Civil defense

Since the end of the Cold War, the focus of civil defense has largely shifted from responding to military attack to dealing with emergencies and disasters in general.

For example, total defence refers to the commitment of a wide range of national resources to defense, including the protection of all aspects of civilian life.

A local headquarters would have an ARP controller who would direct rescue, first aid and decontamination teams to the scenes of reported bombing.

After the crisis, the British Government decided to make these a permanent feature, with a standard design of precast concrete trench lining.

[2] Despite a significant investment in civil and military defense, British civilian losses during the Blitz were higher than in most strategic bombing campaigns throughout the war.

[11] Parts now appear in Title VI of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Public Law 100-107 [1988 as amended].

As a civilian volunteer organization, it was tasked to take control in the aftermath of a major national emergency, principally envisaged as being a Cold War nuclear attack.

Each division was divided into several sections, including the Headquarters, Intelligence and Operations, Scientific and Reconnaissance, Warden & Rescue, Ambulance and First Aid and Welfare.

In 1954 Coventry City Council caused international controversy when it announced plans to disband its Civil Defence committee because the councillors had decided that hydrogen bombs meant that there could be no recovery from a nuclear attack.

The British government opposed such a move and held a provocative Civil Defence exercise on the streets of Coventry which Labour council members protested against.

In the United States, the sheer power of nuclear weapons and the perceived likelihood of such an attack precipitated a greater response than had yet been required of civil defense.

Civil defense, previously considered an important and commonsense step, became divisive and controversial in the charged atmosphere of the Cold War.

[18] Contrary to the largely noncommittal approach taken in NATO, with its stops and starts in civil defense depending on the whims of each newly elected government, the military strategy in the comparatively more ideologically consistent USSR held that, amongst other things, a winnable nuclear war was possible.

Many of their personnel were later decorated with medals for their work at containing the release of radiation into the environment, with a number[quantify] of the 56 deaths from the accident being Civil defense troops.

[26] In Western countries, strong civil defense policies were never properly implemented, because it was fundamentally at odds with the doctrine of "mutual assured destruction" (MAD) by making provisions for survivors.

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, in the United States the concept of civil defense has been revisited under the umbrella term of homeland security and all-hazards emergency management.

Within EU countries the term "crisis-management" emphasizes the political and security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the immediate needs of the population.

Relatively small investments in preparation can speed up recovery by months or years and thereby prevent millions of deaths by hunger, cold and disease.

According to psychology, it is important for people to feel as though they are in control of their own destiny, and preparing for uncertainty via civil defense may help to achieve this.

That effort largely lapsed under President Ronald Reagan, who discontinued the Carter initiative because of opposition from areas potentially hosting the relocated population.

Shelter intended to protect against nuclear blast effects would include thick concrete and other sturdy elements which are resistant to conventional explosives.

Mitigation may also be reflected in long-term planning such as the design of the interstate highway system and the placement of military bases further away from populated areas.

On an individual scale, one means of preparation for exposure to nuclear fallout is to obtain potassium iodide (KI) tablets as a safety measure to protect the human thyroid gland from the uptake of dangerous radioactive iodine.

Another measure is to cover the nose, mouth and eyes with a piece of cloth and sunglasses to protect against alpha particles, which are only an internal hazard.

To support and supplement efforts at national, regional and local level with regard to disaster prevention, the preparedness of those responsible for civil protection and the intervention in the event of disaster Preparing also includes sharing information: Response consists first of warning civilians so they can enter fallout shelters and protect assets.

However, the traditional response to massed attack on civilian population centers is to maintain a mass-trained force of volunteer emergency workers.

In this plan, the populace rescues itself from most situations, and provides information to a central office to prioritize professional emergency services.

One hedge against bridge damage in riverine cities is to subsidize a "tourist ferry" that performs scenic cruises on the river.

Civil Defense is also the name of a number of organizations around the world dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks, as well as to providing rescue services after natural and human-made disasters alike.

However, the ideals of Civil Defense [clarification needed] have been brought back in the United States under FEMA's Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).