Friday, March 28, 2003 | 9:04 a.m.
With the threat to the homefront at a high level because of the United States' war with Iraq, authorities are urging the public to be prepared for possible terrorist attacks.
That begs myriad questions: Will my family members be safe at work or school? If there is some kind of attack, should I stay in my home or evacuate? Should I seal my windows? Do I stay in my car or run for my life if I see an explosion?
Metro Police Capt. Mike McClary of the department's homeland security bureau recommends starting with the Home and Neighborhood Disaster Safety and Security guide, which debuted at the front of the Sprint residential phone books in January. It gives suggestions on emergency preparedness in homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, places of worship and public areas.
McClary and other Southern Nevada public safety experts say that instead of wasting money on gas masks or bomb shelters, people should invest some time educating themselves and their families.
"The key to alleviating fear is planning and knowledge," McClary said.
Plan to survive
Citizen preparedness starts with:
Plans to evacuate an area of danger and a plan to secure your house in what authorities call "shelter in place."
A disaster or emergency supply kit with medical necessities, food, water and other supplies in case of a disaster.
A communications plan, including use of an out-of-state contact to serve as a check-in point for all family members separated in the attack zone.
The "Family Disaster Plan" developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, emphasizes the need to practice handling disaster before it occurs. Discuss with your family why you need to prepare for trouble. Plan to share responsibilities and work as a team, they say.
Prepare an emergency kit to sustain you and your family in case you are confined to your home for an extended period, and prepare a smaller, "bug out" kit with just the most necessary items in case quick evacuation is the best option.
Pick two places to meet in case of a sudden emergency, one safe location right outside the home and another outside your neighborhood in case you you can't get home.
Because your family may not be together when disaster strikes, pick an out-of-state source to serve as the family's point of contact and have everyone memorize and carry around that contact person's phone number, e-mail and physical address. That outside source, in addition to taking calls from family separated in the attack zone, also can update relatives in other states on the endangered family's welfare.
Practice the plan. Quiz children to ensure they've memorized the out-of-state contact's phone number and other safety procedures. Fire and emergency evacuation drills also are recommended.
Many emergency experts also recommend buying an emergency alert NOAA weather radio. It's a special type of radio tuned to the National Weather Radio automated system which is also linked to the Federal Communication Commission's Emergency Alert System. A NOAA weather radio broadcasts weather warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day. It sits quietly in a corner until it needs to alert you to an emergency, then automatically sounds an alert tone followed by a message.
The basic version of a NOAA weather radio can be purchased for about $33.
People power
While technology can be a great help, so can neighbors. Get to know your neighbors and plan to work together. Find out if anyone has specialized equipment like a generator or expertise such as medical knowledge. Decide who will check on elderly or disabled neighbors.
Karl Lee, a longtime Clark County firefighter who serves as a logistics officer with the Fire Department's search and rescue unit, recommends simple precautions "like keeping sufficient cash on you because ATMs may be down if electricity is out."
He cautioned against taking "extreme" measures, and he considers the purchase of gas masks one of those.
"You would have to carry it everywhere with you, because if you leave it at home one day, it's useless to you," Lee said. "Then there is the whole issue of knowing how to properly put it on. Besides, deployed chemical agents have a short life anyway -- they are not everlasting."
Jim O'Brien, manager of the Clark County Office of Emergency Management, says: "If preparedness was really foremost on people's minds, they would have been far better off taking a first aid or CPR class from the American Red Cross" rather than buying gas masks, duct tape and plastic sheeting.
The Red Cross even has a special class now that teaches people how to prepare for a disaster or a terrorist attack.
Turtle tactics
The first choice in almost every situation is to evacuate a dangerous area, but that is not always possible.
Under the right circumstances, duct tape and plastic sheeting can be used to create a barrier from potentially contaminated air outside, officials said. It's a survival technique called "shelter in place."
To "shelter in place," bring your family and pets inside during an emergency situation. Lock the doors and close the windows, air vents and fireplace dampers. Turn off fans, air conditioning and forced air heating systems.
Take your emergency supply kit into one room -- preferably adjacent to a bathroom -- then seal all windows, doors and air vents with plastic sheeting and duct tape. Wet towels jammed into vents and into cracks under doors also will work.
Though potentially crowded and uncomfortable, experts say this is a good short-term option to an immediate emergency -- not an everyday or long-term practice because a well-sealed room eventually will run low on fresh air.
If the best option is to evacuate, call the out-of-state contact to brief them that the house won't be occupied and provide the contact with a location for other immediate family members to gather.
If there is damage to your home, shut off the water, gas and electricity -- but only if authorities instruct you to do so. Take your emergency kit with you. Secure your valuables. Lock the door behind you.
If possible, take your pets with you if you evacuate, but also understand that only service animals will be allowed in most public shelters. Plan for how you will care for your pets in an emergency, including storing extra food, water and supplies.
Safety at schools
David Broxterman, administrative manager for Clark County School District facilities, said his agency has emergency plans for everything from bee swarms to terrorist attacks to protect the children.
And if the unthinkable happens, he says the plan is flexible enough to be adapted to fit the situation -- it has to be.
"You cannot be prepared for every conceivable eventuality," Broxterman said. "The best of emergency plans have to allow for improvising to account for various factors. You can't just follow the manual as it reads A, B and C."
On March 21 the district sent a one-page letter about the district's terrorism plan to parents of the 255,000 students who attend the district's 277 schools. District officials said the goal was to try to answer some of the many questions that parents have about the district's plan and what parents should and should not do if terrorists strike.
Parents should try to avoid calling schools and should not try to pick up children until they are advised to do so because the phone calls and traffic could hinder a school's ability to respond in a crisis, Superintendent Carlos Garcia noted in the letter.
The district may use KLVX-TV, Channel 10, and the Emergency Alert System on radio stations to broadcast emergency information, such as where and when to pick up students, Broxterman said.
Clark County schools plan to stay open unless they receive a red alert from the Nevada governor's office, Garcia said.
The U.S. Education Department notes that on any given weekday, 25 percent of America's population is in schools. The oldest schools were considered so well built that they were used as air raid shelters in the days of Civil Defense and, depending on situations, today they are designated for similar purposes.
Broxterman said teachers are trained and students are drilled in what to do in a number of disaster situations. Still, the decision whether to evacuate schools that might be exposed to a chemical cloud or keep the students inside using the "shelter in place" method have to be made according to a given situation.
"With 'shelter in place,' we get the kids in and lock the doors," he said. "One teacher is assigned to turn off the air-conditioning and close vents. Custodians are trained in how to seal the rooms -- create an air bubble in the school. School buses also are radioed to stand by for evacuation."
Schools typically have enough food and water on hand to care for children for about a day as long as the area's power and water supply are not cut off, officials said.
Not every school automatically is an air raid or bomb shelter. The American Red Cross determines shelter needs and emergency management, and school officials determine which schools in safe areas become temporary shelters, Broxterman said.
Generally middle or senior high schools are chosen as shelters because they have kitchen facilities and sufficient food supplies.
Rescue specialists say that while it is natural to be concerned about children when they are away from home, parents should not take foolish risks to retrieve children from schools during crisis situations.
"Although there is a strong desire to gather your family together in times of trouble, kids often are as safe as they are going to be in schools," Lee, the Clark County firefighter, said.
"If you ignore warnings and go to the school and pry open a locked door to get to your kids, you could let in potential outdoor contaminants and harm everyone inside."
Day-care centers
Day-care centers for children and the elderly and other such facilities should have emergency plans, officials say. Ask about such plans. If none exist, safety experts suggest you might want to volunteer to help develop a plan.
Tips regarding day-care facilities:
Ask day-care providers how they will communicate with families during a crisis.
Ask if they store adequate food, water and other basic supplies.
Find out if they are prepared to "shelter in place" or where they plan to go if they must evacuate.
Let's roll
Some safety experts advise keeping the gas tanks of your vehicles as full as possible at all times because if there is a terrorist attack or some other disaster, it may be difficult if not impossible to get gasoline.
Even with a full tank of gas, however, the road may not be the best place to be. Be sure you're not driving into the path of danger.
"If you see a chemical cloud ahead or other danger, turn your car 90 to 180 degrees and get out of harm's way," O'Brien said, adding that while answers like that seem too simple, there are only so many options.
Also, before you hit the road consider whether the situation may have caused the roadways to become so congested that you won't be able to make much progress. If the stability of the area's roadways has been compromised, avoid overpasses, bridges, power lines and other hazards.
If a power line falls on your car, to avoid the risk of electrocution stay inside the car until a trained person in proper shock-proof gear can remove the wire.
Away from home
As is the case with any major emergency, employers would have to decide whether to release employees in the case of a terrorist attack, but every office should have a building evacuation plan.
Employers should be familiar with their office heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to determine if they are secure or need to be upgraded to better filter potential contaminants.
Experts say bosses should think ahead about issues such as what they will do for employees who say they don't have the means to go home at a particular time of day and that offices have appropriate foods and other supplies on hand.
Some of the most crowded and high-profile potential targets in town are high rises and hotel-casinos.
Whenever you are in a building, try to stay aware of the locations of the two closest emergency exits. That way, if the closest one is blocked, you can try to make your way to your second option.
If you are staying in a hotel room, read the emergency exit instructions that are posted on the inside of your hotel room door.
If there is an attack on the building or some other type of event that causes destruction to the building:
Take cover under a desk or table if things are falling.
Move away from file cabinets, bookshelves or other things that might fall.
Face away from windows and glass fixtures and move away from exterior walls.
Listen for and follow instructions if you get them via the building intercom system.
If you can evacuate, never use elevators. Stay to the right while going down stairwells because emergency workers will be coming up the other side.
If there is fire, crawl low below the smoke. Use a wet cloth to cover your nose and mouth. Use the back of your hand to feel the upper, lower and middle parts of closed doors. If the door is not hot, brace yourself against it and open it slowly. If the door is hot, do not open it. Look for another way out.
If you become trapped in the debris of a collapsed building, don't kick up dust. Cover your nose and mouth with cotton clothing. Tap on a pipe or wall so that rescuers can hear where you are. If possible, blow a whistle or signal with a flashlight. Shout only as a last resort because it can cause inhalation of dangerous amounts of dust.
"With resources like state-of-the-art fire control rooms that can pinpoint the source of a fire and sophisticated camera systems that constantly scan for trouble, Las Vegas hotel-casinos are some of the safest places to be," Richard Brenner, a fire protection engineer for Clark County, said.
O'Brien, the man in charge of emergency management for the county, said that he has conducted simulated disasters at local resorts and that hotels such as the Bellagio are sending their emergency risk managers to federal seminars on the consequences of terrorism.
Each of Las Vegas' 89 resort properties has its own emergency evacuation procedure because each resort is laid out differently. Evacuation plans also vary depending on the threat. For example, if an explosive device is inside a resort, the occupants of the building must move at least 400 yards from the property.
"If we feel a need to evacuate an area, by all means, we'll do so," Donovan said. "But if there's a major biochemical attack (outside), we have to look at where the threat is. We're certainly not going to tell them to go outside."
Valets and employees who staff the bell desk and front desk are the first to have contact with hotel guests, and they have undergone training in spotting suspicious situations and how to handle them, Donovan said.
Ultimately, however, if a terrorist strikes in the Las Vegas area, experts say, it is unlikely that decisions made by valets, employees, employers or anyone else will be the most important factor in determining your fate -- it will be the decisions you make.
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