Duck and Cover was a suggested method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear detonation which the United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the late 1940s into the 1980s. This was supposed to protect them in the event of an unexpected nuclear attack which, they were told, could come at any time without warning. Immediately after they saw a flash, they had to stop what they were doing and get on the ground under some cover – such as a table, or at least next to a wall – and assume fetal position, lying face down and covering their heads with their hands.^[1] The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Critics have said that this training would be of little, if any, help in the event of thermonuclear war, and had little effect other than promoting a state of unease and paranoia. For other senses of this word, see paranoia (disambiguation). ...

Today, "Drop, Cover and Hold On" is taught in areas which are prone to earthquakes. Schools in some tornado-prone areas of the United States also practice tornado drills that involve children squatting and covering the backs of their heads.^[2][3] Students participate in a tornado drill, lining up along an interior wall and covering their heads. ...

Background

The United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons was broken in 1949 when the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear device, and many in the government and public perceived that the United States was more vulnerable than it ever had been before. Duck and cover exercises had quickly become a part of Civil Defense drills that every American citizen, from kids to the elderly, practiced so as to be ready in the event of nuclear war. In 1950, during the first big Civil Defense push of the Cold War, the movie Duck and Cover was produced (by the Federal Civil Defense Administration) for school showings in 1951. At the time, it was believed the main dangers of a Hiroshima-type nuclear blast was mainly heat and blast damage: radioactive fallout itself was not clearly identified until 1954 after the Castle Bravo weapons test in the Marshall Islands caused sickness and death in Japanese fishermen on the fishing vessel the Lucky Dragon. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... The old United States civil defense logo. ... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... The title screen from the film. ... The Federal Civil Defense Authority was established in the United States Department of Defense (DOD), by DOD Directive 5105. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A black-and-white photograph of the Castle Bravo mushroom cloud. ... Daigo Fukuryū Maru (第五福龍丸, Daigo Fukuryū Maru; loosely translated as Lucky Dragon No. ...

This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

Assessment

The advice to "duck and cover" holds well in many situations where structural destabilization or debris may be expected such as during earthquakes or tornados. At a sufficient distance from a nuclear explosion, the shock wave would produce similar results and ducking and covering would perhaps prove adequate. However within a certain radius (depending on its height and yield), ducking and covering would offer virtually no protection whatsoever against the intense heat and radiation following a nuclear explosion. An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... A tornado in central Oklahoma. ... It has been suggested that Nuclear explosive be merged into this article or section. ... Introduction The shock wave is one of several different ways in which a gas in a supersonic flow can be compressed. ... Radiation as used in physics, is energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles. ...

The exercises of civil defense are now seen^{[citation needed]} as having less practical use than political or cultural use: to keep the danger of nuclear war high on the public mind, while also assuring the American people that something could be done to defend against nuclear attack. The duck and cover exercises remain a unique part of the American Red Scare culture, as neither Soviet people or Western Europeans during the Cold War, nor citizens of North Korea today had anything even remotely similar (though all did have other sorts of civil defense education). The old United States civil defense logo. ... Some factual claims in this article need to be verified. ...

These messages including children's songs, were created in the form of Public Service Announcements which were created by government institutes and then distributed by radio stations to educate the young public in case of nuclear attack.^[4]

Ducking and covering does have certain applications in other, more natural disasters. In an earthquake, people are encouraged to "drop, cover and hold on": to get underneath a piece of furniture, cover their heads (and eyes if possible) and hold onto the furniture. This advice also encourages people not to run out of a shaking building, because a large majority of earthquake injuries are due to broken bones from people falling and tripping during shaking. While it is unlikely that "drop, cover and hold on" will protect against a building collapse, buildings built in earthquake prone areas in the United States are usually built to earthquake "Life Safety" codes, and a building collapse (even during an earthquake) is rare. "Drop, cover and hold on" may not be appropriate for all locations or building types, but many experts agree it is the appropriate emergency response to an earthquake in the United States.

In states prone to tornados, school children are urged to 'duck and cover' against a solid inner wall of a school, if time does not permit seeking better shelter during a tornado warning. The practice is also very widely practiced in schools in states along the West Coast of the United States, where earthquakes are commonplace. Ducking and covering in either scenario would theoretically afford significant protection from falling or flying debris. A tornado in central Oklahoma. ... Tornado at beginning of life. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998. ...

Duck and Cover in popular media

• The computer game Fallout made fun of the idea behind Duck and Cover. As the game has a large cult following, the idea of the unusefulness of the duck and cover scheme got another boost in the 1990s.
• In the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Soviet Premier Romanov uses his pet box turtle, "Uncle Sam", to make fun of the duck and cover cartoons, using his fingers to represent "big Soviet missiles".
• In the South Park episode "Volcano" residents are advised to duck and cover in order to survive a lava flow, this is demonstrated with an educational movie where the method results in the lava flowing over the person, leaving him unharmed. Needless to say, this didn't work as well when later attempted, leaving the "duckers" as charred skeletons (thus implying a similar result from a nuclear bomb).
• In the West Wing episode "Duck and Cover", the possibility of a nuclear explosion in California is explored.
• The movie The Iron Giant had a parody of a Duck and Cover educational video. Later, when a nuclear missile is launched at a town, the duck and cover strategy is suggested. It is rebuked with "there's no way to survive this, you idiot!"
• The "Weird Al" Yankovic song "Christmas at Ground Zero" (song about nuclear annihilation on Christmas Day) contains the lyric "I'll duck and cover with my Yuletide lover underneath the mistletoe". The music video for this song also features a lot of footage borrowed from the Duck and Cover film.
• Gaia Online now features it in their Gaia Cinemas.

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 was the follow up to Red Alert. ... This article is about the animated television series. ... The crew ready to go hunting. ... “The West Wing” redirects here. ... Duck and Cover is episode 144 of The West Wing. ... The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated science fiction film, directed by Brad Bird, produced by Warner Bros. ... This article is about the musician himself. ... Nuclear fireball World War III is the name given to a hypothetical world war that would be fought after World War II. Most usages of the term include the use of weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons. ... Gaia Online (formerly known as Go-Gaia) is a forums-based website. ...

See also

• Atomic Cafe
• Duck and Cover, a short educational film
• The House in the Middle (article on another film by the FCDA)
• Nuclear war
• Nuclear war survival skills
• Nuclear weapon
• Blast shelter
• Fallout shelter
• CONELRAD
• Civil defense geiger counters
• Protect and Survive

Infiltrated by the Cacophony Society, the Wilshire Cafe became known as the Atomic Cafe after they put habenero pepper extract in all the food. ... The title screen from the film. ... The House in the Middle is a 1954 short documentary film produced by the Federal Civil Defense Administration and the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau, which attempted to show that a clean, freshly painted house is more likely to survive a nuclear attack than its poorly maintained... Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... Nuclear War Survival Skills or NWSS by Cresson Kearny is a civil defense manual. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... A blast shelter is a place where people can go to protect themselves from bomb blasts. ... A sign pointing to an old fallout shelter in New York City. ... CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a planned method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of World War III. It served two purposes; to prevent Soviet bombers from homing-in on American cities by using broadcast stations as beacons, and to provide essential... Most Civil Defense Geiger Counters were issued by the United States Civil Defense during the 1960s in the midst of the Cold War in an effort to help prepare citizens for a nuclear attack. ... The front cover text reads: This booklet tells you how to make your home and your family as safe as possible under nuclear attack. Protect and Survive was the title of a series of booklets and a public information film series produced by the British government during the late 1970s...

References

1. ^ Military.com
2. ^ Florida Disaster
3. ^ Plano, Texas ISD
4. ^ Civil Defense & CONELRAD recordings

External links

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• A critical assessment of ducking and covering
• Drop, Cover, and Hold On - American Red Cross drill (pdf file)
• Production history of the film Duck and Cover
• Duck and Cover! film at YouTube
• Prelinger Archive has Duck and Cover! available for download or streaming.
• Duck and cover at the Internet Movie Database
• Singular Films' collection Of Cold War era Propaganda Posters
• Duck and Cover (webcomic), a political cartoon