Nuclear war survival skills
Encyclopedia
Nuclear War Survival Skills or NWSS by Cresson Kearny
is a civil defense
manual. It contains information gleaned from research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
during the Cold War
, as well as from Kearny's extensive jungle living and international travels.
The book aims to provide a general audience with advice on how to survive conditions likely to be encountered in the event of a nuclear catastrophe, as well as encouraging optimism in the face of such a catastrophe by asserting the survivability of a nuclear war.
The topics covered in NWSS include:
This book was placed in the public domain
by the author and is available in digital format for free online (see 'external links' below) and elsewhere. In the printed form a modest charge will generally be incurred. The printed book bears (ISBN 0-942487-01-X).
Cresson Kearny
Cresson Henry Kearny wrote several survival related books based primarily on research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.-Career:Kearny attended Texas Military Institute in the 1930s, where he became the commanding officer of the cadet corps, a champion runner and rifle shot, and...
is a civil defense
Civil defense
Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...
manual. It contains information gleaned from research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, as well as from Kearny's extensive jungle living and international travels.
The book aims to provide a general audience with advice on how to survive conditions likely to be encountered in the event of a nuclear catastrophe, as well as encouraging optimism in the face of such a catastrophe by asserting the survivability of a nuclear war.
The topics covered in NWSS include:
- Psychological and pre-crisis preparations
- EvacuationEmergency evacuationEmergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
- ShelterFallout shelterA fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
- VentilationVentilation (architecture)Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
and cooling - WaterWaterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
- Food
- Fire protectionFire protectionFire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as well as the research and development, production, testing and application of...
- Fallout MetersKearny Fallout MeterThe Kearny Fallout Meter or KFM is an expedient radiation meter designed to be able to be constructed immediately before or during a nuclear attack by someone with a normal mechanical ability and from common household items. It also is a science project demonstrating the effect of ionizing...
- Light
- SanitationSanitationSanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
- Medical issues and First AidFirst aidFirst aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
- Permanent Shelters
This book was placed in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
by the author and is available in digital format for free online (see 'external links' below) and elsewhere. In the printed form a modest charge will generally be incurred. The printed book bears (ISBN 0-942487-01-X).
See also
- Blast shelterBlast shelterA blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. It differs from a fallout shelter, in that its main purpose is to protect from shock waves and overpressure, instead of from radioactive precipitation, as a fallout shelter does...
- Bug-out bagBug-out bagA bug-out bag is a portable kit that contains the items one would require to survive for seventy-two hours when evacuating from a disaster. It is also known as a 72-hour kit, a grab bag, a battle box, and other popular names include "Personal Emergency Relocation Kits" GO Bag and GOOD bag...
- Cresson KearnyCresson KearnyCresson Henry Kearny wrote several survival related books based primarily on research performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.-Career:Kearny attended Texas Military Institute in the 1930s, where he became the commanding officer of the cadet corps, a champion runner and rifle shot, and...
- Duck-and-coverDuck and coverDuck and Cover was a suggested method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear weapon which the United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the early 1950s into the 1980s. This was supposed to protect them in the event of an unexpected nuclear...
- Effects of nuclear explosions on human healthEffects of nuclear explosions on human healthThe medical effects of a nuclear blast upon humans can be put into four categories:*Initial stage -- the first 1–9 weeks, in which are the greatest number of deaths, with 90% due to thermal injury and/or blast effects and 10% due to super-lethal radiation exposure*Intermediate stage -- from 10–12...
- Fallout shelterFallout shelterA fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
- Kearny Fallout MeterKearny Fallout MeterThe Kearny Fallout Meter or KFM is an expedient radiation meter designed to be able to be constructed immediately before or during a nuclear attack by someone with a normal mechanical ability and from common household items. It also is a science project demonstrating the effect of ionizing...
- Kearny Air PumpKearny Air PumpThe Kearny Air Pump is an expedient air pump used to ventilate a shelter. The design is such that a person with normal mechanical skills can construct and operate one. It is usually human powered and employed during a time of crisis...
- Potassium iodidePotassium iodidePotassium iodide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula KI. This white salt is the most commercially significant iodide compound, with approximately 37,000 tons produced in 1985. It is less hygroscopic than sodium iodide, making it easier to work with...
- Protect and SurviveProtect and SurviveProtect and Survive was a public information series on civil defence produced by the British government during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts,...
- SurvivalismSurvivalismSurvivalism is a movement of individuals or groups who are actively preparing for future possible disruptions in local, regional, national, or international social or political order...
External links
- Online version of NWSS at Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine's homepage
- Another online version of NWSS
- Free PDF download of Nuclear War Survival Skills
- Red Cross preparations recommendations
- A Mother Thinks about Nuclear Survival, an editorial written by Jenny Hatch which references Cresson Kearny's Book
- Video Tour of Jenny Hatchs Storage Room with 72 Hour Kits Explained
- Survivalist website with vast information regarding many crisis scenarios, including nuclear war