NYC Issues New Nuclear Attack PSA, Here’s The Reaction To The Warning

Healthcare NYC Issues New Nuclear Attack PSA, Here’s The Reaction To The Warning Bruce Y. Lee Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I am a writer, journalist, professor, systems modeler, computational and digital health expert, avocado-eater, and entrepreneur, not always in that order.

New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Jul 15, 2022, 01:04am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The orange object in the New York City sky this week was the moon, a rare natural phenomenon called . .

. [+] the full Buck Supermoon. But this week the New York City (NYC) Emergency Management Department issued a public service announcement (PSA) about another thing that could potentially appear in the sky some day.

: a nuclear weapon attack. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images) Corbis via Getty Images This week, if you’re in New York City (NYC), you may have seen a video that began with a someone amidst blaring sirens saying, “So there’s been a nuclear attack. ” Before you respond with, “OMG, why didn’t someone tell me this on Twitter,” keep in mind that this video was not a news update.

Instead, it was a new public service announcement (PSA) from the NYC Emergency Management Department. In the video, the narrator walks along what appears to be a NYC street, which you’ll soon hear is something that you shouldn’t do immediately after a nuclear attack. In case you are wondering how or why this supposed nuclear attack has occurred, the narrator says preemptively, “Don’t ask me how or why.

Just know that the big one has hit. OK. So what do we do,” as you can see in the video here: Indeed, if a nuclear attack has indeed occurred, your first reaction probably shouldn’t be asking, “how and why” like a five-year-old.

And it shouldn’t be running to the local store to buy as much toilet paper as possible either. Toilet paper won’t help shield from the intense amount of radiation around you even if it is the two-ply kind. Instead, the narrator offers, “three important steps that I want you to remember.

” And these are: “Step 1: Get inside, fast. ” This is in case you were thinking of hanging around outside, taking selfies with the mushroom cloud and shouting, “YOLO. ” The narrator emphasizes that “get inside,” doesn’t mean get into a car, but rather moving into a building and away from any windows.

“Step 2: Stay inside, shut all doors and window. ” The narrator continues with, “have a basement, head there. ” When the narrator adds, “If you don’t have one,” meaning a basement, her next words aren’t, “then build a basement as quickly as possible.

” Rather, she says, “get as far into the middle of the building as possible. ” Again, this is to put as much distance and as many layers of material as you can between you and the radiation. The narrator adds, “If you were outside after the blast, get clean immediately.

Remove and bag all outer clothing to keep radioactive dust or ask away from your body. ” “Step 3: Stay tuned. Follow media for more information.

” And, no, media doesn’t mean Infowars , Instagram, some celebrity podcast, or Truth Social. It means real news organizations. The narrator adds, “Don’t forget to sign up for Notify NYC for official alerts and updates.

And don’t go outside until officials say it’s safe. ” If these three steps seem obvious to you, keep in mind what has happened throughout the most recent public health emergency, which by the way is still going on: the Covid-19 pandemic. Misinformation, disinformation, and all kinds of counter-productive behaviors have plagued and hampered our country’s reaction and response to the pandemic.

So, if you are expecting everyone to behave in a rational and orderly manner after a nuclear attack, well, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you, as the saying goes. MORE FROM FORBES VETTED The Best Post-Prime Electric Toothbrush Deals You Can Still Shop By Jason R. Rich Forbes Staff Amazon Prime Day Baby Deals Are Still Happening, So Snag Them Before They’re Gone By Lex Goodman Contributor Now, you may be wondering about the timing of such a PSA, unless you’ve been sitting at home thinking, “gee, I really would like some more things to worry about in 2022.

” After all, the press release that the NYC Emergency Management Department issued on July 11 did make it clear that “the likelihood of a nuclear weapon incident occurring in/near New York City is very low. ” Some on social media questioned the necessity of the PSA, and during a press conference on July 12 , a reporter asked Mayor Eric Adams whether the PSA was “alarmist. ” To this, Adams answered, “No, I don’t think it was alarmist.

I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry. ” Adams added, “This was right after the attacks in the Ukraine, and OEM [Office of Emergency Management] took a very proactive step to say let’s be prepared. And it doesn’t mean just a nuclear attack, it’s any natural disaster.

” Then there was FOX News host Tucker Carlson calling the NYC PSA “lunacy. ” Of course, you may say that Carlson describing something as “lunacy” may make you wonder the opposite, whether there was actually logical rationale behind airing the PSA. Remember Carlson is the guy whom John Oliver called a “superspreader” of fears and doubts about the Covid-19 vaccine , who claimed that Anthony Fauci, MD, has morphed into World War II dictator Benito Mussolini , and who has promoted testicular tanning .

So Carlson questioning something may make you question the questioning. After showing a clip of the PSA on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson exclaimed, “You’re suggesting that someone might lob a nuclear weapon into our largest city? What? Why the chirpy tone?” He continued by saying, “What the hell are you talking about? How do we get so close to nuclear war that the city of New York is telling me to wash the radioactive dust off my pants? This is total lunacy. ” Carlson added, “This is crazy.

Why are we doing this? Because Putin’s bad and he’s going to take over Belgium?” Hmm, well, Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, did invade Ukraine in February. And the Russian government has made vague references to nuclear weapons . So Russia kind of has proven that they are willing to invade and try to take over another country.

although they haven’t talked specifically about invading Belgium. This invasion of Ukraine and nuclear talk has raised the possibility of nuclear weapon use more than anything has since Cold War times. The past three decades haven’t been like the years from 1947 to 1991 when the Cold War with the Soviet Union and it’s backup band then, the Eastern Bloc, was raging as the following tweet pointed out: Now it’s not clear whether the 1962 in this tweet was accurate but during the Cold War there were continuing concerns about nuclear war and even regular nuclear response drills such as the “duck and cover” ones.

(By the way, “duck and cover” may not work quite as well if a nuclear missile is hurting right at you. ) Time changed after the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991, though. Since then, people began focusing on more urgent matters such as whether Ross and Rachel would get together on the TV show Friends , what the Kardashians are wearing, and who specifically left the dogs out.

This may have left many people a bit more soft like cheesecake when it comes to nuclear emergency preparedness. A Ukrainian citizen holds a sign during a protest against the Russian invasion in Ukraine, in San . .

. [+] Jose, Costa Rica. (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images However, Russia’s actions this year have reminded the world that countries with nuclear weapons can act seemingly suddenly, aggressively, and even impulsively.

Heck, recent years have shown how quickly a country can get an impulsive leader at the helm and potentially with access to nuclear codes. Therefore, perhaps the NYC Emergency Management Department felt that the public needed a reminder that nuclear war is always a possibility. In a statement in the press release, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol indicated that “New York City Emergency Management has a multitude of free resources for New Yorkers to prepare for emergencies, including no-notice events.

: He added. “As the threat landscape continues to evolve, it is important that New Yorkers know we are preparing for any imminent threats and are providing them with the resources they need to stay safe and informed. ” The video ended with the narrator saying, “All right? You’ve got this.

” Maybe this PSA was the NYC Emergency Management Department’s way of signaling to the public, “we’ve got this,” meaning that they are working on emergency preparedness resources and strategies. It’s important to remember that public health emergencies don’t happen according to pre-determined schedules like Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies. They don’t issue trailers about themselves in advance or check your calendar to make sure that you don’t have anything else planned.

Although many public health experts had been warning about the possibility of a pandemic over the past decade, it still caught much of society with its collective pants down and ruined many planned Tinder dates. Therefore, the best time to prepare everyone for a public health emergency whether it’s a pandemic or nuclear war is now. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn .

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