honestly, i do not know what i would do. if the attack occurred in an enclosed area, i.e. subway station, i would probably just bend over and kiss me own arse goodbye..........
if it occured away from me, which in all likelyhood it would ( i live in a sparsely populated area), i would do nothing.
as far as gas masks go, you know as well as i do that warnings would probably come too late. we, as civilians, do not have the advantages of having nbc guys set up those warning devices or anything of the sort. i do, however, live near and downwind of an army chemical weapons incineration site and the guidelines given everyone who lives in the area were, at best, vague. put it like this.......any experienced m.d. i trained under in the army always reacted the same way when confronted with the question "what do you think the chances of surviving a chemical attack (from any given agent...nerve, blister, etc.) with moderate warning times and protection of masks only?"....."i, i, i, do not know......probably not good." even with good warning systems in place, the likelihood of coming in contact with an agent via contact (skin), respiratory, or otherwise is huge. you also know how hard it is to remain proficient at the use of nbc equipment for military personnel, much less civilians who do not have the advantage of intense nbc training.
to answer your question......i do not know what i would do in reaction to an attack or to prevent myself or my family from becoming victims. there have been times when i considered gas masks as an option....but what would you do, carry them everywhere with you?
as far as prep for my home, i do not know of any viable options available to me that would prevent the agents from entering even the innermost part of my home. certainly, duct tape wouldn't do the trick.
as far as remedies, i think it is illegal as well as impractical to allow citizens to keep and/or administer atropine injections to themselves or to others. they simply could not be trained in the proper use of these medications and the physiological implications of administering them at all, much less improperly, could be devastating.
on the last live ops i participated in where the likelihood of exposure to chemical agents was high, we did not even carry our nbc gear. first of all, when you are hauling 100+ lbs of gear, weapons, ammo, water, and food, the extra poundage can be a killer. also, the chance of us receiving adequate warnings was extremely low. therefore, the chances of us contacting the agents themselves were high. in which case we knew we would most likely die or worse.....yes, there are worse things than death......studied many patient profiles of those exposed to saddams last attacks against iranians/kurds and the prognosis, imho, was bleak.
hope this answers your question as this was my honest attempt at it. btw, why do you ask? i must have not seen the thread you were referring to.
later,
delta
