Dec 8, 2022

Tucson, Ariz. Prospects of escalation in the Ukraine conflict have sparked concerns about nuclear war, according to the latest issue of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter. 

Governmental response to a nuclear detonation could be the equivalent of Lockdown 2.0, warns DDP, citing the “Get Inside, Stay Inside” public relations campaigns in some states and the same advice on the federal website ready.gov. 

How long must one stay inside? The ads say “Stay tuned” for official advice, but DDP points out the essential need for measuring radiation levels where you are located and the lack of appropriate instruments. 

“The purpose of the civil defense program started by President Kennedy was to keep the country working,” states DDP president Jane Orient, M.D. “Rescue work and essential tasks cannot be done if everyone is in lockdown.”

Five million instruments were disposed of in the 1990s and not replaced. A low-cost technology called SIRAD (“see-rad”) was developed by the Department of Defense and tested by Homeland Security in 2007, but was never deployed by government, DDP states. At the suggestion of Tom Ridge, first U.S. secretary of DHS, volunteers used the SIRAD technology to create safe/not safe (“Oh Shucks!”) monitors.

There is also the option of the Kearny Fallout Meter (KFM), designed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to be made by children. Instructions can be downloaded free from oism,org/nwss.

In a crisis, ready-made instruments will not be available, but knowledge is free and available to all, Dr. Orient says. The poor man’s rad meter is seeing fallout particles, which look like sand or grit, on a shiny surface or piece of white paper.

“Panic could kill more people than radiation in a nuclear attack,” states Dr. Orient. “People outside a bomb’s radius of complete destruction have an excellent chance of survival—if they know what to do.”

Doctors for Disaster Preparedness provides information to help save lives in the event of natural or man-made disasters. 

Contact:

Jane M. Orient, M.D.,
(520) 323-3110,
janeorientmd@gmail.com