Duct Tape?

[SARGE]

Ridiculous...

http://europe.cnn.com/2003/US/02/11/emergency.supplies/

[morriswindgate]

Knowing what WMD stuf can do, duct tape and plastic sheeting are pretty worthless.

[dldz]

FSS False Sense of Security, if things were to be that bad plastic sheeting would only let you hang out long enough to get in a few more posts at PCM
Don

[Tuf]

I suppose one does everything they can do to protect their family. If I lived in DC and felt my family was in danger I think I would exercise the option to get them out of there.

[dldz]

Yep and leave the sheeting to someone else

[mbossman2]

its all a plot to increase profits for duct tape and plastic sheeting manufacturers

[Mr N8]

Scare tactics: The new economic stimulus plan.
Stage 2: "SUVs are the best defense against biological war."

[doctorgonzo]

The local news did a story on using plastic sheets and duct tape in case of an attack. Absurd.

It's like those nuclear attack drills they had in schools in the 50s. Like crouching under your desk would save you.

[morriswindgate]

For most of those weapons you would be better off with a hundred gallons of bleach and a large tub to fill and jump in.

[Hot Rod]

It gives a false sense of security.

[Strider]

I remember seeing a documentory on Army recruits suiting up in these suits and going in a room where they put 3 to 4 tiny drops of nerve agent on an army vehicle. They stated that just one drop could kill everyone in the room (I'm guessing 10-15 people, maybe more where in the room), so just imagine a whole canister of nerve gas being released. They couldn't stay in their suits more than 4-6 hours (It might be longer), before they had to get out of them, so duct tape and plastic sheeting isn't going to do squat. It just goes to show how stupid this is, but I suppose the real purspose might be to help boost the economy in duct tape and plastic sheeting sales.

[Eaglefeather]

While the duct tape and plastic sheeting are of no practical value, other than to cover holes in the roof or broken windows, some of the other advise is actually very good.

They are just items all homes should have in case of an emergency. Any kind of emergency, whether natural or man made. Emergency preparedness could make things much easier for you and your family in the event of a disaster.

[doctorgonzo]

Maybe somebody in D.C. was listening to this song and decided to give it a try:

http://www.joelmabus.com/duct_tape_2001.htm

[juppy]

Y'know, I heard a joke one time that a man only needs two things in this world, duct tape and WD-40.
If it moves but it shouldn't, use the duct tape.
If it won't move but should, use the WD-40.
Somehow I don't think that rule applies to WMD's though.

[Big Weapons]

Originally posted by morriswindgate For most of those weapons you would be better off with a hundred gallons of bleach and a large tub to fill and jump in.

We don't want to end up like Michael Jackson now, do we?

[Byte 2.0]

If duct tape and plastic sheeting can stop it, won't it also stop Oxgen from getting in?

[Paul Victorey]

Almost certainly. The whole idea of stopping toxic gas is pretty worthless -- the only safety you have is in a large open area far enough away where the gas concentration is too low to be harmful. Although, in a pinch, you could duct tape the sheet around your head, just so you don't give the terrorists the satisfaction of causing your death.

My point of view, if someone releases nerve gas in my vicinity, I'm screwed no matter what, so I may as well not worry about something I can't prevent anyway.

[dldz]

LOL leave it to you byte to come in with common sense
I was asking someone else about that after they bought a bunch of plastic/tape. The scary part of the guys plan is he has a generator and gas stored in his basement 'just in case the power goes out' No I don't live near him,so he may plan well but has no common sense.I am never amazed with some people in times like these.
Don

[ktkendall]

I believe if we truly wanted to protect ourself from chemical/biological agent, wouldn't a gas mask and a protective suit actually be of some value?? They showed these people on the news last night duct taping and plastic sheeting up their windows and it was sad to see poeple are living in such fear and can be lead like sheep to do any silly thing that alleviates their fear. How about the guy in Conneticuit that is doing his whole house up.

[Statica]

Any of you watch the Red Green Show?

[Prew]

Reminds me of the concrete bomb shelters people built in the 60's for protection against nuclear war and fallout.

BTW- anyone here actually bought any duct tape? Lowes and Home Depot in my area are sold out.

[morriswindgate]

Reality Check

The lungs and the eyes absorb nerve agents rapidly. In high vapour concentrations, the nerve agent is carried from the lungs throughout the circulatory system; widespread systemic effects may appear in less than 1 minute.
The earliest ocular effect which follows minimal symptomatic exposure to vapour is miosis. The pupillary constriction may be different in each eye. Within a few minutes after the onset of exposure, there also occurs redness of the eyes. Following minimal exposure, the earliest effects on the respiratory tract are a watery nasal discharge, nasal hyperaemia, sensation of tightness in the chest and occasionally prolonged wheezing
Exposure to a level of a nerve agent vapour slightly above the minimal symptomatic dose results in miosis, pain in and behind the eyes and frontal headache. Some twitching of the eyelids may occur. Occasionally there is nausea and vomiting.
In mild exposures, the systemic manifestations of nerve agent poisoning usually include tension, anxiety, jitteriness, restlessness, emotional lability, and giddiness. There may be insomnia or excessive dreaming, occasionally with nightmares.
If the exposure is more marked, the following symptoms may be evident: headache, tremor, drowsiness, difficulty in concentration, impairment of memory with slow recall of recent events, and slowing of reactions. In some casualties there is apathy, withdrawal and depression.
With the appearance of moderate systemic effects, the casualty begins to have increased fatiguability and mild generalised weakness which is increased by exertion. This is followed by involuntary muscular twitching, scattered muscular fasciculations and occasional muscle cramps. The skin may be pale due to vasoconstriction and blood pressure moderately elevated.
If the exposure has been severe, the cardiovascular symptoms will dominate and twitching (which usually appear first in the eyelids and in the facial and calf muscles) becomes generalised. Many rippling movements are seen under the skin and twitching movements appear in all parts of the body. This is followed by severe generalised muscular weakness, including the muscles of respiration. The respiratory movements become more laboured, shallow and rapid; then they become slow and finally intermittent.
After moderate or severe exposure, excessive bronchial and upper airway secretions occur and may become very profuse, causing coughing, airway obstruction and respiratory distress. Bronchial secretion and salivation may be so profuse that watery secretions run out of the sides of the mouth. The secretions may be thick and tenacious. If the exposure is not so overwhelming as to cause death within a few minutes, other effects appear. These include sweating, anorexia, nausea and heartburn. If absorption of nerve agent has been great enough, there may follow abdominal cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea, and urinary frequency. The casualty perspires profusely, may have involuntary defecation and urination and may go into cardiorespiratory arrest followed by death.
If absorption of nerve agent has been great enough, the casualty becomes confused and ataxic. The casualty may have changes in speech, consisting of slurring, difficulty in forming words, and multiple repetition of the last syllable. The casualty may then become comatose, reflexes may disappear and generalised convulsions may ensue. With the appearance of severe central nervous system symptoms, central respiratory depression will occur and may progress to respiratory arrest.
After severe exposure the casualty may lose consciousness and convulse within a minute without other obvious symptoms. Death is usually due to respiratory arrest requires prompt initiation of assisted ventilation to prevent death. If assisted ventilation is initiated , the individual may survive several lethal doses of a nerve agent.
If the exposure has been overwhelming, amounting to many times the lethal dose, death may occur despite treatment as a result of respiratory arrest and cardiac arrhythmia. When overwhelming doses of the agent are absorbed quickly, death occurs rapidly without orderly progression of symptoms.
Nerve agent poisoning may be identified from the characteristic signs and symptoms. If exposure to vapour has occurred, the pupils will be very small, usually pin-pointed. If exposure has been cutaneous or has followed ingestion of a nerve agent in contaminated food or water, the pupils may be normal or, in the presence of severe systemic symptoms, slightly to moderately reduced in size. In this event, the other manifestations of nerve agent poisoning must be relied on to establish the diagnosis. No other known chemical agent produces muscular twitching and fasciculations, rapidly developing pin-point pupils, or the characteristic train of muscarinic, nicotinic and central nervous system manifestations.

The rapid action of nerve agents call for immediate self treatment. Unexplained nasal secretion, salivation, tightness of the chest, shortness of breath, constriction of pupils, muscular twitching, or nausea and abdominal cramps call for the immediate intramuscular injection of 2 mg of atropine, combined if possible with oxime.

The best way to deal with this stuff isn't duct tape and plastic. Instead it is a bullet between the eyes for the people who would use it on us.

Q:How many French military personel does it take to defend Paris?

A:No one knows because it's never been tried

[Byte 2.0]

I bet the price of Stock in Duck Tape is going up.

[Computer Hobbyist]

Morris,

I really needed that this lovely rainy morning.

From what I understand administration of nerve gas covering more than a few city blocks is very difficult indeed--probably beyond the ability of the extremists. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to do real damage to a subway or a single building. I also understand that the same can be said for a dirty bomb. I also understand that the standard array of biologicals are also hard to deliver and would probably have a limited effect before an adequate response. What all of this means is that nearly everybody will survive the next terrorist attack, but those who are hit will probably be very seriously injured or killed.

Of course, the forgoing, "rosie" prediction goes out the window if one of the bastards gets hold of a nuke. Then hundreds of thousands might die.

As to the water and other stuff, I live in the midwest. We have to plan for tornados, ice storms and other natural disasters. The things recommended (water, food, blankets, candles, etc) are pretty standard fair around here.

The Isrealies all have plastic sheeting and duct tape in case of a chemical attack. In addition they have all been issued gas masks. I think the gas masks are intended to do most of the work and the plastic sheeting and duct tape are intended to make sure partical sized agents don't penetrate. In any event, most nerve agents disburse quickly and might very well be gone before the O2 runs out. At least that is what the Isreali government tells mothers with infants and small children who can't wear gas masks. The Isrealies have found that it is extremely unlikely that anybody can secure anything much larger than the doors and windows leading to a small room with duct tape and plastic. The guy who covered his whole house is wasting his time.

Frankly I think everybody is wasting their time. No defense can stop the terrorists one hundred percent. The only way to deal with the bad guys is to find out where they are hiding and kill them.

CH

[mairving]

You know it must be women buying all of this duct tape because most men have at least two rolls already, one in the house and one in the garage.

It looks like this latest terror thing was based on false info. Of course, it could be like Letterman said, that Osama is pretty peeved that the finale of Joe Millionaire didn't happen.

[piasabird]

The mormon church has been advising members to keep food storage for years. This is not a new concept. The stupid stores close when their electric cash registers do not have electricity. Try to imagine not having electricity for 2 weeks. Could you survive for 2 weeks on what you have in your house? You can always drain the water heater for water. I was thinking the other day that you could run water into the top of a barrel and pump it out the top when it got high enough. That way, you would always have 20 or 30 gallons of water on hand. When I was in Italy with my father we lived in a villa with an on-site well. They pumped the water up to the third floor and stored it in a huge tank and from there it was gravity fed to the house. I loved that house. It had a big room on the third floor that was basically just a studio with no walls. On the second floor the entire front of the house had one long balcony and a sun room with yellow glass. Oh-well, I got off the subject.

[raftero]

i live in the country,if it cant be fixed with duct tape,bailing wire and a welding machine just close your eyes and hope for the best.maybe in the city putting up the plastic with duct tape would take your mind off of the problem,i really doubt it would protect anyone.

[Byte 2.0]

mairving

most men have 3, one in their Car/Truck as well.

[not important]

What to do in case of nuclear attack

Sit down
Pull legs up tight to chest.
Stick head between legs
Kiss your a$$ goodbye.

[Byte 2.0]

duck and cover