Biochemical incident: bug out, or stay for the quarantine?

[mysterious.adventure]

First, I'd like to start by saying that I've enjoyed reading the various threads in the Survival and Preparedness forums here.  After reading many of these, it's gotten ye olde mental hamster-wheel turning...

Here is the scenario:

Let's say that you work within 15 minutes of a biomedical research facility along the lines of Fort Detrick, in Frederick, MD.  No matter where you are in the city, you're within a 15 minute drive from the place (as it is nearly the center of of the city).  All main roads out of the city take you as close as half a mile, or pass within 3 to 5 miles.

In the event of either some sort of attack on the facility, or an accident (a la Steven King's "The Stand"), it is most likely that the whole city would be quarantined and possibly under martial law.  Keep in mind that such a facility houses samples of just about every known biological agent, including anthrax, ebola, and other horrific pathogens, many of them "weaponized" or military-grade.

Let's say that your home is aprox. 35 miles away, and, depending on which route you take, you have to cross a mountain ridge or two to get there.

Would you:

A) stay at work, or within the city, and follow the orders of the quarantine?

B) bug out and:
 1) head directly for home (utilizing predetermined routes to avoid the main roads, assuming you can get out of the city)?
 2) head for the hills in the opposite direction of home, to either:
   a) take a loooooong, alternate route home, thus doubling or even tripling the length of the trip?
   b) bug out in the hills for a few days to assess the situation, and eventually work your way back home?

C) Other?

If A: please give reasoning.

If B: what mode(s) of transportation would you use?  Other than your standard 72hr BOB, what other supplies would you include in your plan?  Gas mask?  Survival/defensive weapons (firearms)?  Alternate means of transportation [i.e. a dirt bike stashed somewhere secure, such as your place of business or storage locker (as suggested in this thread http://www.sksboards.com/smf/index.php?topic=25474.msg292423#msg292423, which could potentially be a place to store some extra supplies that aren't feasible to keep in your BOB)]?

If C: please explain what you'd do, and include details, including any supplies or gear that wouldn't be in your standard BOB that is kept in your car.

That is, assuming:
you don't get ebola before a quarantine is announced.
you don't get "cleansed" by being shot and tossed into an incinerator.
you don't get shot by trying to breach the city limits or quarantine.

So, assuming you're alive and haven't come down with anything...  and you have to make some FAST decisions before the above assumptions come into play; what would you do?

[1952Sniper]

No way in hell I'd stick around for their quarantine.  All that does is ensure that you die within their "safe zone".

I'd have to bug out.  Hopefully, by my primary route home.  If not, then by using alternate roads.  Worst case, on foot across private property.  In that case, there is always the danger of being shot.  I'd move only at night.  35 miles isn't that bad of a hike, and it could be done in a few nights worth of walking.

[Spinich]

With the given scenario:

If I was at work when this happened, I would call my wife and tell her to stay put. She is further out from the city than I am, about 15 miles due South. I would return to my home and grab my equipment: BOB, Ammo, MOP suit/mask/booties/gloves, LBV, pistol & SKS, supply of bottled water / prepackaged food, plastic wrap, & duck-tape. I would drive to my wife's work and pick her up. Continue to head east toward the coast (the wind blows west to east). Most traffic would be on the freeways which are the opposite direction of where I would be going. I live in Jacksonville FL, so there would be a lot of people panicking. Depending on road-blocks and the road condition, I would possibly ditch the truck and go by foot with the cover of the forest/swampland. It would be slow going and with the current heat index, I would too move at night. Once I reached the coast, I would probably try and 'commandeer' a boat and head out to sea and then north to safety under the cover of the night.

[1952Sniper]

Spinich, you'd do all that while wearing MOPP gear?

[ReverendGoo]

Bug out and head directly home. I figure it wouldn't do much good for me to go the long way since the authorities would not be tracking any individuals yet. Besides if they are going to set up road blocks they are going to do it on the west and east sides of town, not just the side I live on.

I would just drive my vehicle towards home until I got to the point where I needed to do something else. If I have to walk and go through a mountain range that would be fine. I currently live less than 10 miles from work and my BOB still includes fire making materials and other things that would get me by. If I lived 35 miles away I would adjust my BOB but I shouldn't have a problem either way.

[Spinich]

Spinich, you'd do all that while wearing MOPP gear?

I didn't say that, I said I would grab it. I would though if needed, I wore it in Saudi Arabia for training exercises...for hours on end. It isn't pleasant, but it is a whole lot better than contracting a biological agent.

[1952Sniper]

How would you know when it's needed?

[Spinich]

It would be ALL over the media like white on rice. Whether it was accurate enough to go off of, who knows. If it came to that tough of a question, I would probably suit up and choose to error in the side of caution.

  Sucks, I know...especially if it were still summer here in Jacksonville, I would be sweating my arse off. I guess that is why the Army trains you to do things that suck. That way, if you are faced with a situation that merits that corse of action, you have experienced it before and know both that you should do it, and that you can do it.

I will ask the gods to allow such an attack, only in the cool of the winter evening.

[thespork]

It all depends. There are many variables in a scenario like this. For instance, what is the reasonable chance that you are already infected? If this is high you are not doing yourself, your family, and your country any favors by trying to run. That sucks but thats the breaks, you can and should be shot on site in such a situation. Your actions could end up endangering your love ones, and the public at large, to a much great extent than if you stayed put.
I can already feel the flames that statement is going to cause, but quartines are a fact of life going back to the time of the founding fathers (and before). Its a terrible and unfortunate situation, and yes, it has a great potential to be abused, but their are instances where we are left no choice...

How infectious is the agent? what are its vectors (modes of transport)? Depending on the agent, the best thing might indeed be hunkering down, be out amogst a paniced/fleeing population (you won't be the only one) might be the worst place to be.

Now, if the chance of you being infected is low, but yet you are quarantined, I could see how an individual might take it upon himself to flee the situation. The quantine situation may indeed be irrational, wouldn't put it past the powers that be to overreact. In such a situation acting in ones own self interest would be understandable. You must keep in mind, however, that just because you don't think its an issue, others may, expect major pushback upto and including you being imprisoned, or shot dead. You just have to weigh this against the situation at hand...

The best thing to do in the meantime is a: prepare and b: educate yourself. Having the right equipment, food stores, phramaceuticals, etc on hand might be the difference between life and death. Educating yourself on the various bio-chemical agents out there and their characteristics will aid you greatly in the go/no-go decision.

[Spike 7.62]

How would you know when it's needed?

People around you start convulsing and flopping around like fish on dry land. That's how I was instructed 

I would have to think about something... if I am quarinteened, will I go to a hospital or other safe place? And if I try to bug out, what will be my chances of contracting the disease? It would also depend a lot on where my g.f was when all this goes down.

Let's say theres a good chance of catching the disease by just being around it.. and it's spreading. If I were with my girlfriend, honestly I think we would want to be admitted to a hospital. Make sure we dont have it, wait until it's over. It's submissive, but the risks must be weighed.

But if she were at home, I would "bug out" of the city and head there by whatever means possible. Whether on foot, by car, bicycle or something I've "tactically acquired". I'd tell her to stay home, stay armed and stay careful so I know where to find her. I'd of course do my best to stay away from others, since they may be carriers of the ailment. When I got home, we'd finish putting our stuff together, and if possible head to PA where friends live. If we had to move clandestinly, so be it. It would be very "off the cuff" and improvisonal (but I think any SHTF plan is, when in practice), although both of us have training and survival skills to fall back on.

-spike

-spike

[thespork]

biologicals have incubation times, and subtle pre-symptoms that you may not recognize.
If this is the case you may already be infected! Running (because you feel 'fine') home to your loved ones in such a situation isn't doing them any favors...

Requires a lot of prudence, and possibly selflessness, to know what the right call is.

[1952Sniper]

People around you start convulsing and flopping around like fish on dry land. That's how I was instructed

See, this is my point.  You're talking about nerve agents and stuff.  But the scenario was specifically about other weapons-grade biological agents like anthrax, ebola, etc.  Those things don't make you immediately start flopping around.  If you're contaminated with these diseases, you won't know it for a while.  At least several hours.  So what's the point of having MOPP gear if it's not going to be used until it's too late?  Once you start developing symptoms of anthrax or ebola, it's too late to put on the MOPP gear.

That's why I was asking Spinich how he would know when it's necessary to put it on.  My point was that there's no possible way to know whether the facility has leaked dangerous airborne diseases to where he is or not. 

[Spinich]

People around you start convulsing and flopping around like fish on dry land. That's how I was instructed

See, this is my point.  You're talking about nerve agents and stuff.  But the scenario was specifically about other weapons-grade biological agents like anthrax, ebola, etc.  Those things don't make you immediately start flopping around.  If you're contaminated with these diseases, you won't know it for a while.  At least several hours.  So what's the point of having MOPP gear if it's not going to be used until it's too late?  Once you start developing symptoms of anthrax or ebola, it's too late to put on the MOPP gear.

That's why I was asking Spinich how he would know when it's necessary to put it on.  My point was that there's no possible way to know whether the facility has leaked dangerous airborne diseases to where he is or not. 

The author asked for gear that I would use with the given scenario. If the plant started leaking in the center of town and I am driving southward away from the leak and the wind is heading east-west, then yeah, it would make sense to me to at least throw on the pro-mask. Depending on the scenario, I would also throw on the charcoal suit/booties/gloves if I thought that the agent could stick & live on my skin or clothing (depending on saturation levels).

If I considered that I was more-than-likely already infected, I would probably just go home and drink until I died or was shot. 

[bch7773]

It all depends. There are many variables in a scenario like this. For instance, what is the reasonable chance that you are already infected? If this is high you are not doing yourself, your family, and your country any favors by trying to run. That sucks but thats the breaks, you can and should be shot on site in such a situation. Your actions could end up endangering your love ones, and the public at large, to a much great extent than if you stayed put.
I can already feel the flames that statement is going to cause, but quartines are a fact of life going back to the time of the founding fathers (and before). Its a terrible and unfortunate situation, and yes, it has a great potential to be abused, but their are instances where we are left no choice...

+1

If I suspected that I COULD have been exposed, I would stay put and sure as hell not go to my family.  no sense in taking them with me.