WHAT TO DO BEFORE

• If you are near the blast when it occurs
• Turn away and close and cover your eyes to prevent damage to your sight.
  
• Drop to the ground face down and place your hands under your body.
  
• Remain flat until the heat and two shock waves have passed.
  
• If you are outside when the blast occurs
  
• Find something to cover your mouth and nose, such as a scarf, handkerchief, or other cloth.
• Remove any dust from your clothes by brushing, shaking, and wiping in a ventilated area, however, cover your mouth and nose while you do this.
• Move to a shelter, basement, or other underground area, preferably located away from the direction that the wind is blowing.
• Your community should have a plan in place in case of a radiation emergency.
• Check with community leaders to learn more about the plan and possible evacuation routes.
• Check with your child's school, the nursing home of a family member, and your employer to see what their plans are for dealing with a radiation emergency.
• Develop your own family emergency plan so that every family member knows what to do.
• At home, put together an emergency kit that would be appropriate for any emergency.

WHAT TO DO AFTER

• An extremely bright flash could indicate a nuclear detonation. Many nuclear explosions have a "double flash" effect, and some can glare for several seconds. Looking at a nuclear flash even momentarily could cause blinding burns.
• Immediately "duck and cover": that is, get your head down and try to find something to hide under that may protect you or at least your head from collapsing walls and falling objects. Don't wait for the sound of an explosion; the blast wave of an atomic detonation expands at the speed of sound, and you may only have seconds to react.
• The blast wave could take up to a minute to reach you. Wait twice this long before assuming you are safe from the blast.
• Maintain your cover for several seconds after you feel an impact. The blast may effect your location more than once as it reflects off of hills or structures, and powerful wind gusts may be blow back towards the explosion or swirl unpredictably.
• Our next concern should be fire. A nuclear flash can ignite fires even in areas far enough away to escape the blast. Dark, flammable surfaces facing the fireball are especially vulnerable, but all damaged structures carry their own fire risks, especially from broken electrical wiring or natural gas leaks. If you cannot be certain your structure is not on fire or filling with gas, follow the evacuation procedure for your location and get out immediately.
• Your next concern is fallout: highly radioactive dust or flakes that will fall to the earth after the blast. This can start landing within minutes and continue falling for hours, and can spread over many miles. It will fall mostly in the immediate vicinity of the blast and in the areas downwind of it. It may affect your area even if you felt little or nothing of the blast, and can remain deadly for days or weeks. As soon as safely possible, you will want to determine where you are in relation to the blast and the direction of the wind.
• A mushroom cloud is an obvious clue to where a blast occurred, but dust, smoke, or structures may obscure your view. In these cases, look to fallen poles, trees, or signage. Most will have fallen in the direction opposite the blast. You may also look for flash burn damage, which would occur mostly on surfaces that had faced the explosion.