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Come On People, Get Ready
Tom Ridge helps you prepare for terror
. . . by Anna Lamut
[Illustration by Ellen Heck]

The purpose of the recently founded Department of Homeland Security, lead by Secretary Tom Ridge, is to prevent and prepare America for future terrorist attacks. The most recent focus of the department was to lower the terror threat level back to “yellow” from “orange” through increased surveillance, random inspections of passenger vehicles, further coordination of emergency plans, and identification and delivery screening.

According to Secretary Ridge’s February 27th press release, “Among the factors we considered [in lowering the threat level] was the passing of the time period in or around the end of the Hajj, a Muslim religious period ending mid-February 2003.” Still, Ridge adds that we shouldn’t feel too safe just yet: “The lowering of the threat level is not a signal to government, law enforcement or citizens that the danger of a terrorist attack is passed. Returning to the elevated (yellow) level of risk is only an indication that some of the extra protective measures enacted by government and the private sector may be reduced at this time.”

In addition to increasing security, the Department of Homeland Security also takes on the job of telling you—the average American—what you can do to inform and empower yourself in the face of the terrorist threat.

This is the major purpose of the Department’s Get Ready Campaign: to tell Americans how to prepare for a terrorist attack, and to let us know what exactly we should be afraid of. The Get Ready website, at www.ready.gov, provides information on the different types of potential terrorist attacks, and suggests a three step plan of how to prepare.

Step One involves “Making a Kit of Emergency Supplies.” This kit should include a three-day supply of food and water, flashlights, clothing, a battery-powered radio and batteries, a first-aid kit, toiletries, and medicine. Handkerchiefs and masks are a good idea because, according to the website, “Many potential terrorist attacks could send tiny microscopic ‘junk’ into the air. Many of these materials can only hurt you if they get into your body, so think about creating a barrier between yourself and any contamination.”

Step Two for the terror-savvy American is to make a plan for what he or she will do in an emergency. The most important part of this plan involves “deciding whether to stay or to go.” According to the Department of Homeland Security, this is a decision one should make on the basis of the circumstances. The website tells us: “Whether you are at home, at work, or elsewhere, there may be situations when it’s simply best to stay where you are and avoid any uncertainty outside. There may be conditions under which you will decide to get away, or there may be situations when you are ordered to leave.” The website fails to explain however, what these situations are and when you should do what.
Once you have made the decision of whether to stay where you are or to go elsewhere, the website offers a plethora of suggestions of what to do if you are in a car, at work, at home, or in a high-rise building. Most of the advice is fairly standard, such as staying away from glass that might explode and objects that might fall, as well as making plans for how to maintain contact with family members.

Step Three is entitled “Be Informed about What Might Happen.” The website provides explanations of biological threats, chemical threats, explosions, nuclear blasts, and radiation threats. Once again, most of the advice is fairly obvious, such as “The farther away you are from the blast and the fallout, the lower the exposure.” However, there are some helpful hints, such as using a whistle rather than shouting as a means of calling attention to oneself, in order to avoid inhaling toxic debris.

In general, the ready.gov website does not fulfill its purported slogan of “Don’t be afraid, be ready.” Most of the information on the site is watered down and obvious: it contains suggestions that are far more likely to provide psychological security than actual security. Though it certainly cannot hurt to be prepared, it is near impossible to prepare for an attack whose very essence is its unpredictability. The most important information that one gets from the website is an understanding of how little one can actually do to protect oneself from a terrorist attack. Within the fact that one can never “be prepared for the unexpected” lies the very strength of terrorism.

The farther away you are from Anna Lamut B’05, the lower the exposure.

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