When the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) Director, Val Peterson, was asked about the best way to survive a nuclear attack, he replied: “not to be there!”
As ominous as it may sound, Peterson’s advice is quite true. In the case of a nuclear attack, the best case scenario is if it instantly vaporises you; because if you live and survive the initial strike, you will profoundly regret it.
The atomic attack on Hiroshima annihilated everything within a radius of one mile. The firestorm and radiation from the bomb radiated for miles and contaminated everything they came in contact with. The Nagasaki bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, is pictured below:
The nuclear scientist Laura McEnaney reported that a hydrogen bomb tested in the Pacific Ocean in 1954 was 500 times more devastating than the one dropped on Hiroshima and even contaminated a fishing boat 85 miles away. Since the introduction of the nuclear technology, the scientists have devoted their efforts to the development of highly destructive nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. The future, evidently, is pretty scary.
So if you get nuked, only a few fates await you. As we said earlier, your best option would be to vaporise instantly. If you survive the first attack, you will spend the rest of your life pulling glass shards from your body and trying not to look at your horrifically burned self. If the firestorm does not get to you, radioactive fallout will and you will die soon due to radiation poisoning or even terminal cancer.
Now you might question the “Dug and Cover” strategy preached by the US Civil Defense authorities during the Cold War era. It appears that the plan was meant to do nothing more than to spook the Kremlin into thinking that the American nation could survive whatever may come their way. Another purpose of the propaganda was explained by McEnaney as:
“FCDA strategists openly admitted their mission to market civil defence as a mental state.”
Apparently, the US government wanted to deflect and drown the voices questioning the possibility of protection against such powerful weapons. Take a look at one of the ads from the Cold War era featuring a smiling housewife as she poses with a survival kit for bomb shelters:
We all know the first thing you will do in case of a nuclear hit, is to go underground.
If you want to convince yourself that you won’t die if you get nuked, here is a list of things to add to our nuclear attack survival kit. They may not save you, but then a little hope may go a long way in the time of crisis.
- Potassium Iodide Tablets: To keep the potassium isotopes in the radioactive fallout from clogging your thyroid. However, these tablets are no help against other types of radioactive poisoning.
- Sealed Eatables and Water: The radiation from the nuclear attack will contaminate all edibles and water. If consumed, the poisoned eatables will damage your internal organs.
- A Change of Clothes: Your clothes will also absorb radiation, and change of clothes will be imperative.
- Tweezers: Remeber those glass shards in your body? Well, you will need something to pull them out.
- Something to while away your time: We recommend taking your favourite book. You might consider taking a Kindle along.
- Hazmat Suits: They might not save you, but you will be one of the most stylish survivors out there.
- Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Protection gas mask: The mask may protect you from inhaling contaminated air. But you will need two, one for office kit, one for the home protection package.
- Radiacwash Wipes: These wipes claim to offer fallout-cleansing properties. However, if you have resorted to washing off the radioactive material from your body using wet wipes, you might have fared better if you had vapourised.
A final piece of advice: Do not go anywhere near a place that has a possibility of a nuclear attack. Or else, hope you get killed instantly!