Shelter-in-Place

Submitted by: Chris & Jessica Gainer

In order to properly “shelter-in-place” find a place that you can shut yourself in and stay put. (Hopefully the place you shelter in is really close or where you already are.) This would be necessary to do when something catastrophic happens and it is no longer safe to stay outside. Examples of this could be a natural disaster, hazardous materials release, highly volatile airborne pathogens, zombie incursion, etc. Really, this is the safest thing to do in most cases unless you are told by authorities to leave. (Remember when your mom told you “If you get lost, stay put.” Same idea-you’re easier to locate and things usually go better if you’re not out wandering with the undead or highly radioactive materials. All jesting aside, when you shelter in place properly, you’ll end up being a lot safer until you know for sure what’s going on. A lot of panicking people=crowded freeways, mass hysteria, and bad stuff happening outside. Stay put, stay calm, and stay safe.

When told to shelter in place (you’ll normally hear this on the radio or TV, one of those “this is not a test, this is an actually emergency, this is not a test” broadcasts), you should:

1. Close and lock windows and doors to the outside.
2. Turn off anything that circulates air or vents to the outside (heater, AC, fans, fireplace etc.) also tape up little cracks and openings to the outside with tape and put damp towels on door bottoms.
3. If accessible, get your 72 hour kit.
4. Go to an above ground interior room with no windows.
5. Don’t panic and don’t call 911 unless there is an immediate threat to life. For example, if someone has lost an appendage it would be OK to call; on the other hand if they’ve got a paper cut or are just scared, don’t call.
6. Keep the radio on and wait for further instructions.

For more information, see diagram A and here are some really good websites I found.

http://www.cityofvancouver.us/preparedness.asp?itemID=23927 (there’s a video on this one, too-it’s free, you just have to navigate through a couple pages to get there)
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_589_,00.html
http://www.nicsinfo.org/SIP%20Center.htm