DISASTER! - Homeland Security and Emergency Management ...

of time. Exposure limits vary from person to person. Some people canhandle higher amounts of rad exposure than others, but the key thing toremember is the less radiation you are exposed to the better.How many rads are bad? - High doses of radiation in a short span of timecan cause radiation sickness or even death, but if that high dose is spreadout over a long period of time, it’s not as bad. According to FEMA, anadult could tolerate and recover from an exposure to 150R over a week or300R over a 4-month period. But 300R over a week could cause sicknessor possibly death. Exposure to 30R to 70R over a week may cause minorsickness, but a full recovery would be expected. But ... radioactive falloutdecays rapidly so staying in a shelter with proper shielding is critical!The “seven-ten” rule - An easy way to estimate the decay of radioactivematerials is to use the “seven-ten” rule. For every sevenfold increase in timeafter the initial blast, there is a tenfold decrease in the radiation rate. PerFEMA’s “Preparedness Planning for a Nuclear Crisis” handbook, the belowtable shows how fast it drops from a level of 1,000 rads per hour:Hours after Fraction Level ofdetonation Remaining Radiation1 ------- 1000 R / hr7 1/10 100 R / hr49 (2 days) 1/100 10 R / hr346 (2 weeks) 1/1000 1 R / hrIn other words, if you have shelter with good shielding and stay put for evenjust 7 hours ... you’ve really increased your chances of survival!Reduce exposure - Protect yourself from radioactive fallout with ...• distance - the more distance between you and the falloutparticles, the better• shielding - heavy, dense materials (like thick walls, earth,concrete, bricks, water and books) between you and falloutis best. Stay indoors or below ground.• time - most fallout loses its strength quickly. The moretime that passes after the attack, the lower the danger.Protect your thyroid - Slow down the absorption of radioactive iodine bytaking potassium iodide (KI). KI can be purchased over-the-counter and isknown to be an effective thyroid-blocking agent. In other words, it fills upthe thyroid with good iodine that keeps radioactive iodine from beingabsorbed into our bodies. However, KI cannot protect the body fromradioactive elements other than radioactive iodine. (Learn more about KIon page 73.) A few other options to protect your thyroid include takingKIO3 or applying an iodine solution to your skin.www.itsadisaster.net or call 1-888-999-4325117