I think it will depend in your personal situation.

Let me explain why I asked this question. I live in California, in a place where there are a lot of winds. In my location, winds from the San Joaquin Valley are funneled past my house. I know this because we have had a lot of pollen and fine dust in the air. It is getting picked up and funneled by the wind. Therefore, if there was a situation with contaminated dust in Central CA, my specific location location would not be good.

After thinking about the replies here, i decided on a very simple strategy ... for the time being. I will get a very simple device, of the type described by Adam2. This idea is attractive because "personal monitors" are much lower cost. Also, if i understand the technology, these personal monitors can "add up" your radiation exposure (compute your total radiation exposure over time). This is a good feature. I will place mine on the patio of my house, where it is protected from weather, but it will see the breeze.

My strategy is that if there is a nuclear incident, and my nuclear monitor switches to yellow, i will evacuate to a safer location. I am not saying that everyone needs to do this. My house just happens to get a lot of wind-blown dust.

I do not think that people should panic, or be overly worried about what is said in the news. I am skeptical that N. Korea could really mount an atomic bomb on a missile and send it to the USA - with a reliable chance of success. I do not think they have the capability to do this yet, and we shouldn't let their "war of words" disturb our peace. I do think that the USA is confronting N. Korea at exactly the right time :-)