Nuclear attack

What makes this different

Survival depends mostly on the first minutes (getting inside, away from windows) and the first 24 to 48 hours (staying sheltered while fallout is at its worst). Far more people survive the fallout phase by sheltering properly than many expect.

If you see a flash

• Do not look at it.
• Get down immediately, behind or inside anything solid. Lie face down, cover your head.
• Stay down until the blast wave has passed, which can take up to a minute or more.

Then, within minutes

• Get inside the most solid building you can reach: basement, or the middle of the lowest floor.
• Fallout can arrive within 10 to 20 minutes near the blast and later further away. Do not go outside.
• If you were outside, remove outer clothing and wash before going into your shelter room.
• Bring water, food, medicines and the radio into the shelter room.

Stay or go?

Stay in shelter for at least 24 hours, longer if told. Radiation levels drop by about 90% for every sevenfold increase in time after the explosion (7 hours, then 49 hours), so every hour you wait makes going outside safer.

Do not

• Do not try to drive to collect family. Everyone shelters where they are, as agreed.
• Do not eat or drink anything that was left uncovered outside.