I believe our great country is now in a much more vulnerable position than a decade ago; I don't want to go into the blame-game... the fact is, we've [censored]*d off some very dangerous people and eventually our homelands will once again be targeted by terrorists.

So, what about the uneasy topic of radiation poisoning due to a dirty bomb or other threats.? It's not a pleasent topic to research; preparation for such a disaster will take some people back to the 1960s "buried in the backyard" shelters. But, realistically, what if you are exposed? I know there are sites that deal with this very topic, the effects and possible treatment. While you can get potassium iodide fairly easily, I've yet to find radiation indicators that are inexpensive. There are some stickers that the government uses on MRE cases that are indicators, and there are civilian key-ring type indicators, anyone know of any others. Has anyone really explored what it would take to protect yourself in a dirty-bomb scenario?

There are three ways to protect yourself from radiation:

-Distance
-Barrier
-Shielding

Of these, distance is the best. Since the amount of radiatin that reaches you (assuming a sherical or point source) is inversly proportional to the square of your distance increase (going from 1 to two feet, doubling your distance, cuts radiation to a quarter. If you go from 1 to eight feet, you have only 1/64th of the original radiation to contend with, etc.), it is your best defense BY FAR. No pun intended.

Second: Barrier. This method prevents radioactive materials from coming into direct contact with you. Especially useful if you are in an affected area and plan to leave it, or in cases of high-alpha dust. Example: Plutonium. A five-gram chunk of plutonium will kill you within months, through cancer. ONE TENTH of a gram of plutonium, enhaled as micron-sized dust, kills you inside six hours by destroying all blood cells through radiation. Why? Alpha radiation has extremely short range, a piece of paper stops it. Barrier protection, such as full-body, gastight suits with independant air supply prevent and plutionium or other dust from getting dragged into safe zones, or from being inhaled or otherwise absorbed into the body, where they are most dangerous. This type of protection allows the user to shed any radioactive material on entering a safe zone. Suits should NOT be re-used, a decon shower should be taken after removing the suit, just in case.

Third: Shielding. The least practical method. To stop beta radiation, you'll need to lug around 2mm aluminium plates, all over your body. For gamma, try 15 centimeters of lead. For neutron radiation... find a lake about 20 meters deep. Live on the bottom. Shielding is only practical in shelters, where it must be combined with barrier methods (used on air intakes and locks) to be effective.

A note about indicators: If you really are close enough to a dirty bomb to need immediate treatment, go jump in front of a train. If you exhibit radiation poisoning, future cancer is as good as guaranteed.

If you don't get rad poisoning, someone (the authorities) will soon (two-digit minutes) realize what that bomb was, and shove everyone in the area through emergency decon.

Thus: Indicators are relatively useless, TBH.

In a Dirty Bomb (or other NBC) scenario, I'd make tracks for the fire station, gear up, and head out with the NBC detection/Decon team. Best way to do it really.

In short... decontamination and shielding. Wash off any fallout outside of your shelter, and get to shelter with sufficient mass to shield you from the radiation emmanating from the fallout out side the shelter. It's just the opposite of what we do at the Nuc. plants... got crapped up??? Get a shower, and stay out of the "can" for the rest of the shift... sorry it's not a bit more dramatic, but that's about as good as it gets... if the exposure is too long or too intense, or if the shielding isn't extensive enough, ya get ta cook.

Troy

Great reply, especially the part about the train <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />... just curious, what field are you in? I'm a contract laborer at various Nuc plants, lots of CCS work. Your explanation was dead on, couldn't have said it better myself.

Troy

PS CCS = Contamination Control Specialist... a fancy name for VERY good housekeeping <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Yeah, the problem is more pronounced in congested areas where the population density makes it hard to get out of the contaminated area quickly. Washing any (fallout) contamination from you body, and filtering your breathing air (even a simple surgical mask) is the first lines of defense. getting out of the contaminated area will best protect you from long term effects. If that isn't possible, reducing exposure to airborne contaminants is essential. plastic sheeting and wet sheets work well. Radioactive contamination is particulate contamination. Hose your house down and run your sprinklers until the water runs off into the storm sewers. not perfect, but better than being dosed daily with radiation.

I do NBC decontamination and detection for the local fire department. Nice work actually, though these porta-saunas we call chem suits are annoying at times.

Desert Rat: Surical mask? If some "sandhead" (or whatever type of terrorist you prefer <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />) actually manages to get a few pounds of Highly active nuclear waste, I think he's going to spend the extra three days to micron-mill the stuff. And no surgical mask stops stuff below 5 or 6 microns in size, because the mask (with its tiny transmissive surface area, comnpared to military "gas" masks) would be too restrictive, and because quite a lot of air will always leak around the edge. Result: Chuck the mask. Useless.

What I agree about is the shower. Do as such:

-5 minutes hich-pressure (4+ atmospheres) solid water jet shower.
-rinse shower area
-scrub down with "clean" sand for 10 minutes. Hard. You're not done until it HURTS.
-another 5 minutes' worth of shower.

This will not only rinse your skin, but actually remove the top layer, thus removing any particles that would normally stick. This can also be accomplished by applying sodium hypochlorite, although the resulting chlorine would kill in an enclosed space. Hypo is also good for B or C decon.

Plastic sheeting and wet sheets work... not well, but are better than nothing. Think about it: You envelope your body in one or multiple airtight sheets of material. You move. The configuration, and thus the volume of the whole thing changes. Air is exchanged with the outside through holes and mostly the seams of you jury-rigged suit. Really, not much, but it's something.

Just to kind of summarize, there are two "types" of exposure:

1) Irradiated
2) Contaiminated

1) You've been near the source and gotten alpha, beta or gamma ray exposure. The damage is now done, nothing you can really do. If I remember correctly.

2) You've been contaiminated with debris that is radioactive. You can remove most with a shower, and you or someone else won't be "radioactive".

There are a few FEMA Independent Study course available through the Virtual Campus that covers this information. Specifically IS-3 and IS-301.

FEMA On-line Training Website - Main Page

FEMA Independent Study Course List

We don't go through quite that brutal of a shower routine, but then again, we've got access to meters to localize hot particles, at which point, duct tape does wonders (OUCH in the hairy spots) <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Troy

You're forgetting internal uptake... when you inhale or swallow hot particles. If the uptake is significant enough, refer to the comment ragarding stepping in front of a train (man, that's a good line <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />), if the uptake isn't that significant, anything in your lungs just has to "burn" itself out... radioactive half-life of the particle will determine how long you remain "hot". If the particle is swallowed, it's common practice in the trades to drink plenty of beer, and hopefully, you'll "flush" the problematic particle out of your system.
Again, it's not real technical, but that's what the folks that are dealing with it on a daily basis are doing <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Troy

So where does Potassium Iodide come into the picture? Is it a common medication taken after contamination? Always? Sometimes?
I would assume the cleanup decontamination is most important first, yes?