This book is included in the Anti-Terror, Terrorism & Terrorists section.
RAND Public Safety and Justice
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Preface
This Quick Guide presents a strategy that individuals
can adopt to prepare for and respond to terrorist
attacks involving chemical, radiological, nuclear, and
biological weapons. The strategy is designed to provide
simple and clear guidance for individuals to help
protect themselves in the event of an actual terrorist
attack, which may involve extremely hazardous and
unfamiliar conditions. Steps that individuals are now
taking or might take to avoid such attacks are not
part of this strategy.
These recommendations emerged from a study
that RAND conducted, under the sponsorship of the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and is fully reported in
Individual Preparedness and Response to Chemical,
Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist
Attacks, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND, MR-1731-SF,
2003.
This study was conducted within RAND’s Public
Safety and Justice program. RAND Public Safety and
Justice conducts research and analysis that helps
inform policymakers and communities in the areas of
public safety, including law enforcement, terrorism
preparedness, immigration, emergency response and
management, and natural disasters; criminal justice,
including sentencing and corrections policy, firearms,
and community violence; and drug policy, which
focuses on problems related to illegal drugs and substance
abuse.
Inquiries about RAND Public Safety and Justice
may be directed to
Jack Riley, RAND Public Safety and Justice
1700 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
310-393-0411
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Recommended Response Strategy:
Chemical Attack
Recommended Response Strategy:
Radiological Attack
Recommended Response Strategy:
Nuclear Attack
Recommended Response Strategy:
Biological Attack
Recommended Response Strategy:
Personal Priorities
What You Can Do to Prepare Yourself
What Government and Business Can Do
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people have participated in this project and
contributed in a variety of ways. We would especially
like to thank our many RAND colleagues. Lisa
Meredith and Terri Tanielian superbly led our focus
group discussions; James T. Quinlivan, John
Parachini, and Greg Jones helped us develop the terrorist
scenarios; Charles Meade gave us a thoughtful
review; and Paul Steinberg helped us conceptualize
our effort. Very special thanks go to Phyllis M.
Gilmore, who took up the challenge of translating
our analytical report into this readily understandable
Quick Guide. Thanks also go to Stephen G.
Bloodsworth, whose many talents can be seen in our
cover design and the enclosed reference card, and to
Phillip Wirtz, who carefully proofread the results.
Finally, this report benefited enormously from the
support, counsel, and encouragement of K. Jack
Riley, who leads RAND’s Public Safety and Justice
unit.
INTRODUCTION
There is much the nation must do—and is doing—to
guard against and prepare for terrorist attacks. In
some possible situations, individuals may have to rely
on themselves to protect their own health and
safety—perhaps even their own lives. Thus, individual
preparedness is an important element of our
nation’s strategy for homeland security.
Many people know how to respond in such disasters
as fires and earthquakes, but few would know
what to do if someone were to use a chemical, radiological,
nuclear, or biological weapon in their vicinity.
Although the characteristics of such attacks may
vary widely and their likelihood is highly uncertain,
they can all create unfamiliar and very dangerous circumstances.
Consequently, individuals need an overall
strategy they can use to prepare for and respond
to such attacks.
This guide emerged from a detailed what-if,
scenario-driven analysis we conducted to examine
four types of terrorist attacks: chemical, radiological,
nuclear, and biological. In each case, the response
strategy is guided by a fundamental objective, which
we refer to as an overarching goal, which in turn
depends on taking certain actions. We have distilled
our findings into this guide to offer individuals a
series of actions they can take to save lives, even in
catastrophic situations.
The actions we present here are appropriate
regardless of the likelihood of an attack, its scale, or
the current government alert level; they are designed
to be useful over a range of variations in scenarios;
and they have been defined in terms of simple rules
that should be easy to follow. The reference card
included at the back of the guide encapsulates the key
points and can be removed for display in a prominent
place.
Note that any preparedness strategy will need to
be refined and updated continually, as new opportunities
for individual preparedness and response
emerge, and to account for the evolving nature of the
terrorist threat.
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