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For decades, duct tape has had two main claims to fame. Duct tape has been famous as the universal repair tool of the amateur or professional fix it person.
Duct tape has been infamous as what most rapists or serial killers use to bind and gag victims.
Now, duct tape has a third claim to fame.
The experts at Homeland Security – the Federal government agency leading the fight against terrorism in the
United States
– claim duct tape is one of a citizen’s primary weapons against terrorism.
The catch is, other terrorism experts are not sure about this third claim of fame for duct tape. Here is what the experts at Homeland Security claim that duct tape can do.
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Duct tape and plastic sheeting should provide a sealed-off room in case of chemical or biological attack. The government recommends keeping duct tape and scissors on hand, as well as pre-cut sheets of plastic for sealing the doors, windows and vents of an internal room at home.
The government adds that in the event of an attack, people should turn off all ventilation, go to that room and seal it with the tape and sheeting. If the room has
10
square feet
of floor space per person, it should provide enough air for up to five hours
. That is what should happen. Research says it may happen or it may not happen.
In
2001
, researchers at Oak Ridge TN National Laboratory reported on tests to see if this strategy would help protect people living near stockpiles of chemical weapons. Results showed that ''in some cases it might not buy you much protection, but in other cases it seemed to be buying a lot of protection,'' points out
Oak Ridge
researcher John Sorensen, adding that the researchers could not figure out why the results in the ten homes the researchers built and sealed varied so much.
“At best, it was maybe providing up to
75
% to
90
% reduction in potential exposure.
In any case, we could not envision it being used for more than an hour or two,” describes Sorensen about why anti terrorism experts are unsure why Homeland Security have recommended the procedure to protect people against air born terrorist weapons.
''It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
One problem is that people wouldn't know when to seal themselves in because terrorists would release germs or chemical agents without warning.
''We're only going to know about it when we start coming down sick, and that's too late to go into a safe room.
“For biological attack, the first symptoms might not appear for days.
Randy Larsen, director of the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security, a nonprofit research institute in Arlington VA,, agrees that the strategy is useless against biological attack as well as bombs or plunging jetliners.
Both Evans and Larsen stress that there are better ways to prepare for a terrorist attack such as establishing and maintaining a three day stockpile of food and water in a safe place in your home.
Safety Issues has published articles and will be publishing more articles about how you and your family can survive disasters of all kinds including terrorist caused disasters.
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