Category Archives: Emergency Preparedness

Using Your Cell Phone In An Emergency

Quick Links

FM Tuner
Storing Emergency Information
Radiation Detector
Getting a Spare Phone
Keeping Your Phone Charged

I recently received a request from Verizon to link to their Using Smartphones in an Emergency page. In an emergency situation, whether it’s a hurricane, earthquake, or any other natural or manmade disaster, you phone can be an invaluable tool, and that page is certainly worth a read.

As most of the readers of this page are aware, your cell phone has definite limitations in an emergency. If you don’t have cellular service, or at least WiFi, then, of course, you can’t make or receive calls, send or receive texts, or use anything involving the internet. For that reason, as most of our readers are aware, you probably can’t rely upon your cell phone as being your sole means of communication. (To learn more, check out our emergency communications primer.)

However, there are many emergency situations where cellular or WiFi service will be available. If nothing else, you might be able to go to the closest Waffle House and use their WiFi. And most cellular providers have extremely reliable service, so even in a severe emergency, you very well could still have cellular service.

But more importantly, since you’re probably carrying around the smart phone anyway, there are many functions that it can be used for in an emergency that do not require internet access. In many cases, it’s not the best version of the particular tool that you want. For example, if you anticipate needing a flashlight, then it’s best to get a real flashlight. But if you’re sitting there in the dark with no other source of light, then your phone’s built-in flashlight could be a godsend.

In addition to the uses discussed on the Verizon site, here are some additional uses you might consider.

FM Tuner

Unbeknownst to most users, the vast majority of cell phones sold in the past few years include a receiver for the normal FM broadcast band. This is not an “internet radio” service that picks up stations streaming over the internet. It is an honest-to-goodness FM radio that picks up broadcast stations over the air, internet or no internet. Sadly, this is the only radio that some people own, and most of them probably don’t know that they have it. Even if the internet is down, chances are, at least one FM station in your area will be on the air.

Your cell phone probably doesn’t have a very good antenna built in to it. Fortunately, the receiver is designed to use the headphone cord as an antenna. But my phone (a relatively cheap Motorola e6) is able to pick up a few local stations with no antenna at all. So it’s nice to know that in case of an emergency, I always have with me a method of getting some emergency information. For best results, however, it’s good to have a pair of headphones with you. You can pick up a cheap pair at the dollar store, so there’s really no excuse not to be prepared.

My phone came with the FM tuner app installed. Strangely, many sellers don’t include the app, even though the phone’s hardware contains the FM tuner. If you don’t already have the app, this CNET article explains how to download it.

Storing Emergency Information on Your Phone

There are undoubtedly better places to store emergency information, and there are undoubtedly better places to read information than your phone. But if you have your phone with you all the time, it’s reassuring to know that you always have survival information with you. The Verizon site discusses the importance of having a copy of your personal documents stored on your phone. But your phone probably has a lot of memory, and it would be a good place to store other documents.

One good document to have, since it provides information useful for many emergencies, is Nuclear War Survival Skills. It’s available for free download at many sites, including this link. The PDF at that link is 18.9 MB, and it’s likely that most phones have plenty of free memory to save it. Reading it on a cell phone probably isn’t an ideal method, but if you need this lifesaving information in an emergency, it’s certainly better than nothing.

At my website, I have links to other free emergency preparedness books. If there is any information you believe you might need in an emergency, downloading a copy to your phone is cheap insurance.

If your phone has a lot of storage available (50-100 GB), you might consider downloading the entire English-language Wikipedia. You can find instructions for doing so at this link. (And for more information, see my website.)

Radiation Detector

Your phone’s camera is sensitive to visible light, which is what makes it a camera. But it’s also sensitive to gamma radiation. This means that the hardware can be used as a radiation detector. To make that happen, you can install the free GammaPix Lite app, or the full GammaPix app for $14.99.

To use the app, you need to cover up your phone’s camera with electrical tape to keep the light out. When you do, any incoming pulses are gamma rays, and the app can measure them.

Having a Spare Phone

In the United States, any cell phone, whether or not its owner has paid for service, is capable of making calls to 911. And, of course, the old phone will continue to work just fine on WiFi, and all of the non-internet apps discussed above will also work just fine. Therefore, if you purchase a new phone, it’s a good idea to keep your old phone for use in an emergency. Keeping it in the glove compartment of your car is cheap insurance. You’ll want to make sure that you have a car charger that fits your phone.

Also, it’s not very expensive to purchase a phone for use in emergency. You can use it with WiFi, all of the non-internet apps will work, and it can be used to call 911. They’re cheap because they are sold by prepaid cell phone providers as a loss leader, and they expect to make a profit by selling you the airtime. But there’s no need to ever activate them, so for a small initial investment, you can purchase a brand new phone which can be used in emergencies. Here are some examples of inexpensive prepaid phones:

In most cases, these prepaid phones are locked, but that means only that you can’t use them with other cellular providers. You can use them for 911 calls, with WiFi, and with all of the apps shown here. This type of phone is often called a “burner” phone. Essentially, it’s so cheap that you can just burn it out without caring.

Keeping Your Phone Charged

It should first be noted that many uses of a cell phone are very battery intensive. So if you have alternatives, you should use them. For example, if you are listening to a local radio station via streaming audio, this is very wasteful of your battery. You would be much better off using a separate radio, which draws considerably less electricity. But no matter how much you conserve your phone’s battery, eventually, you will need to charge it.

And if the power is out, then this keeping your phone charged can be challenging. If you have a car, then the easiest way to do so, is to plug it in to the car. A car with a full tank of gas, if used only to charge your phone, will probably last months or even years. Of course, you’ll need a car charger appropriate for your phone.

If you don’t have a car, or don’t want to go out and keep starting it, then a solar charger of the appropriate size can keep your phone charged more or less indefinitely. In general, the larger units can keep a phone charged indefinitely, while the smaller pocket-size units won’t be able to keep the phone fully charged, but they can be used to keep it topped off. There are a wide variety available, such as these:

Also, keep in mind that in some cases, you might have normal AA batteries, or be able to buy them. If so, the charger shown here can be used to charge your phone with normal AA alkaline batteries.

My personal favorite charger is the one shown at right. First of all, this Midland unit is a radio, weather radio, and flashlight, so when you need these devices, you don’t need to use the battery in your phone. But it can also be used to charge your phone, using either the hand crank or the built-in solar panel.

For more information, see our Preparing For Power Outages Page.

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Weather Radios: 50 Years Ago and Today

Shown here, in the May 1972 issue of Popular Electronics is the console of one of NOAA’s weather radio stations. The operator could record a series of messages, which would repeat in a continuous loop. Another rack was at the transmitter location, and the two units were linked by telephone line.

The Weather Service had started broadcasting on VHF-FM in the early 1950s, when the first transmitter was installed in Chicago. By 1972, sixty stations, listed at right (click image for full-size version), were in operation throughout the United States. In the fifty ensuing years, the network has expanded even further, with hundreds of transmitters blanketing virtually the entire country. Starting in 1976, Environment Canada started a similar network, Weatheradio Canada, which now transmits from 230 sites across Canada. Mexico also has a similar service, SARMEX, operating on the same frequencies. The system broadcasts continuous weather forecasts, and alerts for watches and warnings.

A full coverage map is available on the NOAA website, but in most cases, it’s best to simply turn on the radio and see which station comes in strongest in your locality.

In 1972, the magazine noted that three types of receivers were available. Inexpensive receivers sold for $17 or less. One very popular entry in this category was the Radio Shack Weatheradio cube shown at left. The volume and analog tuning dials were on the bottom, so to hear the weather, you would simply push the bar on the top. More sensitive receivers started at about $70, and tone-alert models ranged from $150 to $300. Then, as now, weather watches and warnings were preceded by a 1050 Hz tone. A tone-alert receiver would be left on standby, and when an alert came through, an alarm would sound and/or the radio would turn itself on. The magazine noted that the expensive tone-alert receivers were in use by entities such as police departments and schools. But the price is now so low that there’s really no reason why Americans should not own one to receive alerts about weather and other emergencies.

NOAA now precedes warnings with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME), which is a digital squelch which turns on the receiver for specific types of warnings for specific areas. If the weather radio station covers a large geographic area, this allows the user to set the receiver for, for example, only warnings affecting a certain county or counties.

In 1972, the inexpensive $17 receivers were invariably not very sensitive. They would typically work well close to the transmitter location, but didn’t have sufficient range for outlying areas. Typically, they had analog tuning, using circuitry similar to a normal FM radio. The more expensive units (starting at $70) were typically crystal-controlled, with a switch to select the receive channel. They were typically much more sensitive and could be used in fringe areas.

Today, even the most inexpensive receivers usually have digital tuning, and have very good sensitivity. Almost everyone in the United States can now receive a weather station with even an inexpensive receiver.

Many of the inexpensive radios can be kept silent monitoring for a tone alert. Receivers with SAME technology, which can be programmed for a specific area, are also now surprisingly inexpensive.

My personal favorite is the Midland receiver shown here. In addition to being an excellent receiver for the weather band, it also tunes normal AM and FM broadcasts. It does have the standby feature which allows it to listen and sound the alarm in case of an alert. It includes a flashlight.

Most importantly, it never needs a battery. It contains a rechargeable battery, which I normally keep charged by connecting it to a normal cell phone charger after serveral days of use. But if I ever forget, it includes a hand crank and solar panel, meaning that it can be used indefinitely without any power source. It can also be used to charge a phone or other USB device.

Other inexpensive options, some with the alert feature, are shown below:

If you’re looking at an inexpensive set, note that some of them have analog tuning. They’ll work fine in a metropolitan area where you are close to the transmitter, but for use in a fringe area, you’ll need one with digital tuning. And if you buy one that uses batteries, don’t forget to buy an extra set of batteries to store with the radio.

If you are looking for a weather radio to use 24/7 to monitor for alerts, then I recommend one similar to these:

These have a very sensitive receiver, and will work almost anywhere in the United States. More importantly, they operate off AC power, so you don’t need to worry about changing batteries, as you’ll leave it turned on standby 24/7. But they have battery backup, and switches to batteries automatically if the power goes out, which can often happen during weather emergencies. Both of these have SAME technology, which allows you to program it to sound the alarm only for certain counties. The one at left also includes an AM/FM radio and alarm clock.

For activities such as camping, where a set of walkie-talkies might come in handy, you should consider a set such as the ones below. They also include a weather receiver with SAME alerts.

One hint for those who are outdoorsmen or travel for any reason, it’s always a good idea to know what county you are in. Watches and warnings are usually given by county, and without this information, you might miss an important warning. This website will tell you what county you are in, but it’s a good idea to find this information before an emergency, in case your internet becomes unavailable.

Some might say that a weather radio is less important than it was 50 years ago. After all, you have a cell phone that provides instant weather information. However, that cell phone is dependent upon your local cellular network and/or WiFi. A power outage in your area could mean that you are suddenly without any means of notification for severe weather. A weather radio is a cheap investment to make sure you have constant access to emergency information.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on the link.

Your Chance to Live: 1972

On my way to looking up something else, I was shocked to discover that this book, of over a hundred pages, existed. It was published 50 years ago by the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, as the federal Civil Defense agency was known at the time. I was the target audience of this book, I would have loved it, but I didn’t know it existed.

One day as a youth, I discovered in our basement a Civil Defense pamphlet (specificaly, “In Time Of Emergency,” and I found it absolutely fascinating. The second half of the book, entitled “Natural Disasters,” covered things I was more or less familiar with, namely, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, and earthquakes. But the first half of the book was something entirely new, namely, something called a Nuclear Attack.

I was aware of the concept of war, and I was even aware that the bad guys might drop bombs during a war. But the bombs described in this book did more, namely, unleash radioactive fallout. And to survive a nuclear attack, you had to have a fallout shelter. For some reason, my parents were unwilling to construct a fallout shelter, but based upon the material in the book, I knew that we could eek by either with an improvised fallout shelter, or by going to the public fallout shelter across the street at the school I attended (although I had some doubts as to whether someone would come around to unlock the building if the nuclear attack took place other than during school hours).

In general, I became an advocate for everything I learned from the little book, and I though everyone should begin making some minimal preparations for, or at least having some awareness of the risk of, one of these nuclear attacks, as well as the other disasters described in the booklet.

Much to my surprise, most people seemed to dismiss my concerns, and some of them even seemed to actively avoid making even the most minimal of preparations. I couldn’t quite understand this attitude (in fact, I still don’t understand it). But I did do my best to promote civil defense. And since I was in school, the school provided me with my principal forum for my efforts. Of course, my poor sainted sixth grade teacher took the brunt of this, since she got to listen to me talk about civil defense whenever I could possibly work it into the conversation.

I learned all I could about civil defense, including getting every last piece of literature available from the local civil defense office. I also went to the public library, where I found what were possibly the only two books on the subject, namely, the novel Alas Babylon by Pat Frank, and his non-fiction work, How To Survive the H-Bomb and Why.

Frankly, I thought having a fallout shelter would be pretty cool. But it seemed that I was the only kid thinking this, and I eventually figured out that I was the only person–child or adult–with any interest in civil defense and fallout shelters.

It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered that there were other kids like me. It turns out that Alas Babylon is still in print and became something of a cult classic, and copies of How to Survive the H-Bomb and Why now go for hundreds of dollars, if you can find them.

And unbeknownst to me, somewhere in the Pentagon, someone was trying to help me in my quest to educate American students about the importance of civil defense. The book depicted above, “Your Chance to Live” was in production by the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, and it was intended as a textbook for students on the subject of civil defense. Had I been aware of such a book at the time, I’m sure I would have pleaded with my teacher to get some copies, and if she balked, I probably would have appealed to the principal and then to the Board of Education. In fact, I would have gladly taken over the teaching duties as my classmates learned the lessons from this book.

The book is now available on Google Books, along with the teacher’s edition, and the accompanying “Games that Teach: Classroom Activities on Individual and Community Disaster.” While the exact grade level of the book isn’t entirely clear, the latter two books make clear that it is suitable for all grades, from 1 through 12.

The activities are particularly interesting. One of them, shown at left, is an ALERT-O card, similar to BINGO. In this fun activity, suitable for grades 5-12, each student would be given an ALERT-O card, and the teacher would call out items from the card, such as “Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.” Students would mark the appropriate spot on their card, and the first student with four in a row would be the winner.

The telephone was the response to “do not use this to obtain further information and advice about an emergency,” and there were two True-False questions. The guide noted that after the game was played, students would probably have questions, which could lead to further research on topics of interest. For example, one student or a group might be assigned to do a research report on NORAD.

The book was full of other games and activities about civil defense. For example, in one activity, a group of students would bring together items necessary to stock the fallout shelter, and then discussing the relative merit of the selected items. There were even crossword puzzles (for grades 7-12) with words such as “nuclear” and “bomb.”

Even younger students could join in on the fun activities, such as the color-by-number puzzle at the right. In addition to familiarizing students with the CD emblem, it would help them brush up on their math facts.

The textbook itself is fascinating. There are a few blanks that the student is directed to fill in with local information, such as the location of the closest shelter, so presumably, the idea was that students would get to keep their copy of the book as a future reference.
The preface notes that disasters are a part of life, and that “even a nodding acquaintance with some of the dangers of everyday life and what to do about them can help.”

The actual text starts with this promising language:

A federal agency has issued this book as part of its responsibility for your safety, and for overall national preparedness and security.

The text, format, and illustrations of the book do not conform to the stereotyped image of a government publication.

You may even enjoy reading it!

I certainly would have enjoyed reading it. First of all, it was full of thought-provoking illustrations such as the one shown here while discussing stockpiling food for an emergency, and the one shown above, depicting an idealized well-stocked shelter.

The booklet didn’t have quite as many details as most civil defense publications, but it did cover the basics, to teach kids the fundamental information they needed to know to survive a disaster.

There were chapters on forest fires, heat waves, tornadoes and thunderstorms, hurricanes, floods, winter storms, earthquakes and tidal waves, technological failures and emergencies, as well as environmental pollution. Of course, it culminated with chapters on nuclear disasters, warning systems, and home shelters, all information focused on preparation for a nuclear attack.

The book concluded with a chapter on psychological preparation, stressing the need to avoid panic, and the perils of inaction. For example, it explained how one resident of Pompeii survived by quickly taking action and leaving town when Vesuvius erupted, whereas those who didn’t act lost their lives to the disaster.

Even though written for kids, the book was candid in its description of the effects of nuclear weapons. For example, “if a 5-megaton bomb (5 million tons of TNT equivalent) were exploded in your living room, everything except specially designed structures in an area extending outward for 3 miles would be totally devastated. Look out your window and think what that means.”
The chapter on home shelters doesn’t go into any detail about construction details. Apparently, that will be left for Mom and Dad to figure out. But it does include this interesting vignette about one student’s experience with a home fallout shelter:

Dan’s eyes were open now. It should be morning, he thought. But it was still pitch black, and stuffy. If it was night, where was his window? The street lamp outside ? And if it was morning, why wasn’t it light ? He sat up on one elbow.

Dan remembered now. He was in the top bunk of the fallout shelter. Jerry was in the bunk below. Their parents had built and stocked the shelter in a corner of their basement; and then they decided to try it out.

What if this were a real attack, Dan wondered. That would be something else. Radiation caused by nuclear explosions would be scary—and could be a danger everywhere for people who survived the blast and heat of the explosion. At least you could protect yourself from radiation and the danger would fade with time. The radiation would decrease rapidly in the first 24 hours, and then start leveling off. Crash ! There was a shattering of glass. The peanut butter jar had fallen off a shelf onto the glass water jug. Both had shattered.

Dan watched his father carefully sweep the glass into the “dry garbage” sack.

“Obviously, no more glass in the shelter,” Dad said. “Plastic bottles for water; and stuff like jelly, and peanut butter, in plastic containers. And it needn’t be beans for breakfast every morning, either. A little planning could provide variety, as well as nourishment. Corned beef hash, canned spaghetti, peaches, and dry cereal . No problem there.”

By ten-thirty, the boys were bored to the teeth . This was the big problem with feeling cramped a close second. His parents were reading. He and Jerry worked awhile on a model jet fighter. But there was no glue. No heater either. No television, no fresh milk, no candles, no kerosene lamps. The radio was on now. This helped relieve the monotony. And he reflected that in a real emergency, the radio would be their link with the outside world. Through radio, they would receive official information and instructions–and they would learn when it would be safe to come out of shelter.

Dan felt sleepy. The air in the shelter was becoming warm and sticky. He longed for the outdoors and sunshine. Kids playing outside the shelter were yelling, having a good time. That made it very hard to wait until evening, when they would be leaving the shelter.

Despite this, he knew that in a real attack situation he would be grateful for the protection from radiation provided by the thick walls and roof of this shelter. He remembered that if there really had been a nuclear explosion, they probably would have to stay in the shelter for at least 24 to 48 hours–or even longer, depending on the outside level of radiation. And, they might even have to dig themselves out. That’s why they needed shovels, axes, and ropes. Dan was glad this was only a trial run. But he was also glad they’d done it.

It would make it easier to cope, if it ever came to the real thing.

Suddenly, it felt good to be alive !

Interestingly, the Civil Defense office also made a series of films designed to accompany the book. The one covering nuclear attack is quite interesting, and I’m sure would have been appreciated by older students. It begins as a “making of” movie about the production of a civil defense film, but has an ironic twist at the end:

Used copies of the book are available on Amazon at this link.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link.

Texas City Disaster: 1947

Parking lot a quarter mile from the blast. Wikipedia photo.

Saturday marks the 75th anniversary of the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, the Texas City disaster of April 16, 1947, which started as a fire aboard the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp docked at Texas City, Texas, with 2200 tons of ammonium nitrate. The disaster killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department.

Smoke was spotted in the cargo hold of the Grandcamp at about 8:00 AM. The captain ordered his crew to steam the hold, which probably made matters worse by converting the ammonium nitrate to nitrous oxide.

Spectators gathered, believing that they were a safe distance away. The sealed hold began to bulge, and water splashing against the hull began to boil.

The cargo detonated at 9:12 AM, with a blast leveling over a thousand buildings on land and destroyed the Monsanto chemical plan and ignited refinery and chemical tanks on the waterfront. Bails of twine from the cargo were set afire and hurled around the city. People in Galveston, 10 miles away, were forced to their knees, and the shock wave was felt as far as 250 miles away.

The ironically named SS High Flyer was docked nearby, and the blast set fire to that ship’s cargo of ammounium nitrate. Fifteen hours later, that ship exploded.

Hams Take To The Air

As might be expected, the blast destroyed much of the city’s communication infrastructure, and amateur radio operators quickly responded to fill the gap. Many of these stories are detailed in the July 1947 issue of QST (pages 38-40).

B.H. Standley, W5FQQ, on the air at city hall, along with city clerk Ernest Smith, Nurse Mrs. E.L. Brockman.

By noon, the first amateur portable and mobile stations had moved into the city and were on the air, working in conjuction with Army, Navy, Coast Guard, U.S. Engineers, FBI, and local and state police. Links were quickly set up between City Hall and stations in Houston and San Antonio. Most traffic was handled on 75 meter phone and 80 and 40 meter CW. W5KMZ reportedly handled over 200 messages, mostly involving needed medical supplies. As the hours went on, additional traffic was handled by W5FQQ at the mayor’s office, with over 300 messages passing on behalf of city officials, the Army, Red Cross, and Salvation Army.

An impromptu three-way net was established on 3989 kHz between Texas City, Galveston, and Houston. The FCC issued an order clearing the frequencies between 3840-3860 kHz, as well as 7050 for emergency use.

Two hams, W5FQQ and W5EEX, had been advised to evacuate but remained at their stations. They narrowly escaped death when the High Flyer lived up to its name with its explosion. W5FQQ was on the air at the time of the blast, and the blast was heard by W5IGS in Houston. 21 seconds later, the Houston station experienced his windows shaking.

W1AW declared the emergency to be over 11 days later, on April 17.

Broadcasters Cover the Disaster

Broadcasters also did their part to provide emergency relief. The FCC allowed broadcast stations to carry personal messages, ordinarily not permitted by the rules. According to the April 21, 1947, issue of Broadcasting, KPRC, the Houston NBC affiliate, was the first to announce the explosion of the French ship. A mobile crew was rushed to Texas City, and the station was able to feed live descriptions of the tragedy. It also broadcasts lists of wounded at hospitals in Galveston, Houston, and other nearby towns.

Another Houston station, KTHT, similarly acted in the public interest. The Texas Highway Patrol used the station as an unofficial traffic control outlet, warning away sightseers and directing public service vehicles. The station was on the air on a 24 hour basis, and no commercials were aired for two days. In fact, when the High Flyer exploded, the sound was carried live over the station’s report.

KXYZ and KTRH in Houston, as well as KRLD Dallas broadcast emergency information.

In Galveston, KGBC aired the first bulletin minutes after the first explosion, and aired 24 remote broadcasts. Normally a daytime station, it was granted authority to broadcast 24 hours.

KLUF in Galveston also remained on the air on a 24 hour basis, with emergency messages given priority. Long lists of the dead, missing, and injured were also aired.

KPAC in Port Arthur, a station we’ve previously featured, also carried emergency announcements and instructions from police and other officials. Another Port Arther station, KOLE, chartered a plane to get newsmen to the scene.

In San Antonio, WOAI received a request from the NBC network to charger a plane, fly over the area, and report back in a broadcast from San Antonio. Their description was aired on the network broadcast that evening.

Litigation Ensues

As might be expected, considerable litigation followed, much of it under the Federal Tort Claims Act for alleged negligence of the U.S. Government. The case ultimately made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Dahelite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15 (1953), in which the court held that the Government was not liable, since all of the claimed government negligence amounted to discretionary acts.

1962 Fallout Shelter Antenna

Sixty years ago this month, the February 1962 issue of Popular Mechanics carried this hint for using an outdoor antenna in the fallout shelter. The magazine noted that the shielding required for fallout protection could also shield against vital radio broadcasts. Since most radios didn’t have an external antenna jack, the magazine showed how to add one. A small coil was placed over the loopstick antenna, and that coil was hooked to an outdoor antenna. For optimal reception, you would tune in a station close to 640 or 1240, the CONELRAD frequencies, and slide the coil along until the signal was strongest. At that point, you would add a little cement to fix the coil in place.

The antenna could be unplugged when in normal use, but quickly put to work in the shelter in time of emergency.

Potassium Iodide for Nuclear Emergencies

Do not take any medicine unless directed to do so by a physician or public health authorities.

If you are reading this at the time of a nuclear emergency, then there are probably other priorities that are much higher than obtaining potassium iodide. Take care of those other priorities first. The following resources will provide you with useful information, and we recommend that you download them as soon as possible:

The author of this website is totally incompetent to offer any type of medical advice. Therefore, please do not take any pills that are recommended by this website, or any other website for that matter. You should only take pills that are recommended by your doctor, or other competent health authorities.

HHS Image.

But there could be some emergency situations where doctors or competent health authorities recommend that you take some particular kind of medicine. If you are unable to get that medicine because of the emergency, the medical advice won’t do you any good. Therefore, there are some medicines that it might be advisable to purchase before the emergency.

Can you think of a time when doctors were recommending a medicine, but that medicine was not available for purchase? Maybe some of our readers can think of an example.

In any event, it is possible that there could be a time when doctors recommend a particular medicine, but that medicine is not available. If that medicine is inexpensive now, then it would be prudent to buy some now. If your doctor tells you to take it at some later time, you can do so immediately. If you have extra medicine, you can give it to your friends and neighbors, if their doctor recommends it for then.

Potassium Iodide for Nuclear Emergencies

Potassium iodide (KI) is one medicine that your doctor might recommend in the event of certain nuclear emergencies. These could include a nuclear attack in your area, or even a nuclear attack in another part of the world. It could also include a Chernobyl-style nuclear accident or an attack against a nuclear reactor.

Nuclear radiation can, of course, cause many health problems, up to and including death. Potassium iodide can protect against only one hazard, namely exposure of your thyroid to radiation. In the big scheme of things, getting thyroid cancer many years later is a relatively small concern. If you’re old enough, you don’t have to worry at all, since you will die of old age before you get it. So if exposure to radiation is a possibility, then take precautions against the more serious risks before worrying too much about the future of your thyroid.

Thyroid. NIH image.

On the other hand, it is extremely simple to eliminate the risk of damage to your thyroid. If you flood your body with iodine before you are exposed to radioactive iodine, then the radioactive iodine will pass through your body harmlessly. But if you do not flood your body with iodine, then the radioactive iodine will collect in your thyroid, and you will potentially get cancer years later. So one concern during a nuclear emergency, albeit a rather minor concern in comparison to what’s going on, is flooding your thyroid with iodine.

Therefore, it is possible that some day, due to a nuclear disaster of some type, your doctor or public health authorities will recommend that you take 130 milligrams of Potassium Iodide. For example, according to the New York Department of Health, “if there is an emergency, you will hear an announcement from your local or state health officials. Your local health department will tell you when you should start taking KI and they will also tell you when you can stop taking it.” According to that site, the recommended dose for adults is 130 mg. Doses for children range from 16 to 130 mg, depending on age and weight.

You can read similar advice from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Centers for Disease Control, the Food & Drug Administration, the Department of Health & Human Services, and the World Health Organization. You can also find a good discussion at Nuclear War Survival Skills, and in this article written by a physician for laypersons.

What a well-organized government distribution might look like. VA image.

After a disaster in which your local and state health authorities tell you to take potassium iodide, the hope is that your Government will spring into action and distribute the potassium iodide to the public. For it to do any good, you need to take it before being exposed to the radiation. So you need to hope that your Government will spring into action very fast. They might, but it’s probably not something you can count on. And even if they spring into action fast enough, they might not have enough for everyone. So if you get yours from the Government, that might mean that some other person won’t get any. Therefore, it would be very wise to purchase it before the emergency. Fortunately, the cost of potassium iodide is low, and like everything else, you can buy it on Amazon:

Keep in mind that the adult dose is 130 mg, and if you are buying for only adults, that’s probably the most convenient size. If you need smaller doses, you can cut up pills, but it might be more convenient to buy smaller dose pills. Prices can vary, so shop around the various options to find the best option for you. You can probably buy potassium iodide from your local pharmacy. I don’t believe a prescription is required, but it’s probably up to the discretion of your pharmacist. But since it’s readily available on Amazon and other online sources, I would use one of them.

All of these products are available, and are intended for human consumption. It seems to me that it’s cheap insurance to buy it now, just in case your doctor or public health authorities tell you to take it. (Note: some health food stores sell potassium iodide supplements, but some of these have doses in the microgram range, which is much too low for radiation protection. Also, the amount of potassium iodide in iodized salt is much too low to provide any protection.)

A Consideration for Those With Small Children

Potassium iodide (KI) has a very bitter taste. This is generally not a problem, as long as someone is able to swallow a pill. For very young children, however, it might be necessary to cut a pill into small parts, and/or mix it with a liquid for them to drink. Because of the taste, it is possible that they will not be able to take the medicine. Therefore, if you anticipate this as a problem, you might consider purchasing potassium iodate (KIO3), which does not have a strong taste and can be mixed with food or beverages. For more information, see this site.

Update: Apparently, the FDA is not allowing sale of potassium iodate. For more information, see this site. Page 99 of Nuclear War Survival Skills contains some tips on making potassium iodide more palatable in case you need to cut up one of the pills and feed it to young children.

An Even Cheaper Alternative

There is an even cheaper option that we should mention: You can buy the materials you need to whip up a batch in your kitchen. As outlined in Nuclear War Survival Skills, you can purchase reagent quality potassium iodide. In fact, the local high school chemistry lab might have a large bottle, since it is used in a popular experiment to make elephant toothpaste.

One bottle is sufficient to make thousands of doses. However, the contents of the bottle must be diluted many times to make them safe for human consumption in the proper dose. Your doctor or public health authorities might be reluctant to tell you to take something you whipped up in the kitchen using materials from the chemistry set. But if you’re willing to take that chance, and potentially help hundreds of your friends and neighbors, you can purchase the reagent grade potassium iodide at Amazon. Be sure to download the instructions for making it safe for human use and the information at this site.

Using Iodine Transdermally

Warning: You must never drink elemental iodine, sometimes known as tincture of iodine, sold under the brand name Betadine. It is used as an antiseptic to apply to your skin. In an emergency, you can use this product to protect your thyroid–again, not be drinking it– but by painting it on your skin. For more information, see this site. I suspect that in the case of a radiation emergency, even if this product was available, pharmacies might refuse to sell it because they would believe, possibly correctly, that some patients would drink it. However, if you are faced with a nuclear emergency and you are otherwise unprepared, it’s possible that you might have this product in your medicine cabinet.

The following websites also contain information about potassium iodide, and have it available for sale: ki4u.com and nukepills.com.

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Product Review: Great Value Pulled Pork in BBQ Sauce

Bottom Line: Relatively expensive, but good way to add some variety to your survival kit.

We’ve previously reported about the importance of a car winter survival kit, to make sure you have enough food in the car to keep yourself reasonably comfortable if stranded. Recently, for example, a winter storm stranded motorists on Interstate 95 in Virginia for over 24 hours. As we showed previously, the kit in our car contains mostly dry food, and we have water and a means of cooking in the car.

One item that was lacking from the original kit was meat, or any type of protein for that matter. I corrected that after Christmas by buying a Hickory Farms meat and cheese gift package at a steep after-Christmas closeout discount, similar to the one shown at right.

Another item recently caught my eye, and that was the pouch of Great Value Pulled Pork in BBQ Sauce from Walmart. Its already cooked, so it only needs to be warmed up. Of course, in an emergency, it could be eaten cold. It’s best on a bun, but any kind of bread or crackers would work fine. You could also eat it right out of the pouch, or together with one of the other dishes in the survival kit, such as the rice or mashed potatoes.

To test it at home, I was originally going to heat it up in the microwave, but I realized that I should just warm it up as I would in the car. Since I have in the survival kit an emergency stove and a pan, I decided to duplicate this at home. To keep from getting the pan dirty, I heated up water and simply placed the pouch in the water. Of course, in an emergency, if water is short, you can still use the water for drinking or cooking. More likely than not, if I had to heat it up in the car while stranded, I would be using melted snow.

The finished product was better than I expected. It made a reasonably filling lunch, and in an emergency, a hot sandwich (or even just hot meat out of the pouch) would seem luxurious.

This product wouldn’t be viable for a large portion of your emergency food storage. The 2.8 ounce pouch cost $1.28. It provides 11 grams of protein, and only 130 calories. By contrast, a jar of peanut butter, for only a little bit more money, provides 2520 calories and 98 grams of protein. According to Harvard University, the recommended daily protein intake is 0.36 grams per pound. So a person weighing 150 pounds should get about 54 grams per day. This means that for long-term storage, the peanut butter is a much better value. But for a day or two, the pulled pork would add a few calories to your diet, provide a welcome hot meal, albeit a small one, and provide you with some protein. And it’s quite possible that the contents of the car witner survival kit will be frozen when you need them. Thawing a pouch of meat is probably a lot easier than figuring out how to thaw a jar of peanut butter.

The package I bought had a “best by” date of November 2024, almost three years in the future. So I’ll definitely be tossing some in the car survival kit. I hope I don’t have to use them until a future family survival picnic.

Incidentally, if the package looks familiar, that’s because this type of packaging is also used for tuna, another possible choice for the survival kit.

Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning this site earns a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking the link. However, the Walmart link above is not an affiliate link.

Yacht as Fallout Shelter, 1962

Sixty years ago today, the January 16, 1962, issue of the Washington Evening Star carried this feature by its outdoor editor about one of the stars of the New York Motor Boat Show. This craft was touted as a seagoing fallout shelter. The craft was from the Wheeler Yacht Company, which had teamed up with a name familiar to students of television history, namely Dr. Allen B. Du Mont, one of the pioneers of television.

The principle behind using a boat is sound, as described by Du Mont. Fallout is almost invariably heavier than water, and sinks to the bottom. If the water is 10 feet deep, this means that there is 10 feet of water between the fallout and the boat, which is equivalent to 3 feet of earth, giving excellent protection. Of course, fallout might have settled on the boat, so it was equipped with nozzles for cleaning the deck. Fallout on shore was dealt with through distance, by keeping the boat a minimum of 750 feet from shore. Of course, the ship did nothing to protect against blast and fire, and noted that it would need to be at least 35 miles from ground zero at the time of blast.

For a more detailed look at the concept of using boats for fallout protection, see the 1963 report from the U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, Civil Defense Utilization of Ships and Boats.

Lady Bird Johnson Tours Fallout Shelter, 1961

Shown here is second lady Lady Bird Johnson touring a fallout shelter at the home of John R. Bryan, Jr., 25014 Woodfield Drive, Damascus, Maryland.

Because of his official duties as Training and Education Officer with the Office of Civil Defense, Mr. Bryan would be on duty at such time as the shelter was occupied, but he built it, at an expense of about $300 for the benefit of his wife, daughters, and mother in law.

According to the Washington Evening Star, the shelter was surprisingly cheerful looking, with yellow walls. It measured 10 by 11, with a height of six feet. Concrete blocks eight feet thick surrounded it. About 40 gallons of water were stored in the shelter, with an additional 160 gallons in tanks in the basement connected to the shelter by a hose. Food consisted largely of canned goods, with crackers and other items. A canned heat stove was on hand to heat meals, but when Bryan participated in a shelter occupancy experiment, it was discovered that this type of stove was very slow to heat the food. They also had a ratemeter and dosimeter, and as shown above, a portable radio. Little money was spent on furnishings, since most were hand-me-downs or camping gear.

The children slept on the double-decker cots, and one cot was left out during the day for seating. Another cot was unfolded at night for sleeping. A folding table rounded out the furnishings. Toilet facilities consisted of a portable toilet using plastic bags, which would be sealed in food cannisters after they had been emptied.

Re-use of N95 Masks

Most N95 respirators are intended to be disposed of after a single use. However, during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were insufficient numbers of respirators for healthcare workers, and strategies for preserving the supplies were necessary. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control published strategies for reusing masks, rather than disposing of them after each use. Those strategies were published online.

As of May 2021, that agency reported that the supply of approved respirators has increased significantly, and most healthcare facilities should resume conventional practices, namely, disposing of masks after one use.

However, with the increased availability of N95 masks, many consumers are using them for protection outside of the healthcare context. We have previously published a review of some of the available N95 and KN95 masks.

While they are now readily available, the cost might be prohibitive if a whole family wears them all day and then has to dispose of them. Therefore, many consumers may want to employ the same strategies to be able to use a single mask for more than a single use.

I rarely wear an N95 mask for more than a few minutes at a time, and it’s usually in relatively low-risk situations, such as a supermarket. Therefore, it would be extremely expensive to discard it each time. Therefore, I store the mask and re-use it at a later time. I use a procedure similar to these instructions from the North Dakota Department of Health, which show the approved procedure for re-use. Basically, I carefully remove the mask in a brown paper bag until the next use. This video from the University of Nebraska is a good overview of the procedure:

If you are looking for particular masks, I have used and recommend all of the following, all of which are made in the USA. You can view my full review of these masks at this link. (Note that availability varies, but all of these are usually available at Amazon. You may need to search for different colors or different size packages.

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