Physicians should prepare for nuclear disaster

In this paper, the author insists that physicians must take an active role in the civil defense of the United States. They must prepare to save lives and prevent suffering in any type of disaster including nuclear war. The author makes comparisons of America's civil defense programs and those of other nations. The United States is way behind other nations in civil defense. The author gives five advantages of civil defense. He says civil defense, unlike offensive weapons systems, cannot directly threaten the lives of Russians or any other nation. Properly designed shelter systems can serve multiple purposes, including storage and parking. Construction of shelters is likely to be labor-intensive by comparison with weapons systems and would probably result in more jobs in portions of the economy that have been distressed. If arms control and reduction negotiations are successful, there may be a transition period of fear and instability while methods of verification are checked. An adequate civil defense system could help to bridge these gaps of insecurity. The extension of the above argument would be to replace the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) with mutually assured survival