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Emergency Survival Kit Supply
Terrorism Preparedness Information

TERRORISM


Before a Terrorist Strike
  • Obtain an Emergency Supply Kit.
  • Familiarize yourself with the customs, mannerisms, and behaviors associated with known terrorists and terrorist groups.
  • Be aware of your surroundings.
  • Move or leave if you feel uncomfortable or if something does not seem right.
  • Take precautions when traveling. Be aware of conspicuous or unusual behavior. Do not accept packages from strangers. Do not leave luggage unattended. You should promptly report unusual behavior, suspicious or unattended packages, and strange devices to the police or security personnel.
  • Learn where emergency exits are located in buildings you frequent. Plan how to get out in the event of an emergency.
  • Be prepared to do without services you normally depend on—electricity, telephone, natural gas, gasoline pumps, cash registers, ATMs, and Internet transactions.
  • Work with building owners to ensure the following items are located on each floor of the building:
    • Portable, battery-operated radio and extra batteries.
    • Several flashlights and extra batteries.
    • First aid kit and manual.
    • Hard hats and dust masks.
    • Fluorescent tape to rope off dangerous areas.
  • Create a Family Plan incuding:
    • Family member phone numbers and emergency contacts.
    • Where to go in the event of an emergency.
    • Make a backup plan in case the first plan is not possible.
    • Create a list that incudes the phone number to your Doctor , Pharmacist, and local Police Department as well as medical record numbers, insurance numbers, and homeowner/rental inusurance numbers.
  • Create an Evacuation Plan incuding:
    • A meeting place where family members will meet if they are separated.
    • Routes and alternative routes for evacuation.
    • Keep an Emergency Supply Kit in your car.
    • Learn how and when to turn off your utilities.
    • Remember to lock your door behind you.
  • When inside a building or structure, know where the emergency exits are located.
  • Check with your doctor to ensure all required or suggested immunizations are up to date. Children and older adults are particularly vulnerable to biological agents.
  • Consider installing a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter in your furnace return duct. These filters remove particles in the 0.3 to 10 micron range and will filter out most biological agents that may enter your house. If you do not have a central heating or cooling system, a stand-alone portable HEPA filter can be used.
  • In case of a chemical attack, choose an internal room to shelter, preferably one without windows and on the highest level.
  • Find out from officials if any public buildings in your community have been designated as fallout shelters. If none have been designated, make your own list of potential shelters near your home, workplace, and school. These places would include basements or the windowless center area of middle floors in high-rise buildings, as well as subways and tunnels.
  • Alert authorities to any suspicious activity.


Explosions
  • Get under a sturdy table or desk if things are falling around you. When they stop falling, leave quickly, watching for obviously weakened floors and stairways. As you exit from the building, be especially watchful of falling debris.
  • Leave the building as quickly as possible. Do not stop to retrieve personal possessions or make phone calls.
  • Do not use elevators.
  • Do not stand in front of windows, glass doors, or other potentially hazardous areas.
  • Move away from sidewalks or streets to be used by emergency officials or others still exiting the building.
  • If you are trapped in debris:
    • If possible, use a flashlight to signal your location to rescuers.
    • Avoid unnecessary movement so you don’t kick up dust.
    • Cover your nose and mouth with anything you have on hand. (Dense-weave cotton material can act as a good filter. Try to breathe through the material.)
    • Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can hear where you are.
    • If possible, use a whistle to signal rescuers.
    • Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause a person to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.


Biological Threats
  • If you become aware of an unusual and suspicious substance nearby:
    • Move away quickly.
    • Wash with soap and water.
    • Contact authorities.
    • Listen to the media for official instructions.
    • Seek medical attention if you become sick.
  • If the threat is outside, decide if you should leave the area, or seek shelter immediately. If the threat is inside, exit as quickly as possible.
  • If you are exposed to a biological agent:
    • Remove and bag your clothes and personal items. Follow official instructions for disposal of contaminated items.
    • Wash yourself with soap and water and put on clean clothes.
    • Seek medical assistance. You may be advised to stay away from others or even quarantined.
  • HEPA filters are useful in biological attacks. If you have a central heating and cooling system in your home with a HEPA filter, leave it on if it is running or turn the fan on if it is not running. Moving the air in the house through the filter will help remove the agents from the air. If you have a portable HEPA filter, take it with you to the internal room where you are seeking shelter and turn it on.


Chemical Threats
  • If you are instructed to remain in your home or office building, you should:
    • Close doors and windows and turn off all ventilation, including furnaces, air conditioners, vents, and fans.
    • Seek shelter in an internal room and take your disaster supplies kit.
    • Seal the room with duct tape and plastic sheeting.
    • Listen to your radio for instructions from authorities.
  • If you are caught in or near a contaminated area, you should:
    • Move away immediately in a direction upwind of the source.
    • Find shelter as quickly as possible.
  • Decontamination guidelines are as follows:
    • Use extreme caution when helping others who have been exposed to chemical agents.
    • Remove all clothing and other items in contact with the body. Contaminated clothing normally removed over the head should be cut off to avoid contact with the eyes, nose, and mouth. Put contaminated clothing and items into a plastic bag and seal it. Decontaminate hands using soap and water. Remove eyeglasses or contact lenses. Put glasses in a pan of household bleach to decontaminate them, and then rinse and dry.
    • Flush eyes with water.
    • Gently wash face and hair with soap and water before thoroughly rinsing with water.
    • Decontaminate other body areas likely to have been contaminated. Blot (do not swab or scrape) with a cloth soaked in soapy water and rinse with clear water.
    • Change into uncontaminated clothes. Clothing stored in drawers or closets is likely to be uncontaminated.
    • Proceed to a medical facility for screening and professional treatment.


Nuclear Blasts
  • If an attack warning is issued:
    • Take cover as quickly as you can, below ground if possible, and stay there until instructed to do otherwise.
    • Listen for official information and follow instructions.
  • If you are caught outside and unable to get inside immediately:
    • Do not look at the flash or fireball - it can blind you.
    • Take cover behind anything that might offer protection.
    • Lie flat on the ground and cover your head. If the explosion is some distance away, it could take 3 0 seconds or more for the blast wave to hit.
    • Take shelter as soon as you can, even if you are many miles from ground zero where the attack occurred - radioactive fallout can be carried by the winds for hundreds of miles. Remember the three protective factors: Distance, shielding, and time.
  • The heaviest fallout would be limited to the area at or downwind from the explosion, and 80 percent of the fallout would occur during the first 24 hours.
  • People in most of the areas that would be affected could be allowed to come out of shelter within a few days and, if necessary, evacuate to unaffected areas.


Radiological Dispersion Devices
  • Terrorist use of an RDD—often called “dirty nuke” or “dirty bomb”—is considered far more likely than use of a nuclear explosive device. An RDD combines a conventional explosive device—such as a bomb—with radioactive material. It is designed to scatter dangerous and sub-lethal amounts of radioactive material over a general area.
  • If you are outside:
    • Seek shelter indoors immediately in the nearest undamaged building.
    • If appropriate shelter is not available, move as rapidly as is safe upwind and away from the location of the explosive blast. Then, seek appropriate shelter as soon as possible.
    • Listen for official instructions and follow directions.
  • If you are inside:
    • If you have time, turn off ventilation and heating systems, close windows, vents, fireplace dampers, exhaust fans, and clothes dryer vents. Retrieve your disaster supplies kit and a battery-powered radio and take them to your shelter room.
    • Seek shelter immediately, preferably underground or in an interior room of a building, placing as much distance and dense shielding as possible between you and the outdoors where the radioactive material may be.
    • Seal windows and external doors that do not fit snugly with duct tape to reduce infiltration of radioactive particles. Plastic sheeting will not provide shielding from radioactivity nor from blast effects of a nearby explosion.
    • Listen for official instructions and follow directions.
  • After finding safe shelter, those who may have been exposed to radioactive material should decontaminate themselves. To do this, remove and bag your clothing (and isolate the bag away from you and others), and shower thoroughly with soap and water. Seek medical attention after officials indicate it is safe to leave shelter.


After a Terrorist Attack
    Aiding the Injured:
  • Check for injuries. Do not attempt to move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger of death or further injury. If you must move an unconscious person, first stabilize the neck and back, then call for help immediately.
  • If the victim is not breathing, carefully position the victim for artificial respiration, clear the airway, and commence mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
  • Maintain body temperature with blankets. Be sure the victim does not become overheated.
  • Never try to feed liquids to an unconscious person.
    Health and Safety:
  • Be aware of exhaustion. Don’t try to do too much at once. Set priorities and pace yourself. Get enough rest.
  • Drink plenty of clean water. Eat well. Wear sturdy work boots and gloves.
  • Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and clean water often when working in debris.
  • Be aware of new safety issues created by the disaster. Watch for and/or avoid contaminated areas, buildings, and water, gas leaks, broken glass, damaged electrical wiring, and compromised structures.
  • Inform local authorities about health and safety issues, including chemical spills, downed power lines, washed out roads, smoldering insulation, and dead animals.


 


 


-Terrorism Preparedness Information was gathered from various sources nonexclusively including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.

 
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