Fallout Survival: Stripping for Life

Saved by Water

So you've been lucky enough to survive the blast and now you're trying to make sure you continue to survive the coming months after the nuclear blast. Of course the common wartime concerns are necessary to contend with: Clean Water,  Shelter, Food and Security (to make sure one can keep these the valuables against any other incoming threats). However, this isn't WWI were talking about. With a nuclear war and nuclear bombs, there are more risks and concerns to think about. Mainly, if you survived the blast your next concern should be the fallout.

Nuclear fallout consists of the radioactive material and dust that was blasted into the sky after a blast. Sudden excessive heat from the blast creates a violent updraft blasting ground particulates high into the air. This dust becomes bound to the residual radioactive particles that were also launched and slowly "falls out" of the air. It can then coat structures, the ground,  and even survivors.  At that point, these survivors wind up with these sources coating their bodies, leading to obvious health risks. Is this a life threatening situation? How should one proceed first?

My goal of this blog is to guide you through some basic decontamination procedure. Well, you should first make sure you are able to get to a nearby location that could shield you from the continuous falling radiation (house). But before actually entering and getting comfy in your shelter, you should tend to the particles that are possibly coating you currently. So without further ado, follow these fallout decontamination procedures.

1) Geiger Checks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiger_counter

 If you happen to be carrying around your trusty Geiger counter, you should check to see if you are currently registering a higher radiation activity then normal. What's normal? Not knowing normal can be a problem. If you can get a baseline background radiation level in your "safe" shelter that can then set a baseline that you should try to approach. Check your body, orifices and any wounds. Returning to this step after cycling through the actual decontamination procedures actually can help monitor your progress. Don't have a Geiger counter or any portable radiation detector? It's better to be safe then sorry. This fallout can spread hundreds of miles and persist for months. Proceeding to decontaminate even though you cannot be certain you are contaminated is a safe bet.

2) Strip Show

http://joyce-octobersky.blogspot.com/2011/12/movie-moment-monsters-inc.html

 Secondly, you should strip, it can save your life. The majority of the fallout and dust tends to cling mostly to your clothing. The interesting fact of the day being, The US Department of Health states that removing all clothes after fallout can actually lower contamination and exposure by up to 90% (1).  The correct procedure is to remove all clothing, starting from your head and moving downward. Ex) Hat, Jacket, Shirt, Pants...Etc. By following this guideline, all the loose dust that may be knocked off of higher articles will fall down on to subsequent layers that will too eventually be removed.

3) External Shower

https://www.pinterest.com/madolittle/outdoor-showers/

Any remaining particles can hopefully be removed from a good shower, outside if possible. Doing this allows the remaining radioactive water to remain outside of your shelter. The water should be lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. Cold water can close pores, causing anything trapped in the skin pores to remain that way. Hot water causes vasodilation (opening of the blood vessels). This increases absorption, which could cause an external problem to become a much more deadly internal risk. Use a mild soap. This soap should be soft on the skin, yet helpful to emulsify the dust/fallout leading to its removal. Just as before, washing should be done from top to bottom to make sure that contaminants are fully removed. An even better approach is to wash with strong water jets that can blast the water and dust away from your body allowing it not to run down your body and possibly collect.  Hair should also be washed first with a neutral shampoo and no conditioner. Shampoo emulsifies while conditioner may aid in binding of the radioactive particles to hair follicles. External showering is best done in a way in which the remaining radioactive old shower water leaves the site and that the shower can be cleaned to the point that it doesn't remain radioactive. This is why slick plastic is often used in order for the particles to not stick to the shower, allowing for multiple uses.

4) Final Checks

Return to the Geiger counter step (if available) taking note of problem areas. Wash one more time and focus on these areas. If after checking with a Geiger counter for a third time there are still slightly elevated activity levels, this may be acceptable. Washing too many times can damage the skin, allowing for those external contaminants enter your internal body. Also these contaminants may be concentrated in the outer layers skin. Throughout the day, these external layers of skin will be shed along with the few contaminants left.  For the clothes you removed, it is better to bag and throw these clothes away, along with all contaminants. But what if it's your favorite "I survived the bomb" outfit? In that case, going in with your trusty Geiger counter you can check if this outfit is at a salvageable level. If it is, a few runs through the washes may salvage your clothes. But is it truly worth the possible dose? Surviving the deadly dispersion after a nuclear bomb surely can take a lot of work, but it is manageable. Watch out for signs of Acute Radiation Sickness over the next few days such as nausea, diarrhea, and burns. Try to limit your exposure to the fallout by remaining in your shelter and possibly wearing a mask to keep the external dust, external. Waiting for assistance or possibly evacuating further away from the blast center are also important options.

Cited:

(1)EPA Guidelines

(2)https://www.remm.nlm.gov/ext_contamination.htm

(3)http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/03/17/134627643/decontamination-after-radiation-exposure-simpler-than-you-may-think

(4)http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/arsphysicianfactsheet.asp