you also probably can't distribute cytokines and colony stimulators ahead of time.
probably the thing to do is make sure everyone has good basic PPE, bottled water, and maybe a basic rad badge, and only seek medical care if you know you've been exposed to high levels of radiation.
- "Time of treatment initiation: DTPA should be administered as soon as possible after exposure, ideally within the first 24h. If early administration is not possible, therapy can be initiated at any time; however, the efficacy decreases substantially when radionuclides are deposited in the bone and other organs (47, 48)."
- "The optimal period of administration of stable iodine is < 24 h before and ≤ 2 h after the expected onset of exposure."
K iodate (KIO3) is completely shelf stable, but it can be unpleasant when taken in very large doses.
Therefore any reserve of iodide will provide a smaller dose than expected when it is too old, unless it was stored in special conditions, e.g. in nitrogen without contact with air.
Everybody would be fine to keep a pack of iodine pills flying around their home.
I rather delay a day of colony stimulator than popping iodine when there is fallout outside.