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[Person 1:] If there was a radiation emergency here,
I would pack up my family and get
out of town as fast as I can.
[Person 2:] Leave.
Just go. Immediately.
[Person 3:] I would be gone.
Just drop everything and get out of there as fast as possible.
[Person 4:] I'd probably...Your car probably can't outrun
that radioactive cloud, can it?
I might try.
I might try to see if it can.
[Vivi:] Armin, your reaction?
[Armin:] Vivi, as we have said in other trainings,
in a radiation emergency, protective actions recommended
by emergency officials depend
on the circumstances of the emergency.
In some circumstances, it would be advisable to evacuate.
In other circumstances, such as an IND detonation,
evacuation could be the wrong choice.
After an IND detonation,
effectively communicating the need to shelter
in place is probably the biggest opportunity to save lives.
This map shows the dangerous fallout zone resulting
from an IND detonation.
People in this zone could receive lethal radiation doses
within a few hours.
There are two things to note, however.
One is that the dangerous fallout zone decays quickly
within the first 24-48 hours.
The second is that these calculations are based
on an unshielded population, meaning people who are
out on the street in the midst of the fallout.
What the map doesn't show is the protection people can
and will receive from staying indoors.
[Vivi:] How much protection?
[Armin:] Depending on the type of structure you are in,
you could easily reduce your radiation exposure
by just staying inside.
For example, the middle floors
of a multi-story building provide a protection factor
of 100.
That means that your radiation exposure in that part
of the building will be one one-hundredth or 1%
of what it would be outdoors.
So, if you can go to the center floors
of a multi-story building, or even better, into a basement,
you will drastically reduce your radiation dose.
[Vivi:] Wow.
So people who leave a sturdy shelter too early are putting
themselves at greater risk.
[Armin:] That's exactly right.
It's hard to think about staying in your office or in your home
for a day or longer, especially if you have kids in school
or an elderly parent in an assisted living facility,
but leaving a safe structure will put your life in danger.
It's best to get inside, stay inside, and stay tuned
after a radiation emergency.
[Vivi:] During emergencies, especially those
that are unfamiliar to us, people may rely
on their instincts to react.
For example, if this happened, I would want to get
to my children as soon as I could.
But doing that could put my life in danger.
It will be critical to clearly communicate what area is
affected and what people in those areas should do
to protect themselves.
People outside of the affected area will also need
to know things, like where to avoid
and what actions they can take to help responders,
even if it's just keeping roads clear for response vehicles.
[Armin:] And it can take some time for responders
to develop that information.
The initial protective actions in the early hours will be based
on predictive computer models.
As the responders are able to collect radiation measurements
in the environment, the models will be refined
to create a more definitive picture of the affected area.
[Vivi:] That's something communicators will need
to keep in mind.
The response picture will change
as more information becomes available,
so it will be critical to let people know
that things may change as we learn more information and then
to provide frequent updates.
But the first message needs to be "Get Inside,
Stay Inside and Stay Tuned."
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