A concrete or steel room designed to the ICC 500 standard and FEMA P-320 guidance, anchored to the foundation. It requires owning your home, an engineer, and permits. See ch. 18.
SAME code
A six-digit code you program into the NOAA radio so it sounds only for alerts in your county. Look up your county's SAME code at weather.gov. See ch. 1.
SAMHSA
The federal mental health agency. Its Disaster Distress Helpline is 1-800-985-5990, call or text, free, 24/7, and in several languages. See ch. 25.
Sealing a room
Covering windows, vents, and gaps with 2–4 mil plastic and tape in the event of a chemical cloud. Do it only if the authorities ask and for a short time. See ch. 16.
Shelter core zone
The interior bathroom plus the adjoining hallway and closet. The bathroom is used during the most dangerous phase; the core zone is for sleeping and living when the danger allows. See ch. 18.
Shelter in place
An order to stay inside instead of evacuating: close doors and windows, turn off the air system that draws in outside air, and go to the shelter room. Sometimes it includes sealing the room. See chs. 16 and 18.
Shelter room
The innermost room of your home or apartment, with no windows or exterior walls (interior bathroom or hallway closet), prepared for a tornado, radioactive fallout, or a chemical leak. See chs. 15 and 18.
Shock
Failure of circulation: not enough blood reaches the organs because of hemorrhage, burns, dehydration, infection, or anaphylaxis. Call 911, treat the cause, and keep the person lying down and warm. See ch. 7.
Signal of three
Anything in threes means help: 3 whistle blasts, 3 flashes, 3 fires in a triangle. See ch. 8.
SODIS (solar disinfection)
Disinfecting clear water in the sun in transparent PET bottles of 2 liters or less, for at least 6 hours. A last-resort method. See ch. 3.
Solar still
A hole or container covered with plastic where the sun evaporates water and it condenses clean. It produces little; it is a last resort. See ch. 3.
Square knot
A knot for bandages and bundles. Never use it to join two ropes that will bear weight. Seech. 17.
Standing part
The long part of the rope, the one that does the work or runs to the load. See ch. 17.
STOP
A method for not acting out of panic: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. It works at home and if you get lost in the wilderness. See chs. 1 and 8.
Stop the Bleed
A course that teaches three tools against life-threatening bleeding: direct pressure, wound packing, and a tourniquet. See chs. 1 and 7.
