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Assess your risk and consider evacuation if a nuclear exchange is looking likely. If evacuation is not an option, then it should at least affect the kind of shelter you will construct for yourself. Learn your proximity to the following targets and plan appropriately:
Airfields and naval bases, especially those known to house nuclear bombers, ballistic missile submarines, or ICBM silos. These are certain to be attacked even in a limited nuclear exchange.
Commercial ports and runways over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) long. These are likely to be attacked even in a limited nuclear exchange, and certain to be attacked in an all-out nuclear war.
Centres of government. These are likely to be attacked even in a limited nuclear exchange and certain to be attacked in an all-out nuclear war.
Large industrial cities and major population centres. These are likely to be attacked in the event of an all-out nuclear war.

Seek shelter immediately. Aside from the geopolitical warning signs, your first warnings of an imminent nuclear attack will most likely be an alarm or warning signal; if not, it will be the blast itself. The bright light from a detonation of a nuclear weapon can be seen tens of miles away from ground zero. If within the vicinity of the blast (or ground zero), your chances of survival are virtually nonexistent unless you are in a shelter that provides a very (VERY) good blast protection. If you are a few miles out, you will have about 10-15 seconds until the heat wave hits you, and maybe 20-30 seconds until the shock wave does. Under no circumstances should you look directly at the fireball. On a clear day, this can cause temporary blindness at very large distances.[7] However, the actual damage radius is highly variable depending on the size of the bomb, the altitude of the explosion, and even the weather conditions at the time of the blast.

If you can't find shelter, seek a depressed area nearby and lay face down, exposing as little skin as possible. If there is no shelter of this kind, dig as fast as possible. Even around 8 kilometers (5 miles) you will suffer third degree thermal-burns; still at 32 kilometers (20 miles) the heat can burn the skin off your body. The wind itself will peak at around 960 kilometers per hour (600mph) and will level anything or anybody caught in the open.

Failing the above options, get indoors, if, and only if, you can be sure that the building will not suffer significant blast and heat damage. This will, at least, provide some protection against radiation. Whether this will be a viable option depends on the construction of the building and how close you will be to the likely ground zero of a nuclear strike. Stay well away from any windows, preferably in a room without one; even if the building does not suffer substantial damage, a nuclear explosion will blow out windows at enormous distances. For an example, one (albeit abnormally large) nuclear test in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Russia was known to knock out windows in Finland and Sweden.
https://www.google.com.kh/maps/place/No ... 57.6620851

If residing in Switzerland or Finland, check if your home has an atomic shelter. If not, determine where your village/town/district atomic shelter is and know how to get there. Remember: anywhere in Switzerland, you'll be able to find an atomic shelter. When the sirens sound in Switzerland, you are advised to inform those who may not be able to hear it (e.g. the deaf) and then listen to the National Radio Services (RSR, DRS and/or RTSI).
Don't be surrounded by anything flammable or combustible. Substances like nylon or any oil based material will ignite from the heat.

table42 wrote:Thanks for the "blast* from the past. I remember that hopeless drill from my primary school days. It was a golden age of naive optimism in the good ole USA.

table42 wrote:Thanks for the "blast* from the past. I remember that hopeless drill from my primary school days. It was a golden age of naive optimism in the good ole USA.