Role of the Block Warden in the Hydrogen Bomb Era (1955)

Synopsis

The Federal Civil Defense Administration presents Role Of The Warden In The H-Bomb Era (TB-27-3), a 1955 educational film that reviews the duties of the block or community warden in the event of a hydrogen bomb attack. The film was considered important to make because while the public had been led to believe that an atomic bomb attack might be survivable, few believed that a hydrogen bomb could be, and as the film points out "civil defense must begin at the grass roots". The film therefore presents an argument that the h-bomb is survivable with proper planning. The film primarily consists of illustrations, with only a few short video clips interspersed throughout. The film discusses the role of wardens in the Civil Defense program, people at the grass-roots level who lead their local community in the event of a disaster. The film opens with illustrations of the evolution of weapons and follows that with illustrations of the destruction area of an atomic bomb. The film discusses the hierarchy of the Federal Civil Defense Administration ( 03:20 ) and where the warden fits into the structure; it then discusses the duties of the warden. An urban block warden explains how he organizes his community in civil defense ( 05:09 ); illustrations show a civil defense block team holding neighborhood meetings, going door-to-door to talk with community members, and training the warden team in firefighting and first aid techniques. This is followed by illustrations of basic bomb shelters…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

27 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage