A question came into the site pertaining to how one can cleanse nuclear fallout from canned goods. It's a great question and suggests the need to clarify several probabilities. First, given the canned goods are likely to be stored within a house or some kind of a structure and therefore covered, it is very likely that fallout would not have reached them. 

Which brings us to the question of just what fallout is. Well, it's ash. And because it is particulate, if per chance one were to be close enough to a nuclear event to have it visited upon you in the first day or two following an event, in all likelihood there would be at least some aspect of it that would be visible. Which would mean you could see it and sweep it away.

But a good rule of thumb might be that when in doubt, decon the can as you would your own body: wash it with soap and water and rinse thoroughly. Once you feel comfortable that the can is clean, treat it as you have treated all previous cans of food: open it and eat the contents. You'll be fine.

As for water, people worry that their emergency bottled water might go bad. Worse yet, they could conclude tthat he water from a nearby running stream was safer. To clarify those bits of misinformation, in general, unless the bottle of water has been tampered with in some way, it is not going to go bad. As for the stream, that's were the radioactive fallout is likely to have been washed after rain or may even have fallen originally.  Drinking it in the vicinity of a nuclear disaster at best puts one at risk for cancer and at worst could mean certain death. To make the point, there have been stories of people on the outskirts of Hiroshima who might have survived had they understood the streams were radioactive and chosen to survive on water from jugs at home. But at that time, how could they know?

So if you have concerns related to food and water and have faced the possibility that at sometime you might have to hunker down for seventy-two hours while waiting for the level of radioactivity in the fallout around you to drop, store enough canned foods--and a can opener--and enough water for you and your family to manage as you wait in your home for the all clear message from the local authorities to be announced on your battery-powered radio.

And while your visiting the question of preparedness, throw some handkerchiefs and a bottle of water into you glove compartment for emergencies of any kind that might require the use of a Hepa mask. Wet and folded in four and covering your nose and mouth, a man's handkerchief will get you through the worst of fumes and smoke relatively well.

So not to worry. Just to be informed. And by being informed, to be better prepared.

And it wouldn't hurt to order a copy of Jolt: a rural noir. It's a good story. You'll like the characters. And it is chuck full of scientifically accurate information related to post nuclear survival. Its companion sci-fi novel, Too Close, will treat the question of surviving at home with radiation sickness. I'm just working on the outline for it at this time; the pair are designed so that part of part of it occurs in time parallel to that in Jolt while part of it runs as its sequel.

Roberta in Po-Town, Researching

9/11 did many things, but who'd have expected it would change the tenor of the local St. Patrick's Day parade? However it has. 

The parade we attended today was the Dutchess County St. Patrick's Day parade in Wappingers Falls, New York. And where once the parade featured a vintage fire wagon and a couple of fire engines, today there was a long line of emergency reponse smaller vehicles and trucks. Lettered clearly on some was the emergency call number, 911, or the letters EMS. 

And as an especially large contingent of volunteer firemen in uniforms passed, I was reminded of how much more intensive their training was today when compared to ten years ago (part of the reason I have become a Fan of the Firemen's Association of the State of New York. 

FASNY has been training New York firefighters since 1872-- some one hundred and thirty eight years--all the way back to the horse-drawn wagon and just a step past the days of primary reliance on the use prayer and a bucket brigade.

But firefighters now have to study everything from fires and emergency situations associated with the use of matches to those involving alternative energy sources, chemicals, gas leaks, explosions, hazardous wastes, and radiactive materials (including those resulting from nuclear meltdowns).

And they do it all with so little fanfare. 

So when next you talk to a firefighter or EMS person, do thank them for the understated way in which they dedicate themselves to us and community needs. And while your at it, try asking them what they have been studying about most recently. Although answers will vary, if you also take the trouble to inquire more specifically about the course content, you're likely to find it quite eye-opening, even fascinating.

RMR