The shelter-in-place decision - all things considered

In the event of a serious accident, or intentional chemical, or radiological incident, the emergency management system must move in a quick and coordinated manner. Furthermore, emergency management must be prepared to advise the public on how to best protect themselves, and be able to manage large number of casualties among disaster victims and the worried well. The ability of emergency management to coordinate a response is based upon their ability in pre-incident planning and preparedness education, to quickly detect an incident, to determine its impact and spread rate, and to inform the public whether the best protective action is to evacuate or to shelter-in-place. Effectiveness of the response should be optimized through community education.