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Imagine this: A sudden bright light followed
by the sounds of the heavens opening.
An intense heat blast smashes through the
city and a gigantic mushroom cloud slowly
rises.
Cars swerve from the roads amid the screams
of fear, panic, and pain.
And that’s only if you have enough time
to see the spectacle, before being blasted
off the face of the earth.
It’s an apocalyptic image alright, but would
a nuclear blast really spell the end of the
world?
Are there any steps that we could take in
advance to avoid frying as the nuclear device
is detonated in our home city?
That’s what we’ll find out, in this episode
of The Infographics Show, How to Survive Nuclear
Fallout.
The debate on whether or not we could survive
a nuclear war is still wide open.
But one thing is for sure – the weapons
are getting darn right nastier.
The nuclear warheads that the world has at
its disposal right now are hundreds of times
more deadly than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World
War.
We have no clear picture of the catastrophic
effect of all of these weapons being detonated
at the same time.
And that’s what is likely to happen in the
event of a nuclear conflict.
One thing that’s for sure is that those
who are able to survive a massive nuclear
attack would be those who have mentally and
logistically prepared for such an event.
So grab a pencil and a notebook and jot down
how to best survive should this tragic event
ever occur.
When the blast happens, you want to be indoors.
Or preferably in the depths of a nuclear fall-out
bunker for at least 48 hours.
But in reality it will only be the president,
the very rich, and the political elite who
will be safely tucked away underground.
You can fully supply your premises to make
sure you won’t be having to pop out to the
shops for a loaf of bread during that critical
48 hour fallout period.
Be smart by supplying your home with lots
of canned food.
A good supply of fresh bottled water is also
essential.
You’ll need 1 gallon of fresh water per
person per day.
You will do well to have an old wireless radio
powered by batteries to keep up to date with
events.
A whistle for communicating across distance
is super handy, and a cell phone with a solar
charger is brilliant.
For those of you planning ahead, you’ll
want to keep in stock a basic first aid kit,
a medical instruction book, and a supply of
required prescription medications.
You’ll also need a flashlight with batteries
and a map and compass for navigating your
escape.
If you happen to be within a few miles of
the initial detonation, the chances are you
are already dusted.
The heat would rise to about 540,000 degrees
fahrenheit (300,000 degrees Celsius) and at
the epicenter of the blast, almost everything
would be totally flattened.
The area one to four miles outside of the
epicenter would be dangerous; you’d probably
have burnt skin from the blast.
Housing would be damaged.
Windows would shatter and paint would peel
from the buildings.
That means shelter is the main consideration
– find somewhere safe.
If you were looking in the direction of the
blast, you would probably suffer some form
of temporary blindness, and the fallout would
remain hazardous up to 20 miles from detonation.
Once a nuclear device is detonated, radioactive
materials are blasted up into the atmosphere
before raining back down to earth.
This hazardous material literally falls out
of the sky and that’s why we use the term
fallout.
The material can travel for hundreds of miles
adapting to wind patterns, and human exposure
to this fallout is extremely hazardous.
If contact is made with the fallout, you will
suffer acute radiation sickness, cellular
degradation, and radiation syndrome.
This could kill you up to 30 days after initial
exposure.
Fallout does, however, decay at night, so
areas that are contaminated by day may be
safer to patrol at night.
If you survived the blast and have taken cover
during the day, your goal is to do whatever
scavenging that may be required at night,
while hatching an escape plan.
But first up, you will need to evaluate the
extent of your immediate danger.
A literal rule of thumb comes into play here.
Find a position where you can observe that
mushroom cloud of doom.
Hold out your arm and extend your thumb.
Close one eye and compare the size of your
thumb to the size of the mushroom cloud.
If that mushroom cloud is bigger than your
thumb, then you are in the radiation zone
and you have 15 minutes to escape.
If, however, the cloud is smaller than your
thumb, then you should be in a safe zone but
you will probably want to be heading away
from the cloud, if it is safe to do so.
The more distance you can put between yourself
and the fallout, the better for your health,
but remember to stay under cover for those
first 48 hours.
Areas such as office basements are safer than
a first floor building.
The heavier and denser the exterior of your
shelter, the better, so you are looking for
thick walls built from concrete or bricks.
The greatest threat from fallout is during
the first 48 hours, and then the next two
weeks.
After this initial period, the fallout will
lose its toxicity quite rapidly.
So if you happen to have food, and more importantly
a water supply in your shelter, you may be
able to sit it out and perhaps catch up on
a TV series or two.
But remember, if you see a cloud of debris
moving towards you, you may need to up sticks
pretty fast.
You should only consider jumping in a vehicle
if you have the means to start it and drive
away within that crucial 15 minute time frame.
Once you’ve established a base, you will
need to get clean.
Failure to clean away all that radioactive
material could result in deadly levels of
radiation on the skin.
If you are with a group, instruct everyone
who was exposed to remove their clothing,
put the radioactive garments in a plastic
bag, tie the end, and place it as far away
as possible.
Use running water to wash the body with lots
of soap and water.
Blow your nose, and make sure you clean behind
those ears.
You will need to find new clothing for you
and your party.
You will also need to attend to those radiation
and thermal burns known as beta burns.
If the skin has blistered, immerse yourself
in cold water, and then cover the area with
a sterile compress or Vaseline.
After you have managed all this, you should
be critically aware of subsequent attacks.
Yep, most probably, that nuclear blast won’t
be the only rocket in this firework party.
Keep your shelter intact, but be prepared
to move and take supplies with you.
You will generally be safer out of the cities,
but make sure you aren’t heading to any
out of town military bases that could well
be the next target site.
Maybe heading to a network of deep underground
caves would be the best strategy, seeing that
the world is dead set on blasting their way
back to the stone-age.
So, do you think you could survive nuclear
fallout?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called
– How Long Do You Remain Conscious if your
Head is Chopped Off.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!
