Page:Survival Under Atomic Attack.djvu/24

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YOU WON'T NEED AN INSTRUMENT TO DETECT RADIOACTIVITY. SPECIALISTS WILL DO IT FOR YOU. with Geiger counters and other instruments. However, you won't have to know how to use one of these. Instead, you can rely on your local radiological defense teams—a small, specially trained corps of "meter readers"—to warn you of the presence of lingering radioactivity. You also can count on them to see to it that firefighters, rescue workers, and other people who may have to enter contaminated places do not remain there long enough to be injured.

But always remember our sunlight comparison. There is usually a whale of a difference between THE RADIOACTIVITY FROM YOUR LUMINOUS WRIST WATCH DIAL CAN BE DETECTED EASILY. detectable and dangerous amounts of radioactivity. The rays and particles from an ordinary, luminous-dial wrist watch will cause a roar in the earphones of a Geiger counter, as just one example. We must not lose our heads just because radioactivity is reported as present.

 WHAT ABOUT PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM LINGERING RADIOACTIVITY?

COVER YOURSELF TO AVOID CONTAMINATION WITH RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS.

While attempting to avoid exposure to the bomb's blast, heat, and explosive radioactivity, also do what you can to keep from being showered by radioactive waste materials. Inside a shelter or building there is little or nothing to fear from this source. But if caught out-of-doors, try to grab hold of something to cover yourself with when you fall to the ground. A board or some
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