The readiness of our society to respond to major emergencies or terrorist attacks depends on a number of factors including adequate planning, available equipment and appropriate organisation and training of rescue forces and their command. Efforts are made to master these situations. However, no special efforts have been made to increase the individual preparedness so far. In 1981, the Swedish Government decided that all civilians should have access to a protective mask to be distributed in wartime or in special critical situations for protection against chemical warfare agents, biological agents, and radiation fallout. These masks could also be useful when protecting the civilian population from accidentally released toxic industrial chemicals (TICS). The report describes an investigation aimed at measuring risk perception, knowledge of the individual protection available, the function of protective masks and attitudes with respect to possessing and keeping a personal protective mask at home. A field trial with 500 respondents participated in three different field trials using protective masks during a two-year period. In the last phase a simulated state of emergency was intitiated. As seen from the results, this study argues that civizens living in high-risk areas could handle, store and use the protective masks currently centrally located. The individual protection is increased and the former investmant can be used for new threat situations as chemical accidents and terrorist attacks.