Terror Alert

[TheEarl]

Some of you may or may not know, that the British government is currently sending out booklet thingys called "Preparing For Emergencies" which is basically a 'what to do in case of a terrorist attack' book. It's a modernised version of those public information films from the 60s about nuclear attacks.

The problem is - nobody's going to read it. Come on, be honest. I'm actually interested (I have a twinkling of an idea for a novel and this kind of thing would be useful background) and I couldn't get through it when I looked it up on the internet.

What would be more useful would be if the government bought the rights to a show which is showing on Sky atm, called "Terror Alert - Could You Survive...?" It's hosted by Chris Ryan (ex-SAS commander and military-novellist) and although it sounds like a twisted gameshow, it's actually extraordinarily interesting.

The first show was "Could You Survive... Terrorist Attack" and ran through a hypothetical situation of a terrorist attack on Britain. A lorry bomb aimed for Old Trafford (Man Utd's football ground for non English) is stopped by police and the driver detonates a dirty bomb. Simultaneously, anthrax is sprayed from a tower building over the London Marathon. It is also discovered that cocaine was sold in London which was cut with anthrax, spreading the contagion further.

The thing that interested you was that is wasn't shot with computer graphics and a clean shaven presenter walking in front with a laser pointer - it was shot like a movie. Chris Ryan is in an office building in Manchester which is taken out by the bomb and, although he talks in asides to the camera, he's bloodied, dirtied and surrounded by injured and dying people. The footage is interspersed with faux news broadcasts, using the anchors from Sky News. It isn't showing a hypothetical situation, it is using effects and actors to make it seem like it's really happening.

Scared me more than anything and you can bet I paid attention.

Now I know how to deal with anthrax, dirty bombs, hostage situations and a nuclear explosion at the Plymouth Docks. Never would have learned that from HM government's booklet.

I know this is a radical statement, but a channel owned by Rupert Murdoch has actually produced educational television. IMHO it should be used.

[/ramble]

The Earl

 

[Wyatt]

I'll start reading their terror leaflet when they start reading my stories on Lit. Yup..they probably got good advice...considering they are safe behind millions of pounds worth of defences paid for by the taxpayers and we are on our lonesome.

 

[rgraham666]

What? Another terror alert? That's like, 754 of them so far. But whose counting.

In the scenario listed above, there are only three things to do. They must be done in the proper order.

1. Bend over.

2. Place head firmly between legs.

3. Kiss your ass goodbye!

 

[TheEarl]

Anyone got an opinion on the show before the hijacking begins in earnest? Or am I the only person who watched it?

The Earl


We will all go together when we go. All suffused in an incandescent glow. When the air becomes uranious, we will all go simultaneous. We will all go together when we go.

 

[Guest]

What? Another terror alert? That's like, 754 of them so far. But whose counting.

In the scenario listed above, there are only three things to do. They must be done in the proper order.

1. Bend over.

2. Place head firmly between legs.

3. Kiss your ass goodbye!

Small clarification needed.

Do you place your head firmly between your own legs?

'Cause if not, that would certainly change my opinion about the terror alert.

 

[Guest]

Anyone got an opinion on the show before the hijacking begins in earnest? Or am I the only person who watched it?

The Earl


We will all go together when we go. All suffused in an incandescent glow. When the air becomes uranious, we will all go simultaneous. We will all go together when we go.

I adore Tom Lehrer.

Poisoning pigeons, anyone?

 

[TheEarl]

Dammit, I've screwed the thread by Lehrering. Never going to get a serious point now. May have to open a separate Tom Lehrer thread.

The Earl

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Well I think the idea of a DocuDrama is much better than a booklet.
After seeing all that went on during 9/11 we need to still keep abreast of things, and people need to know the seriousness of what could or may happen.

I highly doubt most people would really know what to do in such an emergency.

 

[TheEarl]

Abstruse: I like you . The docu-drama bit was what made it interesting.

Apparently if a suitcase bomb were set off, you'd be screwed if you were in the epicentre. However, if you are in the fallout zone, Chris Ryan suggests either buggering off away (risky because everyone else will be doing the same thing) or proofing your house, sealing all the windows and doors, filling a bathtub with water and any bottles before the water supply gets contaminated and setting up a cubby, either under the stair, a cellar or (his option as 'his house' didn't have either of those) constructing a lean to against an inside wall, using doors and mattresses to form a bivouac which will help shield against radiation. Take in tinned food, bottle water, a radio and a shitload of books and stuff. Avoid coming out from the bivouac and don't go outside. After 7 days the most lethal radiation will have decayed and you should hear on the radio that you can be evacuated after 14 days or so.

Sounded pretty professional to me.

The Earl

 

[Guest]

Sweetpea, I've taken you seriously often but right now I can't; not that you don't always deserve it. In the event of a terrorist attack, major earthquake or falling in love again, if I survive I'm going to get drunk or laid, whichever is easiest.

Auntie Pear

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Abstruse: I like you . The docu-drama bit was what made it interesting.

Apparently if a suitcase bomb were set off, you'd be screwed if you were in the epicentre. However, if you are in the fallout zone, Chris Ryan suggests either buggering off away (risky because everyone else will be doing the same thing) or proofing your house, sealing all the windows and doors, filling a bathtub with water and any bottles before the water supply gets contaminated and setting up a cubby, either under the stair, a cellar or (his option as 'his house' didn't have either of those) constructing a lean to against an inside wall, using doors and mattresses to form a bivouac which will help shield against radiation. Take in tinned food, bottle water, a radio and a shitload of books and stuff. Avoid coming out from the bivouac and don't go outside. After 7 days the most lethal radiation will have decayed and you should hear on the radio that you can be evacuated after 14 days or so.

Sounded pretty professional to me.

The Earl

Why thank you!

The local nuclear plant around here is giving out potasium idodine pills to those who want them. Sort of makes you think a little.

Cities should do some kind of drills and the schools should have courses for kids to understand things.

It's part of our reality now.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Why thank you!

The local nuclear plant around here is giving out potasium idodine pills to those who want them. Sort of makes you think a little.

Cities should do some kind of drills and the schools should have courses for kids to understand things.

It's part of our reality now.

Kinda off topic, kinda on. My uncle says when he was a kid in public school they would have atom bomb drills. You was supposed to get under your desk and hold a piece of paper over your head. He said he and most other kids didn't think a piece of paper would help if a atom bomb hit you in the head but they did it to keep from getting detention class.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Kinda off topic, kinda on. My uncle says when he was a kid in public school they would have atom bomb drills. You was supposed to get under your desk and hold a piece of paper over your head. He said he and most other kids didn't think a piece of paper would help if a atom bomb hit you in the head but they did it to keep from getting detention class.

I remember hearing about those drills....but paper over your head? Yes, that would deflect fallout, I'm sure.

Luckily both my kids are in the same school and I would be there at light speed to get them.

 

[impressive]

... if I survive I'm going to get drunk or laid, whichever is easiest.

Oh, BOTH! BOTH!

Piece if not peace,

 

[R. Richard]

Kinda off topic, kinda on. My uncle says when he was a kid in public school they would have atom bomb drills. You was supposed to get under your desk and hold a piece of paper over your head. He said he and most other kids didn't think a piece of paper would help if a atom bomb hit you in the head but they did it to keep from getting detention class.

I have talked to people who were in high school back in the 50s when the atom bomb drills were ongoing. What actually happened is that the teacher would say, "Drop!" The kids were required to drop to the floor alongside (not under) their desks and cover their heads with the hands/arms.

The strategy was to get the kids below the bottom of the classroom windows and to prevent flying glass from cutting at least their heads. The kids were not required to get under the desks, as the different styles of desks often made it impossible to get under a desk.

You are correct in believing that most of the kids did not think the exercise was useful, but it was better than detention.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The strategy was to get the kids below the bottom of the classroom windows and to prevent flying glass from cutting at least their heads. The kids were not required to get under the desks, as the different styles of desks often made it impossible to get under a desk.

We were required to get on our knees beneath our desks. I remember because the guy in front of my friend farted and we all had a good laugh. We had no idea why we were kneeling under our desks with out coats over our heads, just like we had no idea why we did most of the stuff we did in grammar school. We just did it.

Most of the civil defense stuff they taught in the fifties and sixties was pure bullshit intended to soothe the masses and make us think we even had a chance. It's pretty certain that any thermonuclear weapon hitting a city would create a firestorm that would make Dresden look like tea candle. Such a conflagration would suck the oxygen out of the air and suffocate anyone who didn't have their own self-contained breathing apparatus, no matter how hard their fallout shelter was.

Similarly this movie. It depends on what kind of radionuclide they used to make a radiological dirty bomb. The ones that have the most damaging radiation do have the shortest half-lives, but more likely they would use something not so immediately lethal but with a longer half-life, like plutonium, in which case the danger comes not from the immediate radiation but from the long-term effects of inhaling the dust.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

hiding from an atomic bomb

I was one of those kids, in kindergarten or first grade. We folded ourselves up under our desk with our hands covering our faces.

We were shown a movie of an atom bomb exploding, mushroom cloud and all. There were actors playing a family inside a nice middle-class looking house from which you could see the bomb blast through the window then the people and everything disintegrating. A narrator said something like, "If you see the bomb you will die like that." So at night I pulled down my window shade and closed the curtains, thinking I'd be safe cos I wouldn't "see" anything.

Perdita

 

[doormouse]

We got that terrorist booklet over a year ago.

It was basics mostly. Always carry surgical gloves with you incase you need to help the injured...

Dust/face masks... that sort of thing.

It was too long ago now to remember all the details.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

I don’t expect to get good advice from politicians, or their hirelings, about what to do in an emergency, for the simple reason that if they had any advice worth following there most likely wouldn’t BE an emergency.

In any case, the politicians would be too busy lying to us for “our own good” or theirs, to offer any useful information to the general public.

After all, I have seen The Atomic Cafe.

If you wish to get an idea of the value of government advisories to their constituents, take a look for it in you local video store.

The Atomic Café [1982]
IMDb.com

A compilation of 1960's films about what to do in case of a Nuclear attack and the effects of radiation, also footage of troop tests of the exposure to an atomic bomb.

Atomic Café is a review of the atomic age and the beliefs held by Americans at the time. Many things such as Bert the Turtle who was the figurehead of the "Duck and Cover" campaign are featured. Along with these film clips are portions of Army training films and demonstration films concerning atomic testing. All of these clips are combined to show how little the experts knew about atomics at the time. And even more to the heart, the point is to show the extent propaganda was used to mollify the fears of the American public, and her soldiers.


Memorable Quotes from The Atomic Café —

Army information film: When not close enough to be killed, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights in the world.

Civil defense film: Be sure to include tranquillizers to ease the strain and monotony of life in a fallout shelter. A bottle of 100 should be sufficient for a family of four. Tranquillizers are not a narcotic, and are not habit-forming.

 

[English Lady]

I've not recieved my leaflet yet (Borkenhead mustn't be high on the threat list) but I have a friend on another forum who has. He posted this helpful link...which tells you the content of the leaflet.


www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk


based on that I reckon the docudrama thing would work alot better, infact anything televisual would probably be better. Shove it on at prime time and people might actually pick up on some hints.

The leaflet will get thrown in the bin with all the other junk mail we get I'm sure.

 

[pop_54]

I love this little chapter from the UK govnt booklet, mostly it treats us as sensible adults... But I'm not too sure about the advice not to go into burning buildings or the little ditty at the end.


Quote:
If you find yourself in the middle of an emergency, your common sense and instincts will usually tell you what to do. However, it is important to:

Make sure 999 has been called if people are injured or if there is a threat to life

Not put yourself or others in danger

Follow the advice of the emergency services

Try to remain calm and think before acting, and try to reassure others

Check for injuries - remember to help yourself before attempting to help others

If you are not involved in the incident, but are close by or believe you may be in danger, in most cases the advice is:

Go inside a safe building

Stay inside until you are advised to do otherwise

Tune in to local radio or TV for more information

Of course, there are always going to be particular occasions when you should not “go in” to a building, for example if there is a fire. Otherwise: GO IN, STAY IN, TUNE IN.
Unquote:



I do agree though that a nice juicy docu-drama on th box would probably reach more people.

 

[gauchecritic]

I've seen the 'how to build a shelter in your home' thing before but I've never read any anti-terrorist leaflets.

Does the leaflet include how to help injured people after a plain old explosive device has been actuated in a busy shopping mall?

I never saw any when the IRA were rampant so I suppose it would be too much to ask for now.




Nuclear bomb threat: If you see it or hear it, do what you like, you don't have long left.

If it's visible at night or on the horizon: Whatever you do, do not go towards the light. Head for Scotland. (Assuming London bomb, if Glasgow bomb head for Og or Tatelous)

Anthrax threat: Make your way quickly to your local farmer (or major drug dealer in cities) and steal their shotgun (be careful not to appear as if you are a 17 year old burglar) On securing shotgun go to any supermarket and clear their shelves of as many tinned goods as you can find (corned beef and spam have a shelf life measured in centuries) then go home and shoot any one who approaches your door (especially postmen with anthrax laden parcels)
Fill bath with hot water and add herbal essence to taste. Soak whole body for up to 1 and a half hours whilst drinking copious amounts of Chateau Briande (Stella or WKD blue if you must) and step from the bathroom feeling refreshed and so pissed that you couldn't care less anyway.

Gauche

 

[Lisa Denton]

I've seen the 'how to build a shelter in your home' thing before but I've never read any anti-terrorist leaflets.

Does the leaflet include how to help injured people after a plain old explosive device has been actuated in a busy shopping mall?

I never saw any when the IRA were rampant so I suppose it would be too much to ask for now.




Nuclear bomb threat: If you see it or hear it, do what you like, you don't have long left.

If it's visible at night or on the horizon: Whatever you do, do not go towards the light. Head for Scotland. (Assuming London bomb, if Glasgow bomb head for Og or Tatelous)

Anthrax threat: Make your way quickly to your local farmer (or major drug dealer in cities) and steal their shotgun (be careful not to appear as if you are a 17 year old burglar) On securing shotgun go to any supermarket and clear their shelves of as many tinned goods as you can find (corned beef and spam have a shelf life measured in centuries) then go home and shoot any one who approaches your door (especially postmen with anthrax laden parcels)
Fill bath with hot water and add herbal essence to taste. Soak whole body for up to 1 and a half hours whilst drinking copious amounts of Chateau Briande (Stella or WKD blue if you must) and step from the bathroom feeling refreshed and so pissed that you couldn't care less anyway.

Gauche

Ha,ha,ha. That was good Gauche.
I looked at one of those links and they do have some basic first-aid stuff but no, probably not enough to keep someone alive till help arrives after an explosion in the mall.
I think we should head for Og's or Tatelous if a nuclear bomb goes off no matter where the ground zero is. For group hugs and soothing tea.
When the much feared Y-2000 scare happened I saw a nut with an SUV loaded full of bottled water running red-lights and driving like a mad-man. The fear on his face scared the hell out of me. Not for what might happen but what he might do. I hope he did not kill anyone driving like that.
I think in an emergency one of the biggest dangers might turn out to be someone else's fear.
I didn't start out to make this reply to your funnin serious, it just happened, please forgive me .

 

[dr_mabeuse]

During the NYC inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, they mentioned some likely terrorist tactics. One of the most plausible was that terrorists might set fire to, say, the tenth floor of a twenty-story high-rise. It’s easy to do, difficult to prevent, and very hard to combat, since fire hoses from the ground only reach to—I think—the sixth floor.

I just hope no terrorists are reading this. I don’t think there are many Muslim fundamentalists here on Lit though, if it please God.

---dr.M.

 

[shereads]

I just hope no terrorists are reading this. I don’t think there are many Muslim fundamentalists here on Lit though, if it please God.

---dr.M.

If it please Allah, you blaspheming tool of Satan.