HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY SYSTEM

In March 2002, the White House issued Homeland Security Directive-3, which established five threat conditions for possible terrorist attacks: Green = Low; Blue = Guarded; Yellow = Elevated; Orange = High; Red = Severe.

General explanations were given for preparedness activities for each level, but these were intended mainly for government agencies. Across the country, people wanted to know what the alert system meant to them personally. The American Red Cross recognized the need for more detailed information and developed a complementary set of guidelines:

The following brochures are PDF (Portable Document Format) files. In order to open them you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website.

• Individuals
• Families
• Neighborhoods
• Schools
• Businesses

For more information, please visit our Basic Preparedness—Terrorism page.