How to respond to nuclear fallout..

I have some knowledge on this, not much Im afraid. When you first notice an explosion look away because its bright enough to make you blind. Duck and cover sounds like an absurd defense but if you can get down in a ditch, it will protect you from at least some of the gamma rays. Hitting the deck is the only thing i remember learning about what to do from my US army infantry training. Of course it wont protect you if youre in the immediate blast radius, but dont worry about that, if you are then you wont have to worry about anything for longer than a nanosecond as you will be vaporized immediately.

Now there are 3 types of radiation you have to worry about.

Gamma Rays are the most harmful and this type is a wave like light is a wave. The gamma radiation will emenate from the blast the same way that light emenates from a light source, except gamma rad can go through solids a little easier than light can. Try to limit the exposure by getting down into a hole or ditch immediatly. The majority of the gamma will be gone after a few seconds.

The other two types of rad are Alpha and Beta particles. Don,t remember which is which but they will appear together. One is small particles that can pass through cloth, skin, maybe an inch or so of concrete. The other is large particles that cant even pass through paper but is a danger if theyre inhaled or ingested.

You will deal with these in the form of fallout, which will look like snow, or more realistically volcanic ash. Actually it is the dirt and other material that used to be where there is now a crater and it is made radioactive. Not sure how long you have before the fallout and it will depend on your proximity to blast as well as the direction of the wind, but move quick. Grab food, water, and head for the best shelter you know of, hopefully underground.

Most of the radioactive material will be gone in two weeks so stay put that long.



Medical problems likely to encounter in the aftermath that you may or may not be able to assist with:

Complete vaporisation of all tissues; the only evidence of this is an ominous shadow of a person etched into a brick wall at ground zero

Blindness, temporary or permanent; from staring at the blast

Radiation sickness; potassium cyanide can help, give CLEAN water, make sure to keep them from encountering more radiation

Death; bury them and move on, you must stay strong, theyre is too much to deal with to fall apart now

Phsychological problems; Be sensative, dont say anything that brings attention to the fact that the person has a problem, finding work for the person to do will help take their mind off of their problems as well as making them feel useful

Hair loss; A minor problem right now, dont laugh

Skin falls off; Bandage it up, aloe vera might help

Cancer; everyone will probably get it eventually if it takes 10, 20, or 30 years then consider yourself lucky

reply to post by tony9802


One must also consider the initial over pressure that comes with a nuclear detonation...depending on the strength of the device and distance from ground zero.