smallpox Epidemic Lessons for the 2020-22 Red Chinese Virus

The Fever of 1721: The Epidemic that Revolutionized Medicine and American Politics by Stephen Coss, published in 2016, offers so many lessons that apply to the Red Chinese use of a bioweapon against the world. I explore just a few below.

1. The Freedom and Liberty to Pursue Knowledge, Including Medical Knowledge, is Critical.

In the Fever of 1721 Coss describes how smallpox broke out in the city of Boston. But rather than as in the past when people just had to allow the horrors rage through their families and kill, disfigure and blind their loved ones, the Puritan preacher Cotton Mather was able to convince the one Boston doctor, Zabdiel Boylston, to experiment with a smallpox vaccination. As with the Covid 19 pandemic today, the medical establishment and politically powerful at the time tried to stop Dr. Boylston, but he persevered, saved hundreds, and began a process that eventually led to the worldwide eradication of smallpox. 

2. The Human Spirit Triumphs over Authoritarianism and Tyranny

A highly trained medical immigrant Scot named William Douglas was contacted by Cotton Mather and other doctors with a paper that explained how the Greeks in Constantinople used a smallpox inoculation, and the example of a Boston African slave named Onesimus who also used the same technique successfully like the Greeks, William Douglas dismissed it as quackery. And he ordered all the other doctors to ignore it. 

Did Boylston stop? Temporarily. But as sick and terrified patients kept showing up at his house begging to be inoculated yet to be struck or to prevent full blown smallpox, he treated them. Even when he was cursed and threatened by other Boston citizens who agreed with William Douglas, he continued to treat sick patients and to inoculate healthy patients. 

There was even an assassination attempt against Cotton Mather on November 14, 1721. Someone threw an incendiary iron ball and lit fuse inside his  house where he was allowing three patients from outside Boston, against official lock down orders. 

Despite the enormous pressure from the medical establishment and local government, Boylston continued to inoculate and treat Boston's citizens.

When Williams found out that Boylston was continuing to perform the procedure, he organized a kangaroo court to forbid him from continuing under penalty of imprisonment. Boylston waited a few days, and then continued to fight the authoritarianism and tyranny of the medical establishment and politicians by treating additional patients.

 3. The Wealthy Boston Merchants Hid the Smallpox  

Coss describes how the wealthy merchants in Boston then kept the lid on the smallpox outbreak to prevent an interruption in the export and import business. The merchants, their representatives in the local assembly and the newspapers, pushed the lie that the lethality of smallpox in Boston was exaggerated and steadily diminishing. They did this over and over until the very end of  the epidemic.

How truthful have current merchants been about the Red Chinese virus?

4. The Law of Unintended Consequences Applies to all Natural and Manmade Disasters

The 1721 Boston Smallpox, like all natural and manmade disasters, resulted in unintended consequences. Coss describes how James Franklin, along with his indentured servant Benjamin Franklin, revolutionized and began to practice freedom of the press. Benjamin Franklin was thrown in prison for challenging the authority of the Crown. But he continued to fight, as did his younger brother Ben.  So, too, did Elisha Cooke, a populist politician who took on the Crown. Cooke had dinners with a young Sam Adams who liked the ideas of freedom and the natural rights of man that he learned at dinners with him.

As today, the more repressive, untruthful and authoritarian the medical and political establishment became in Boston in 1721, the more the citizens resisted and supported Boylston. That process will repeat in 2022.

I encourage you to read the Fever of 1721 for the lessons it offers on disease, panic, lying, greed, authoritarianism, and the eventual triumph of freedom and truth.

As we come to the end of the virility of the Red Chinese Virus, the 1721 Boston smallpox epidemic offers these and many other lessons. We survived that one due to the ingenuity, courage, creativity, and grit of the American mind, spirit, and medical advances.

The same will happen again.

10/23/2022

Fentanyl Poison: CCP Revenge for the Opium Wars

CCP Fentanyl Poisoning and Dead Americans

The Communist Chinese Party (CCP) has flooded the U.S. with "candy" rainbow fentanyl.

They want revenge for the Opium Wars and killing Americans with fentanyl poison is their chosen strategy to extract that revenge.

Last year, the CCP killed over 140,000 American's using fentanyl poison. For how serious this threat is, see here.

Having killed millions worldwide when they released the Red Chinese Covviddeee 19 bioweapon by sending 5 million bioagents to every nation, this 140,000 number may seem like peanuts soon.

American Moms: Beware Fentanyl

You do not want to be the mom who loses your precious child to Fentanyl poisoning. You do not want to be the mom who wakes up and go to sleep every day thinking about the beautiful child you lost to CCP fentanyl poisoning.

The CCP is flooding the United States with Fentanyl pills, including my state of West Virginia, most disguised as candy, often as as "rainbow fentenyl" like Skittles, SweeTarts, and Nerds. This is no accident. They understand that children will innocently eat candy with fentanyl and kill themselves.

And fentanyl is just one of many drugs the CCP is making available to drug addicts.

If this sounds fantastical, enter the term "fentanyl candy" in a search engine, preferably Brave, and you will see many articles about about the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and local law enforcement seizures of CCP candy fentanyl poison.

Be aware the CCP has plans to increase that number of dead Americans from Fentanyl poison overdoses exponentially.

For more background on how the CCP accomplishes killing foreigners, especially Americans, see my civil defense SubscribeStar posts about their methods spreading the Red Chinese virus death.

How the CCP Floods the United States with Fentanyl

The CCP manufactures the base elements for fentanyl in Wuhan, China. Then they ship them to Mexico where they are made into pills for distribution and sale in North America. Or, American's order them online from CCP-owned companies.

To accomplish this, the CCP is in a business partnership with the Mexican drug and human trafficking cartels. 

Both are in it for money, but the CCP has the added goal of taking down the United States of America without firing a single shot.

Unlike us, they understand the lessons of 10,000 years of civilization.

If you doubt this, read what their own military planners have said for 25 years about unrestricted warfare.

Unlike American military planners who think and plan in terms of months and years, the CCP uses the ancient way of war they have practiced for 10,000 years. 

They believe it is smarter and easier to take down an enemy with bribes, influence operations, spying, and identifying the weakness of their enemy and using it against them.

This is why the CCP agents are heavily embedded in federal, local, and state governments in the U.S. Just two examples are a U.S. Congressman who was controlled from his CCP honeypot operator from local councilman to U.S. Congress and an U.S. senator who had a CCP chauffer listen to her conversations for 20 years before he was identified.

CCP United Front Penetration of the U.S. 


The CCP and Mexican Drug Cartel Fentanyl operation is one of hundreds of influence operations the United Front runs in the U.S. and worldwide.

Here is first-rate analysis, Conquest Without War: The Threat of Chinese Political Influence Operations, by John Lenczowski PhD of the CCP strategy.


So many are dying, our fire companies, ambulance EMT's, doctors and nurses can no longer keep up with the disaster.

So they are holding classes teaching municipal and county workers how to administer Naloxone to addicts when they find them overdosing on park benches, on the streets and roadsides, and in public restrooms.

Here are photos of a Naloxone distribution tent I saw on September 8, 2022. Think long and hard about this. 

Did you ever think you would see a time in the United States when the public health care system was so overwhelmed by drug addict overdoses they would have to deputize average citizens to inject Narcan to those addicts?

Does this parallel the Ming Dynasty's inability to regulate the opium addicts in their nation just before they fell and the war lords took over?

The Fentanyl poison war the CCP has been waging is one of hundreds of methods they are using in their unrestricted warfare on anyone who is not Han Chinese.

Just one other example is the CCP paid off Pope Francis with $2 billion a year that Cardinal McCarrick hand carried to him to allow them to take out the underground Catholics in Red China and replace them with their controlled CCP "Catholics."

This is why the CCP bought the top leadership of the American Republic in the years before the last election. 

For a small amount of money, they get oil, drugs and agents swimming in the 5 million illegal aliens who have crossed the southern United States border, and those on the CCP payroll in Washington, DC return the favor by pretending the CCP is not our enemy or killing Americans through Fentanyl poisoning.

Look up what Mao wrote about how to infiltrate agents among the masses about how small fish can swim among the big fish and do much damage.

Americans who Profit from the CCP

Of course, the CCP would not be able to pull off their multi-front attack on the people of the United States without the cooperation of Blackrock, Hollywood, Wall Street, university presidents, university organizationsprofessors, corporate media, silicon valley, and others they pay, influence, and control, but that is a matter for another post.

If this sounds like a "conspiracy theory," just as the facts of the sending 5 million Wuhan Chinese bioagents on the world are coming out, the facts about the CCP influence operations in the West, including the Fentanyl attack, will come out over the next few years.

Here, we concentrate on their Fentanyl weapon which is only one of hundreds of weapons they are using to take down the West.

Be aware, in the past, the CCP only had the Mexican Cartels lace heroin and meth with Fentanyl.

That changed recently.

The Exponential Increase in the Fentanyl Poisoning Threat 

Now, they are lacing the marijuana the Mexican Drug Cartels are growing in Mexico and California with Fentanyl poison.

So this will be added to the Fentanyl poison pills already on the streets.

If this sounds like a "conspiracy theory," talk to fire fighters, police, emergency medical technicians, emergency room doctors and nurses, and other who administer NARCAN, often 5 to 8 times, to those who overdose on Fentanyl daily. Ask them if their caseload is increasing or decreasing.

So, the 140,000 dead American each year will increase to numbers we cannot even imagine.

This is a civil defense threat to the United States that must be addressed by the incoming national leadership if we are to have a chance of defeating it in time.

And soon Americans who care about their children and grandchildren, as they have done from the French and Indian War to the Afghanistan Global War on Terrorism, again, will have to eliminate this Fentanal poison threat.

That's just the way it is.

Homework

Brigadier General Robert S. Spaulding III

Stealth War: How the U.S. Can Counter China's Takeover Attempts

Robert Spalding, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Stealth War

China's Silent Takeover while America's Elite Cooperated

CCP's Stealth War

Stealth War by CCP

China in Focus

How U.S. Government Financed CCP's Bioweapons and Biowarfare

CCP Gain of Function Bioweapons Coveedeee 19 from Wuhan Lab

Strategies for Combatting the CCP's Plan to Win without Fighting

Kensington  Philadelphia Ground Zero of Fentanyl American Deaths

Impact of Fentynal in a U.S. City

Mental Hospitals in Red China

Can you Criticize the CCP in the West

CCP will Not Collapse Soon

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” Winston S. Churchill

10/12/2022

How to Mitigate Nuclear Weapons Effects

For an excellent talk about radiation and other effects of nuclear weapons, go to the TACDA (The American Civil Defense Association) presentation on YouTube by Sharron Packer.

And to best prepare yourself and your family to handle a nuclear event, I highly recommend you go to our TACDA (The American Civil Defense Association) Survival Store and get the items below.

More important, go to our archives and read our extensive collection of courses on nuclear and other disasters. It is your experience, brain, creativity, resourcefulness, grit, skill stack and knowledge that get you through a natural or manmade disaster. So bone up on your skills while also purchasing these items as a way of ensuring your survival and that of your family.

But you should buy and have on hand, at a minimum, the following TACDA items.

EMP Resistant Waterproof USB Drive to keep your essential data safe. Most small businesses go out of business after a fire or flood from loss of data, not the event. About 5% of the memory is our disaster preparation course work, so you can study up on that area. The other 95% is for you to back up your family and business data.

The Communist Chinese Party and the Chinese People Liberation's Army have been very open their plans to take down the United States via a cyber war. That war has been ongoing for approximately 20 years. Back up your data daily to ensure you can start over quickly after a major cyber or EMP attack. Even if that never happens, you have a device to store your data to start over after a major disaster event.

K-103 or Potassium Iodate to protect your thyroid from nuclear fallout absorption in your body. We have had to restock our supply multiple times, so be patient if you cannot get it delivered immediately. 
It is worth buying ours and not the cheap Chinese CCP knock off product. So many in California bought that sawdust when they were worried about the Fukishima cloud fallout.

WaterBricks are essential to keep enough clean, safe drinking and sanitary needs water available for the long term. Most means of storing water, like the milk cartons people recyle, are not safe of sanitary as bacteria grows in them. WaterBricks, in contrast, keep your water safe until you need it. 

Full Disclosure: I am the volunteer Vice President and have been writing civil defense articles for their Journal of Civil Defense for 15 years.

NOTE: Burns are the most far-reaching of any of the immediate nuclear weapons effects. Thermal radiation can cause burns through absorption of the energy by the skin, or by ignition of clothing as a result of fires started by the radiation. So stock up on burn treatment supplies. North American Rescue is your best source for burn treatment supplies.

Introduction
It's just regular science, not rocket science, and it is easy to learn again if we have the will to survive.

The energy characteristics and output from nuclear weapons differ significantly from conventional weapons.  Nuclear detonations exhibit much higher temperature within the fireball and produce peak temperatures of several hundred million degrees and intense x-ray heating that results in air pressure pulses of several million atmospheres. Conventional chemical explosions result in much lower temperatures and release the bulk of their energy as air blast and shock waves. 

In an atmospheric detonation, such as was deployed in Japan, it is the blast and thermal component of the nuclear explosion that is the major factor in destruction and death, not nuclear radiation, as the public believes.  The effective range of immediate harm to humans from nuclear radiation from the atmospheric explosion is much less than the effective range from blast and thermal heating. 
In order to limit the discussion of weapons effects to elementary terms, this discussion is based upon a single worst-case scenario. Probably the largest weapon that might be employed against a population would have a yield of less than one-megaton (or 1 million tons of TNT equivalent energy or simply 1 MT). However, a crude terrorist nuclear device would probably be in the range of a few thousand tons of TNT equivalent energy or a few KT).  The discussion here is based upon a nuclear detonation of 1 MT. 
 
 Yield
The destructive power of a nuclear weapon, when compared to the same amount of energy produced by TNT is defined as the ‘yield’ of the nuclear weapon. A 20-kiloton (KT) weapon, such as was detonated over Japan in World War II was equivalent in energy yield to 20,000 tons of TNT.  A 1-MT yield weapon is equivalent to 1 million tons of TNT. 

Types of Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear Weapons are much smaller in volume and mass than conventional weapons.  But nuclear detonation produce energy release thousands of times greater and over a shorter time period (chemical explosion – milliseconds, nuclear explosions – microseconds). The energy from a nuclear detonation can result from two basic nuclear processes—nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. 
The first nuclear weapons were only fission devices made from either uranium-235 (a relatively scarce isotope of uranium), or from a man-made isotope of plutonium, namely Plutonium-239. 

When certain isotopes of uranium or plutonium (U-235 or Pu-239 or fissile isotopes) are bombarded with neutrons, the nucleus of these isotopes can split apart (fission) releasing about 200 million electron volts of energy.  This energy release is about a 100 million times greater than the burning (oxidation) of a carbon atom in a fossil fuel.  Furthermore, during the fission process additional neutrons are released (typically two or more) and these neutrons can fission other fissile isotopes. This process if carefully designed can lead to a rapidly increasing chain reaction releasing a great amount of energy before the remaining fissile material is blown apart by the rapid increase of energy. Indeed, the essential design feature in the design of an effective nuclear weapon is containing the fissile material together for sufficient time to liberate the energy yield desired. 

The fusion and fission reactions produce energy in different ways.  Fusion occurs when two light isotopes (usually deuterium and tritium – heavy isotopes of hydrogen) at very high temperatures and pressures, unite and form a heavier isotope (usually helium). A fission reaction can produce both the high temperature and high radiation pressure required for fusion to occur and so in the design of all fusion weapons (often called thermonuclear systems) a primary fission reaction is used to initiate the secondary fusion reaction. One pound of the hydrogen isotope can release as much energy as is found in 26,000 tons of TNT.
 During the fusion process, high-energy neutrons are also liberated as in fission. These high-energy neutrons can cause a fission reaction in the abundant isotope, uranium-238. Some large yield, thermonuclear weapons use this fission-fusion-fission process.

Types of Bursts
Phenomena from weapons effects vary with the type of burst. The desired effects to be maximized dictate the burst type. The burst types fall into four basic categories:
 ·         Surface Burst
·         Air Burst
·         High Altitude Burst
·         Subsurface & Underwater Bursts

 Surface bursts maximize the reach of high overpressures and would most probably be used against hardened strategic targets such as missile launch control centers, harbors and submarine pens, and large airports. Destruction of ICBM silos, and deep underground shelters require ground bursts of 300 KT and greater. Ground bursts are also indicated if a planner wishes to maximize residual fallout radiation.
 An airburst is defined as an explosion that occurs below 100,000 feet elevation, but high enough so that the fireball of this explosion does not reach the surface of the earth. Airbursts extend the range of lower overpressures. Maximum blast damage of soft targets (such as cities) would occur from airbursts of MT yield weapons. Smaller yield air bursts exploded at optimum height of burst give more targeting flexibility in destroying important targets in a large city while allowing collateral damage to be held to a minimum. 

Bursts occurring above 100,000 feet elevation are defined as ‘high-altitude bursts’.  High altitude bursts are designed to cause an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP).  These high altitude radiations interact with the atmosphere and cause rapid EM changes and ionization, which seriously effect radio and radar signals and other critical electrical power dependent equipment. 
Most of the shock energy in underground or underwater detonations is contained below the surface. Much of the thermal and nuclear radiation is absorbed within a short distance of the explosion, contaminating the earth or water with radioactive fission products. 
Subsurface bursts are generally used during testing to minimize radiation fallout, or in wartime by means of burrowing missiles, which penetrate below the surface to destroy underground facilities. 

Thermal Radiation Exposure
Within less than a millionth of a second of the detonation, large amounts of energy in the form of invisible x-rays are absorbed within just a few meters of the atmosphere.  This leads to the formation of an extremely hot and luminous ionized mass called the fireball or plasma.  Even at a distance of 50 miles from a 1 MT burst, this fireball would appear as many times the brightness of the noonday sun.
The heat from the fireball is emitted in the form of thermal radiation or EM in the ultra violet, visible, and Infrared range.  The EM pulse travels at the speed of light and can persist up to several seconds, depending on the yield of the weapon, local clouds, and the height of the burst.  The thermal pulse from a 1-MT weapon lasts about 8 seconds.  If we were far enough away from the blast, and could drop and cover quickly, we would minimize the burns caused by this pulse.  At 8 miles from the detonation, only minimal structural damage takes place, but flash burns caused by the thermal pulse at that distance would cause severe burns if people were unprotected. Every effort should be made to limit exposure time. ‘Drop and cover’ is still a wise exercise to practice during a nuclear attack. 

Thermal Radiation Burns

Skin burns are classified as 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree. Third degree burns can occur out to 8.5 miles from a 1-MT burst. 
Second-degree burns occur at about the same range as the 1.4-psi overpressure level, which is about 10 miles from ground zero for a 1-MT airburst.  First-degree burns can occur from 10 to 12 miles from ground zero. Evasive actions are required in order to limit harm.

Evasive Actions
Much burn injury from large yield weapons can be avoided in the low overpressure area (1 psi to 2 psi), if protective shielding is found in the first seconds. The evasive action of ‘drop and cover’ should again be taught and exercised.
If there is any warning of incoming missiles, the best available shelter should be taken. Ditches, culverts, basements, or large structures would provide some shielding against the thermal pulse.
Materials inside rooms of buildings (such as curtains, upholstery, or papers) could be ignited by the thermal pulse of a nuclear blast. If sheltering in the home, efforts must be taken to extinguish fires that may be ignited in the home.
In areas of overpressure less than 2 psi, many residences will remain intact. Test results suggested that if there is adequate warning time, light colored drapes should be closed to shield upholstered furniture and beds from the thermal pulse, and electricity and gas should be turned off to avoid secondary fires. 
Experience has shown that ignition, such as would occur in upholstery, might remain smoldering and later rekindled. It is advisable to check for primary fires after the initial blast and then to check again after 15 minutes in order to extinguish any secondary fires that may be rekindled. Fire extinguishers should be supplied in your sheltered area for this purpose. 
Care should be taken never to look at the fireball. Because of the focusing action of the eye lens, the eyes can be temporarily or permanently injured and blinding may occur. 
Underground shelters will give total protection from the thermal pulse.  Of course, this requires an effective warning system to know when to enter the shelter. 
f there is an escalating crisis we should enter our shelters and remain there.  It is more probable, however, that a nuclear attack would come as a surprise–particularly from a terrorist attack.   The only initial warning may come from the electro-magnetic pulse. 

EMP Cause
All nuclear explosives induce sudden electrical currents and voltages, which can damage or destroy unprotected electrical and solid-state electronic equipment within line-of-sight of the explosion. The size of the area affected by an EMP increases with the height of the burst.  In a nuclear explosion 50 miles above the ground, the affected area on the earth will have a radius of about 600 miles.  A high altitude EMP (HEMP) from a nuclear explosion detonated at an altitude of 200 miles could produce a rapid electrical energy pulse on the order of 60,000 volts per square meter and could affect and even disable equipment within the entire continental United States.   Smaller EMP pulses produced at lower altitudes could cause cascading failures in an already stressed electric power infrastructure (transmission lines, transformers, etc) and also telecommunications. 
The affects of this type of weapon would not pose an immediate danger to people.  However, it could damage satellites, and computerized ignitions in automobiles disrupt telephone and radio communications, destroy navigational aids and computers, and would most probably cause electrical power distribution to be lost for many months.  Transportation would be paralyzed, food refrigeration and distribution would cease and water purification and sewer systems might fail. Financial institutions, hospitals, trade and production of goods and services would cease functioning.  Key infrastructures and utilities are interdependent and very vulnerable to electrical power interruption.  A recent report to the Congress stated “an EMP could have irreversible affects on our country’s ability to recover”. (Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack; Volume 1: Executive Report 2004).
Terrorist countries and their organizations understand our vulnerability and could use relatively unsophisticated missiles armed with nuclear weapons to produce a high altitude EMP (HEMP). 
Many nuclear strategists believe that if our country were attacked in a limited exchange or full-scale nuclear war, the attack would be initiated with a high altitude EMP to disable telecommunications. If this weapon were deployed by a satellite, we would likely have no warning before the explosion occurred.  Immediately after the HEMP, missiles would be launched against targets in the United States. 

Every occurrence of sudden power failure should be viewed as possibly having been caused by a high altitude nuclear explosion.   Certain simple tests will quickly reveal an EMP verses power loss from a natural cause. 

EMP Detection     
If an electrical power drop is detected, immediately check a corded phone to see if the telephones are functioning.  If there is no dial tone, you should do a second test using a battery-powered radio.  Approximately 5% of the radio stations in the United States have been hardened against EMP and could continue transmitting.  However, if you are unable to access several radio stations that normally transmit in your area, you should take shelter immediately.  Contact radio stations within your area to locate frequencies that may continue to transmit during this kind of an emergency. 
A simple power drop alarm can be constructed in the event the EMP was to occur while you are sleeping.  Ask a certified electrician to construct such an alarm using a relay switch, a 12-volt gel-cell battery, and a horn.  However, no solid-state electronics should be employed in the construction of this alarm. 

Protection of Equipment
During an escalating crises and when not in use, all sensitive equipment should be unplugged from the wall outlets.  Power cords should be wound into a coil.  Wherever possible, electronic equipment should be stored in an encompassing metal cage called a ‘Faraday cage’.  Metal garbage cans with tight fitting lids make good Faraday cages.  Insulate your equipment with toweling or cardboard before placing it into the can.  It is not necessary or even advisable to ground the can.  As a further precaution, fold metal screening material over the lip of the can before closing the lid to assure tight metal-to-metal contact. Do not place the can directly on a concrete floor. 
Ammunition boxes make good Faraday cages.  Remove any gasket material from the lid and sand the painted areas where the lid fits to the body of the can.  Do not store the can on metal shelves, which contact a concrete floor. 
Microwave ovens (not plugged in to an outlet) also make good Faraday cages.
Radios should not be attached to any antenna longer than 30 inches.  Remove all removable antennas and push all retractable antennas to the shortest possible length. 

Blast Effect and Over-pressure
In a 1 MT yield weapon, 10 seconds after the blast, the fireball is over a mile wide. In one minute it has grown to 4 1/2 miles from the point of burst. 
At the same time the fireball is forming and growing, a high-pressure wave develops and moves outward from the fireball. This blast wave is a moving wall of highly compressed air called a shock wave. In 10 seconds the blast wave has traveled 3 miles. In 50 seconds, it has traveled 12 miles and is then moving at slightly greater than the speed of sound (1000 feet per second).
We measure this pressure in pounds per square inch (psi). Normal ambient atmospheric pressure is about 15 psi. Any pressure over and above this level is considered to be ‘over-pressure’. 
Many unsheltered people can withstand and survive this shock wave and blast effect if they are outside the 5-mile radius of the detonation. 

Dynamic Effect
High velocity winds are associated with the blast effect, and the effects from the wind blast must be added to the effects of over-pressure. This effect is called the dynamic pressure. Dynamic pressure is proportional to the square of the wind velocity and the density of the air behind the shock front. 
Divers experience about l0 psi of over-pressure at a 23-foot depth and 20 psi at a 45-foot depth. If acclimatization to the pressure increase has been gradual, no ill effects will be experienced even though the pressure differential seems amazingly large.  Over-pressures experienced in a blast, however, are complicated by the sudden dynamic (blast wind) effect. 
A 20-psi over-pressure is associated with a wind velocity of 500 mph and without proper shelter; over-pressures of this strength cannot be survived. Injuries at over-pressures under 20 psi are due almost entirely to this dynamic effect. Blast winds at even 1-psi over-pressure can cause injury from flying glass fragments and other small sharp objects. 
The over-pressure from a 1-MT weapon at 4 miles is approximately 5 psi and the wind velocity is about 160 mph. At this distance it is generally believed people could survive outside a hardened blast shelter if they can find adequate sheltering which would give protection from the blast wind. Structures such as culverts, ditches, tunnels, caves, mines and basements could give adequate protection at this over-pressure level if the occupants were protected from falling debris. At over-pressures over 5-psi, however, a residential basement would not provide adequate blast protection. A discussion of expedient shelters is given in another lesson.
Many thousands of people live and work in areas considered by planners to be under the 5-psi over-pressure range, and would be saved if they can seek shelter in their basements. 

Radiation Effect and Fallout
Radiation is the most far reaching of all the weapons effects.  If the fireball of the weapon touches the ground, the blast is defined as a ground burst. In a ground burst, rock, soil, and other material in the area will be vaporized and taken up into the cloud.  Strong winds cause dust, dirt, and other particles to be sucked up into the fireball as well.  All of this debris is then mingled with fission products and radioactive residues and becomes radioactive itself.  As it cools, the debris falls from the cloud onto the ground. This material is what we call radioactive fallout.  It has been estimated that for every ton of yield, an equivalent one-half to one ton of matter is vaporized into the fireball.  In a one megaton explosion, there could be as much as 500,000 to l million tons of dirt and debris taken into the fireball, which will later fall to the ground as radioactive fallout. 

Protection From Fallout
Time – Radiation diminishes with time in a process called radioactive decay.  Each radioactive isotope has a unique ‘half-life’.  This is defined as the time required for the radioactivity of that isotope to diminish (or decay) to one half of its original value. The passage of 10 half lives for a given radioactive material reduces its activity by a factor of 1000. 
During the fission process in a nuclear detonation, hundreds of isotopes with different decay patterns are produced.  It has been found that the average decay rate for these radioactive products can be estimated with the 7 / 10 rule.  Simply stated, this rule states that for every seven-fold increase in time after detonation, there is a ten-fold decrease in the radiation exposure level. 

7/10 RULE – To estimate radiation levels from fallout by this rule, at 7 hours after the detonation, the level of radiation would be expected to be 1/10th of the original level.  At seven times seven hours (49 hours or about 2 days), the level would be 1/100th of the original level.   At seven times 2 days (or two weeks) the level would be 1/1000th of the original level. 

Distance – Radiation levels diminish with distance as well as time.  In a localized event, everyone within the area of radioactive fallout should find shelter or evacuate and move as far as possible from the location of the radioactive material. 

Shielding – Shielding also decreases (attenuates) radiation levels.  Four inches of soil will attenuate half of the gamma radiation from fallout.  This is called the ‘half-value’ thickness for shielding.  One ‘half value’ thickness gives a protection factor (PF) of 2. This rule is multiplicative.  A total of 8 inches of soil will provide additional reduction, or a PF of (2 x 2)=4.  Four more inches (a total of 12 inches of soil) will provide 3 halving thicknesses, or a PF of (2 x 2 x 2)=8.  The half value thickness for concrete is about 3 inches.  Ten layers of the halving thickness for any shield provide a protection factor of over 1000. 

Alpha Radiation
Alpha particles have a range of about 2 inches in air, and are completely stopped by the outside layers of the skin.  Therefore, alpha particles are not an external hazard.  However, they can do considerable damage internally. So it is essential not to breathe in or ingest alpha contaminated materials. Ventilation systems in fallout shelters should be fitted with filters to remove these materials from the breathable air. 

Beta Radiation
Energetic electrons (called Beta Particles) have a range of up to 12 feet.  Most fission products are beta emitters.  Beta radiation poses a small external hazard if the fission products in the fallout come into actual contact with the skin and remains there for an appreciable time.  This contact may result in a skin burn referred to as “beta burn”, which causes damage similar to sunburn.  Fallout should be brushed and/or washed from the hair and skin as soon as possible. 
Beta emitters cause considerable damage if they enter the body.  Alpha and Beta particles in fallout can enter the body through the digestive tract (through consumption of contaminated food and water), through the lungs, (by breathing contaminated air), or through wounds. 
Some radioactive elements tend to concentrate in specific organs in the body. The body cannot distinguish between the stable chemical element and the radioactive isotope of that chemical element.  Radioactive strontium and barium are similar in chemical nature to stable calcium and may be deposited in the bones. 
Care should be taken not to eat food, which has been contaminated with radioactive materials.  If the food has been carefully washed, however, it can safely be eaten.  Potatoes and carrots can be peeled; apples and other hard skinned fruits and vegetables can be washed clean of surface contamination.  Soft foods, such as strawberries, lettuce, bread, and such are not easily decontaminated and should be discarded unless they are known to be uncontaminated.  Canned food containers should be washed before opening. 
Animals, which have been exposed to radiation, may have significant levels of strontium and barium in fur and in their bodies.  These animals, if healthy appearing, may be slaughtered and eaten, if the bones and organs are discarded before the meat is cooked.
Iodine-131 generally poses the largest threat to humans because iodine chemicals are deposited in the thyroid.  Iodine can enter shelters in a gaseous form.  Ventilation systems must have good high efficiency filters to filter this radioactive element from the breathable air.
Thyroid blocking agents (TBA) are available commercially.  They are inexpensive and have a long shelf life.  TBA consists of iodine in the form of potassium iodide or iodate.  The thyroid fills with the healthy iodide and the radioactive iodine is then removed biologically from the body.  Regular iodine is poisonous and should not be taken internally.  Use only the commercial TBA at its recommended dosages.
TBA agents have an extremely bitter taste and will need to be consumed with other foods in order to cover the taste.  Children, in particular, will find the TBA to be distasteful.  The tablet form of TBA is more easily consumed than the liquid from the crystalline form. 
Iodine 131 has a half-life of 8 days and will be a threat for 10 half-lives, or approximately 3 months.  Enough thyroid-blocking agent should be stored for each person in the shelter for a 3-month period.  If there is no warning of an attack, TBA should be taken as soon as possible after a nuclear attack.  However, TBA is a strong medicine that has some undesirable side affects.  It should not be taken unless a nuclear attack has occurred or is believed to be eminent. TBA should be left in its originally packaging whenever possible until needed. 

Gamma Radiation
Gamma radiation is highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation and poses a sustained exposure threat for the first 2 weeks after a ground burst.  Gamma radiation is measured in Roentgens.  In a full-scale nuclear attack, over a two-week period, the accumulated radiation dose in some areas can be several thousand Roentgens. 
Gamma Radiation is reduced or attenuated by limiting time near the gamma source, distance from the source, and shielding (placing material mass between you and the source).  If whole body exposure is limited to less than 175 Roentgens, no medical care should be needed and there will be few if any anticipated deaths.  To attenuate the exposure anticipated in a full-scale nuclear attack to this level, a minimum radiation protection factor of 40 would be required. 
If at any time the dose rate exceeds 10 Roentgens per hour, the total exposure will exceed the 175 Roentgen level.  (Note that the value of 1 Roentgen is equivalent to about 1 rad or 1 rem). 
TABLE – RADIATION PENALTY TABLE
Acute Effects
Accum. Exposure
1 Week
Accum. Exposure
1 Month
Accum. Exposure
4 Months
Medical Care Not Needed
150 Roentgens
200 Roentgens
300 Roentgens
Some Need Medical Care
Few if Any Deaths
250 Roentgens
350 Roentgens
500 Roentgens
Most Need Medical Care
50% + may die
450 Roentgens
600 Roentgens
600 Roentgens
Lethal Dose
600 Roentgens


The accumulated exposure should not exceed those in the first row.  
If radiation levels reach 10/R/hr in the sheltered area, the doses in the first row will probably be exceeded.   
In this eventuality, the shielding in the sheltered area should be increased.  
In a full scale attack, about 35% of our population would be expected to exceed the above doses. 

EXPOSURE AT 30 MILES DOWNWIND (500 KT surface burst, 15 mph wind)
Time
In Open
In Shelter PF 15
In Shelter PF 40
1 Week
3450 Roentgens
230 Roentgens
86 Roentgens
1 Month
4100 Roentgens
273 Roentgens
103 Roentgens
4 Months
4500 Roentgens
300 Roentgens
113 Roentgens

Initial Radiation
Initial radiation exposure is considered to take place in about the first minute after the nuclear explosion.  
During the fission and fusion process, high-energy neutrons, x-rays and gamma rays are expelled from the fireball.
The threat of this initial radiation exposure from the nuclear explosion is confined to a radius of about 1.5 miles from ground zero. 
A very small percentage of the surviving unprotected population would be within range of this initial radiation.  
The blast and thermal effects would be fatal within this radius for unsheltered people.  
However, in a hardened blast and radiation shelter, people could survive all nuclear weapons effects, including initial radiation, at distances of 1/2 mile or more from ground zero. 
In the absence of a hardened shelter, any practical, available, expedient shelter should be utilized, since some shielding protection is offered from blast, thermal heating, and nuclear radiation.
See...not so complex. 

Given the current nuclear threat, Americans need to learn again what they once knew for how to counter the effects of nuclear weapons.

The first step is learning what it is...as above.