Human and Ecologic Effects in Massachusetts of an Assumed Thermonuclear Attack on the United States

IN recent months public anxiety and confusion over the possibility and consequences of thermonuclear war have been increased and deepened by extensive (and often conflicting) publicity in newspapers and popular magazines, federal and local government announcements and commercial advertising concerning shelter programs. Many people, uncertain about what course to follow, have turned to physicians to provide expert information. These requests for evaluation and plans have ranged from consideration of immediate fallout effects to the optimal design of fallout shelters, the long-term prospects of blood dyscrasias and the suggestion of modification of medical-school curriculums to meet the needs of a postholocaust . . .