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Purpose

This information is provided to help citizens understand the medical hazards associated with chemical weapons, and to offer simple steps people may take to protect themselves and their families.
This information has been gathered from many sources. Mainly from Umatilla County Emergency Management and Morrow County Emergency Management located in Oregon and Washington State.
If you have any additional information: Please Email
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Shelter In Place

When there's not enough time to evacuate, you may be asked to take shelter (shelter in place):
  • If possible, bring pets inside. Do not risk your safety for your pets.
  • Close and lock all windows and doors to the outside.
  • Tum off heating/air conditioning systems and close vents.
  • If there is a fireplace, put out the fire and close the damper.
  • Do not call 9-1-1 unless you are reporting an inirnediate life-threatening situation.
  • Go to a room in your house that has the fewest windows/ doors to the outside. Pick an upstairs room, if possible.
  • Put duct tape around the edges of windows and outlets.
  • If you have pre-cut plastic sheeting for the windows, tape the plastic over the windows instead.
  • Bring enough food and water for a few hours and a radio into this room.
  • Shut and seal the door to the rest of the house with duct tape (stuff a damp towel in the crack under the door).
  • Stay indoors until you receive official notice it is safe to go out, or are asked to leave the area. Information on the radio will tell you what to do next.

Get Ready Now Just In Case- Make a shelter kit:

Be sure to include:
1. Duct tape
2. Towels for under doors
3. Pre-cut plastic for windows/vents
4. A battery-powered radio
5. Snack foods and water (one gallon per person)
6. Extra clothing for winter months
7. Items to keep kids occupied

Store this "kit" in a large plastic bucket in the room you decide to shelter in. The plastic bucket will work as a toilet, if needed.

Take shelter in a room with the fewest openings to the outside, on an upstairs floor if possible. If large enough for everyone in your home/workplace, a bathroom is the ideal shelter room.

If you need to evacuate

  • Do not call 9-1-1 unless you are reporting an immediate life-threatening situation.
  • Be certain you are in an area that is being evacuated. Listen carefully to the instructions provided on a local radio station.
  • Collect essential supplies.
  • Shut windows, doors and vents. Close the damper on your fireplace after putting out fire if lit.
  • If you have time, leave food and water for pets. Do not risk your safety for your pets.
  • Know where you are going and where to meet family members if you are separated.
  • Leave quickly and take a road you are familiar with, or take an established evacuation route.
  • Be sure to generally travel awayfrom the danger
  • If you need a ride, try to get a ride with a neighbor.
  • Do not bring firearms or alcoholic beverages.

Purposes

  • To remove residents from potentially hazardous areas during a natural disaster, such as a flash flood or wildfire.
  • To prevent residents from being exposed to toxic chemicals.
  • Prepare Now
  • Prepare a "get-away" kit:
    • Extra clothing, outer-wear.
    • Personal hygiene items.
    • Extra set of keys.
    • Medical supplies such as eyeglasses, dentures, prescription drums and a first aid kit.
    • Special diet supplements, baby formulas.
    • Baby supplies such as diapers, toys.
    • Portable, battery-powered radio and flashlight. Driver's license, identification and other important papers.
    • Checkbook, credit cards and cash.
    • Sleeping bags and extra blankets.
    • List of relatives' addresses and phone numbers.
    • Bottled water and snack foods to nibble on. You may be stuck in traffic or face other delays.
  • If possible, keep at least half a tank of gasoline in your car at all times.
  • Know where you and your family members will meet if you are separated.
  • If you need a ride, arrange to have someone pick you up.

Make a plan

Discuss with your family what you will do during an emergency evacuation. Decide now who will lock the doors and windows, pack the car, feed the pets, etc. You may not want to wait for an emergency to make these decisions, because there probably won't be time during an evacuation.

Where should you go?

Listen to a radio. The Emergency Broadcast System will tell you where to go. You may be sent to a reception center, on your way to an American Red Cross Shelter:

Pets In Emergencies

Can you take your pets with you?

If asked to evacuate, you're encouraged to leave your pets at home, with food and water to last a few days. Red Cross shelters won't accept pets, and you could waste valuable time rounding up your animals for the trip. However, if concern for your pet's welfare would keep you at home, bring your pets with you to a reception center.

Public Health Issues

A release of chemicals from weapons is very unlikely. However, these chemicals pose a serious human health hazard if present in high enough concentrations.

Information provided in the table below explains what the chemicals (called chemical agents) look like, smell like, how quickly they evaporate, and how they work on the human body.
Agent GB (Sarin) VX HD (Mustard)
Characteristics Has no odor or color. Evaporates quickly, like water. Looks like oil. Has no odor. Evaporates slowly. Garlic or mustard smell at toxic levels. Evaporates slowly.
Routes of possible exposure Greatest threat is from breathing GB vapors. Also toxic if it comes in contact with skin. Greatest threat is from contact with skin. Penetrates skin and clothing easily. High temperatures increase the threat from breathing VX vapors. Greatest threat is from contact with skin. Due to delay between exposure and signs of exposure, a contaminated person could pass the agent to another person.

Protecting yourself

People can protect themselves by avoiding contact with a chemical cloud (and liquid deposits of agent) or by receiving treatment soon after being exposed.

Avoiding exposure

Your current best protection is to have a plan to shelter in place. Evacuation may not be advised if there isn't enough time to leave the area before a chemical cloud arrives.

Sheltering in place means sealing yourself in a room in your house (or workplace) by taping over cracks around doors, stuffing damp towels into cracks at the bottom of doors, covering windows with plastic, and taping over outlets. This reduces the amount of outside air introduced into a home or building while a potential cloud of agent passes by. When possible, you will be advised to evacuate an area before the agent ever reaches your location. This way, you avoid exposure all together.

For people likely to come in contact with agent, such as emergency workers responding to a chemical accident, avoiding exposure means wearing protective clothing and a gas mask or respirator.
 

Receiving treatment

The second method of protection from exposure to chemical agent involves decontamination and medical treatment.

Treating yourself

If you're concerned that you may have been exposed to nerve or mustard agents before you took shelter, you may achieve some benefit by removing your clothing quickly and taking a shower with warm (not hot) water and soap.

SALES AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION Paul
Call 1-800-635-4343 or (734)946-8320 for information

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