Shelter in Place - Implementation

Implementation

Shelter in place is intended as a short-term strategy for dealing with disaster. As such, recommendations from the American Red Cross and other disaster management agencies are for individuals to be prepared to shelter for a matter of hours in a safe place should such a strategy be implemented. The Red Cross suggests a number of steps to prepare for a shelter in place. They encourage those preparing to develop and be familiar with emergency procedures and shelter in place plans both at home and at their place of work or school. These plans should include the selection of a room with access to a water supply and few or no windows, and creation of an emergency kit that includes food and water. The room chosen should have a minimum of 10 square feet (0.93 m2) of floor space per person to allow people to stay inside for at least five hours when sealed without dangerous buildup of carbon dioxide. A radio, flashlight, duct tape, and first aid supply should also be included.

Residents of an affected community might be informed that shelter in place is being implemented through the news media, Emergency Alert System, Reverse 911, warning sirens or horns, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather reports, and announcements from vehicles equipped with public address systems. In the United States, facilities like nuclear power plants are required to be equipped with audio alert systems that can be heard within a 10-mile (16 km) radius.

Once a shelter in place is called, residents are expected to immediately go indoors, bring all children and animals with them, and to close and lock windows and doors. All ways in which outside materials may enter the shelter area should be eliminated, including closure of fireplace dampers, shutting off ventilation or climate control systems, and prepare an area for pets to eliminate waste that does not require allowing them outside. If told to do so via television or radio, those sheltering should seal their rooms with duct tape and plastic. Upon reaching shelter, those who were outside for a period of time seeking shelter after the shelter in place was called and who may have been exposed to chemical contaminants should remove all outer clothing, put it in a plastic bag, and wash with warm water. After an announcement that the shelter in place is over, residents should go outside and open all doors and windows to ventilate the shelter. Similar processes should be followed in cars, workplaces, or schools.