THE "REAL" DEAL ABOUT NUCLEAR, BIO, AND CHEM ATTACKS Part 1

[d_m_kolb]

Being in the U.S. Coast Guard I receive a lot more info than the general public. I thought I'd pass this info along. This is another one of those "not inspirational" but hopefullyeducational issues. You should not live in fear. I am a chemistby educational training, so I understand much of the technicalaspects of this. You don't have to be an expert to understand it.Potential terrorism is reported with increasing frequency.Anthrax and potentially smallpox and other attacks have scaredthe nation. People hope their symptoms are the flu, not anthrax.Sure anthrax is deadlier, just as a bazooka is deadlier than a.38 pistol.You are far more likely however to be killed by a pistol than abazooka. Eighteen people so far have died from anthrax. Thatis a tragedy and I am not belittling the hurt those families aregoing through. 20,000 will die this year from the flu.Truth will help dispel fear and allow you to concentrate on thereal danger and the things that you can control, read on...----------------------------------------------------------"REAL" DEAL ABOUT NUCLEAR, BIO, AND CHEM ATTACKSSince the media has decided to scare everyone with predictionsof chemical, biological, or nuclear warfare on our turf, Idecided to write a paper and keep things in their properperspective.I am a retired military weapons, munitions, and training expert.Lesson number one: In the mid 1990's there were a series ofnerve gas attacks on crowded Japanese subway stations. Givenperfect conditions for an attack, less than 10% of the peoplethere were injured (the injured were better in a few hours) andonly one percent of the injured died.60 Minutes once had a fellow telling us that one drop of nervegas could kill a thousand people, well he didn't tell you thethousand dead people per drop was theoretical.Drill Sergeants exaggerate how terrible this stuff was to keepthe recruits awake in class (I know this because I was a DrillSergeant too). Forget everything you've ever seen on TV, in themovies, or read in a novel about this stuff, it was all a lie(read this sentence again out loud!!) These weapons are aboutterror; if you remain calm, you will probably not die.This is far less scary than the media and their "Experts" makeit sound. Chemical weapons are categorized as Nerve, Blood,Blister, and Incapacitating agents.Contrary to the hype of reporters and politicians they are notweapons of mass destruction. They are "Area denial" and terrorweapons that don't destroy anything. When you leave the areayou almost always leave the risk. That's the difference; youcan leave the area and the risk; soldiers may have to stay putand sit through it and that's why they need all that spiffygear.These are not gasses, they are vapors and/or air borneparticles. The agent must be delivered in sufficient quantityto kill/injure, and that defines when/how it's used.Every day we have a morning and evening inversion where "stuff"suspended in the air gets pushed down. This inversion is whyallergies (pollen) and air pollution are worst at these times ofthe day. So, a chemical attack will have it's best effect anhour or so either side of sunrise/sunset. Also, being vaporsand airborne particles, they are heavier than air so they willseek low places like ditches, basements and underground garages.This stuff won't work when it's freezing, it doesn't last whenit's hot, and wind spreads it too thin too fast.They've got to get this stuff on you, or get you to inhale itfor it to work. They also have to get the concentration ofchemicals high enough to kill or wound you.Too little and it's nothing, too much and it's wasted.What I hope you've gathered by this point is that a chemicalweapons attack that kills a lot of people is incredibly hard todo with military grade agents and equipment, so you can imaginehow hard it will be for terrorists.The more you know about this stuff, the more you realize howhard it is to use.We'll start by talking about nerve agents.You have these in your house. Plain old bug killer (like Raid)is nerve agent. All nerve agents work the same way; they arecholinesterase inhibitors that mess up the signals your nervoussystem uses to make your body function.It can harm you if you get it on your skin, but it works best ifthey can get you to inhale it. If you don't die in the firstminute and you can leave the area you're probably gonna live.The military's antidote for all nerve agents is atropine andpralidoxime chloride. Neither one of these does anything tocure the nerve agent; they send your body into overdrive to keepyou alive for five minutes, after that the agent is used up.Your best protection is fresh air and staying calm. Listedbelow are the symptoms for nerve agent poisoning:Sudden headache, Dimness of vision (someone you're looking atwill have pinpointed pupils), Runny nose, Excessive saliva ordrooling, Difficulty breathing, Tightness in chest, Nausea,Stomach cramps, Twitching of exposed skin where a liquid justgot on you.If you are in public and you start experiencing these symptoms,first ask yourself, did anything out of the ordinary justhappen, a loud pop, did someone spray something on the crowd?Are other people getting sick too?Is there an odor of new mown hay, green corn, something fruity,or camphor where it shouldn't be?If the answer is yes, then calmly (if you panic you breathefaster and inhale more air/poison) leave the area and head upwind, or, outside.Fresh air is the best "right now antidote."If you have a blob of liquid that looks like molasses or Kayrosyrup on you; blot it or scrape it off and away from yourselfwith anything disposable.This stuff works based on your body weight. What a crop dusteruses to kill bugs won't hurt you unless you stand there andbreathe it in real deep, then lick the residue off the groundfor while.Remember they have to do all the work, they have to get theconcentration up and keep it up for several minutes while allyou have to do is quit getting it on you/quit breathing it byputting space between you and the attack.Blood agents are cyanide or arsine which affect your blood'sability to provide oxygen to your tissue. The scenario forattack would be the same as nerve agent.Look for a pop or someone splashing/spraying something andfolks around there getting woozy/falling down. The telltalesmells are bitter almonds or garlic where it shouldn't be.The symptoms are blue lips, blue under the fingernails and rapidbreathing. The military's antidote is amyl nitride and justlike nerve agent antidote, it just keeps your body workingfor five minutes until the toxins are used up.Fresh air is your best individual chance.

[d_m_kolb]

Blister agents (distilled mustard) are so nasty that nobodywants to even handle it let alone use it. It's almostimpossible to handle safely and may have delayed effects of upto 12 hours. The attack scenario is also limited to the thingsyou'd see from other chemicals.If you do get large, painful blisters for no apparent reason,don't pop them; if you must, don't let the liquid from theblister get on any other area, the stuff just keeps onspreading. It's just as likely to harm the user as the target.Soap, water, sunshine, and fresh air are this stuff's enemy.Bottom line on chemical weapons (it's the same if they useindustrial chemical spills); they are intended to make youpanic, to terrorize you, to heard you like sheep to the wolves.If there is an attack, leave the area and go upwind, or to thesides of the wind stream. They have to get the stuff to you andon you. You're more likely to be hurt by a drunk driver on anygiven day than be hurt by one of these attacks.Your odds get better if you leave the area. Soap, water, time,and fresh air really deal this stuff a knock-out-punch.Don't let fear of an isolated attack rule your life.The odds are really on your side.Nuclear bombs.These are the only weapons of mass destruction on earth.The effects of a nuclear bomb are heat, blast, EMP, andradiation.If you see a bright flash of light like the sun, where the sunisn't, fall to the ground! The heat will be over in a second.Then there will be two blast waves, one out going and one onit's way back.Don't stand up to see what happened after the first wave;anything that's going to happen will have happened in two fullminutes.These will be low yield devices and will not level whole cities.If you live through the heat, blast, and initial burst ofradiation, you'll probably live for a very very long time.Radiation will not create fifty-foot tall women or giant antsand grass hoppers the size of tanks. These will be at the most1-kiloton bombs; that's the equivalent of 1,000 tons of TNT.Here's the real deal. Flying debris and radiation will kill alot of exposed (not all) people within a half mile of the blast.Under perfect conditions this is about a half mile circle ofdeath and destruction, but when it's done it's done.EMP stands for Electro Magnetic Pulse and it will fry everyelectronic device for a good distance. It's impossible to saywhat and how far but probably not over a couple of miles fromground zero is a good guess.Cars, cell phones, computers, ATMs, you name it, all will be outof order. There are lots of kinds of radiation, you only needto worry about three, the others you have lived with for years.You need to worry about "Ionizing radiation." These are littlesubatomic particles that go whizzing along at the speed oflight. They hit individual cells in your body, kill the nucleusand keep on going. That's how you get radiation poisoning, youhave so many dead cells in your body that the decaying cellspoison you.It's the same as people getting radiation treatments for cancer,only a bigger area gets radiated. The good news is you don'thave to just sit there and take it, and there's lots you can dorather than panic.First, your skin will stop alpha particles, a page of a news-paper or your clothing will stop beta particles, you just gottatry and avoid inhaling dust that's contaminated with atoms thatare emitting these things and you'll be generally safe fromthem.Gamma rays are particles that travel like rays (quantum physicsmakes my brain hurt). They create the same damage as alpha andbeta particles, only they keep going and kill lots of cells asthey go all the way through your body.It takes a lot to stop these things, lots of dense material; onthe other hand it takes a lot of this to kill you. Your defenseis as always to not panic. Basic hygiene and normal preparationare your friends. All canned or frozen food is safe to eat.The radiation poisoning will not affect plants, so fruits andvegetables are OK if there's no dust on them (rinse them off ifthere is).If you don't have running water and you need to collect rainwater or use water from wherever, just let it sit for thirtyminutes and skim off the water gently from the top.The dust with the bad stuff in it will settle and the remainingwater can be used for the toilet which will still work if youhave a bucket of water to pour in the tank.Finally, there's biological warfare.There's not much to cover here.Basic personal hygiene and sanitation will take you further thana million doctors. Wash your hands often, don't share drinks,food, sloppy kisses, etc., ... with strangers.Keep your garbage can with a tight lid on it, don't havestanding water (like old buckets, ditches, or kiddie pools)laying around to allow mosquitoes breeding room.This stuff is carried by vectors, that is bugs, rodents, andcontaminated material. If biological warfare is so easy as theTV makes it sound, why has Saddam Hussein spent twenty years,millions, and millions of dollars trying to get it right?If you're clean of person and home, you eat well and are active,you're gonna live. Overall preparation for any terrorist attackis the same as you'd take for a big storm. If you want a gasmask, fine, go get one. I know this stuff and I'm not gettingone and I told my Mom not to bother with one either (how's thatfor confidence).We have a week's worth of cash, several days worth of cannedgoods and plenty of soap and water. We don't leave stuff out toattract bugs or rodents, so we don't have them. These peoplecan't conceive a nation this big with this many resources.These weapons are made to cause panic, terror, and todemoralize. If we don't run around like sheep, they won't usethis stuff after they find out it's no fun.The government is going nuts over this stuff because they haveto protect every inch of America. You've only gotta protectyourself, and by doing that, you help the country.Finally, there are millions of caveats to everything I wrotehere and you can think up specific scenarios where my adviceisn't the best. This letter is supposed to help the greatestnumber of people under the greatest number of situations.If you don't like my work, don't nit pick, just sit down andexplain chemical, nuclear, and biological warfare in a documentaround three pages long yourself.This is how we, the people of the United States, can rob thesepeople of their most desired goal, your terror.

[d_m_kolb]

Just updating this info since the media once again seems to love to scare the general public over nothing at all normally.

[Mr. Poopypants]

I might as well weigh in on this subject. One thing I should mention is that I will not buy plastic and duct tape, I refuse. The only good thing about the whole plastic and duct tape surge is that it is boosting the economy. Think about 2 things: 1. Do you live in an area that would be a target for a chem, bio, or nuke attack. 2. If you actually think that plastic and duct tape will keep you safe, you might not be too smart. This is only my personal opinion but as far as I am concerned everyone is overreacting. Experts have weighed in on the "dirty bomb" issue in an interview in USAToday. The main threat from a dirty bomb is the blast itself. The radioactive material that is spread will not be spread for hundreds of miles in such a concentration that it will cause wide spread radiation poisoning. Here is the link to the chat in USAToday http://www.usatoday.com/community/chat_ ... -panic.htm

[Stang2Vibe]

I agree with you about not buying plastic sheeting and duct tape. Many people will not be satisfied that they are safe unless they are doing something proactive to protect themselves. I think that the recommendation to buy and use the plastic and duct tape is a psycological weapon our government is using to counteract the effects of the fear related with terrorism. Some people will be less worried and feel better if they think they are doing something to protect themselves. If everyone felt this way, terrorism would have much less of an effect.

[Frosty]

There was a news story that a quebec plant was struggling to fill orders of Duct Tape.How are 3M shares doing?

[Vibe]

Very , Very Interesting--Thanks for sharing. JamesBUT Question--How is it you were able to go solid capital letters in the header title---and I can't?

[DopeVibeGT]

Ah! Thats why I couldnt post my other response! Anywho, I'm so scared about terrorist attacks that we're going to watch the Goonies again tonight!

[Flip-Side]

quote:I agree with you about not buying plastic sheeting and duct tape. Many people will not be satisfied that they are safe unless they are doing something proactive to protect themselves. It reminds me of the old "duck and cover" videos dealing with nuclear attacks. Some people just need to believe in something I guess...even if its wrong.

[PBFlash]

My point of view:The point of terrorism is to terrorize (not hurt) your victim. Osama has people wrapping their houses in plastic, has our Government spending a ton of money on anti-terrorism defenses, and has a lot of people scared to walk out of their front door in the morning.He already won.

[DopeVibeGT]

Anyone who is afraid to walk out of their house needs to either move out of the city or be slapped around. I was more afraid of math tests in school than this crap.

[shenandoah24]

My opinion---you have to live your life--you have to keep going. Or Osama will acheive his goal. Most Americans are too scared to go out of their house, fly on a plane, go on vacation.....He has trampled on everything that makes America a great place to live. I choose to not give in to this bullcrap. I still get up in the morning, I go to work. I fly on planes. I go to the mall. I ride the bus in the city. There is a higher power that knows when it is my time to go. ANd when that higher power decides that it is my time, then not flying on a plane or not going to the top of tall buildings is not going to do me a damn bit of good. So you see--I am at peace. I have not gone out and bought a case of duct tape. I do however wish that I had a case to sell--I could make a ton Just my opinion.....PEACE

[Vibe Rater]

quote:The only good thing about the whole plastic and duct tape surge is that it is boosting the economy3M duct tape is made in Canada (London, Ontario). They supply the entire North American market.

[DopeVibeGT]

Well, I never flew in planes to begin with, unless it was a small Cessna and I was in control. LoL