Preparing for the Swine Flu Part 2
Posted: Saturday, September 19, 2009
by Dave Dozier
In June of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the flu alert to stage 6, which is the highest level. This is the first time that the WHO has declared a pandemic in 41 years. The last time was in 1968, when 33,800 Americans died from the Hong Kong Flu.
Last week I covered some simple but potentially life-saving habits that all of us need to learn. Simple things like washing your hands, staying home when you are sick, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.
However, a pandemic brings the very real threat of long-term isolation of citizens. If the pandemic is severe enough, our authorities may need to shut down schools, businesses, and any place of public gatherings. This is a way to reduce the spread of the flu from person to person. The term for this is "social distancing, and there is documented evidence that points to the wisdom of such extreme measures. According to JoNel Aleccia of msnbc.com, "Evidence that social distancing cuts infection comes directly from the worst flu outbreak in memory, the 1918 pandemic. Cities that closed schools, churches and theaters during the early months of that deadly plague had peak weekly death rates about 50 percent lower than those of cities that imposed such measures later or not at all, according to a 2007 paper led by Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health."
The Swine flu may cause community services and utilities to be disrupted. If this happens, you will need more than 72 hours worth of supplies. The American Red Cross recommends that each household keep at least a two-week supply of food, water, and other critical household and hygiene supplies.
How do you go about putting together a two-week supply of food, water, etc. for the pandemic?
First of all, imagine yourself preparing for a two-week camping trip. Some of our readers may consider a trip to Holiday Inn as camping. That is not what I am talking about. By two-week camping trip I mean two weeks without your basic utilities, access to a grocery store or gas station, and access to your doctor or pharmacy.
Let's talk about food. Imagine that you are on a camping trip without electricity, running water, and natural gas. What types of food would you need to have with you? How will you prepare the food? How will you open the containers that the food is in, what will you put the food on to eat it, and what utensils will you use to eat it? With those questions in mind, make up a list of food items that you will need. Here is a suggested list: with comments:
- Food items- remember, you may be living without electricity for awhile. Look for items that are non-perishable and easy to open. This includes breakfast bars, dried and packaged fruit ( to keep your digestive track working) , coffee, tea, RMEs (meals ready to eat), soup, tuna fish and meats (available in sealed wrappers rather than cans), crackers, pasta (assuming you have a propane stove and fuel), rice, spices, Gatorade (or other powdered mixes that will help you replenish electrolytes.
- Utensils- Purchase a good can opener. Forget the $2.00 one and spend $10.00. Your knuckles will thank you. You might want to stock up on disposable forks and knives, as well as dishes. Don't forget paper towels and dish washing soap (for washing by hand, not the automatic kind).
- NOTES- go low sodium whenever you can. You may have to ration your water, so why make yourself thirstier by eating salty foods? Of course, it is easier on the heart as well.
- Water- the rule of thumb is one gallon of water per person per day. This takes care of drinking, cooking, and brushing your teeth. For hygiene purposes, bump it up to 3 gallons per
For some of us it may be easier to purchase prepackaged kits. This may prove to be more expensive, but may be worth it to those with less time on their hands. Some sites you can visit include the following (note: I have not personally used and am not endorsing any of these sites):
The preparedness center http://www.preparedness.com
Life Secure http://www.lifesecure.com
More prepared http://www.moreprepared.com
You should also do your own research with these groups:
Department of Health and Human Resources www.pandemicflu.gov/
American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/pandemicflu
Next week I will talk about health and hygiene items that you may want to have in stock in case we are encouraged to practice social distancing.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Thank You for the helpful and informative article. We live in the Florida Keys and are in "Hurricane Alley." We always are prepared for a few days. Now,I am going to add many more supplies to my huge emergency suitcase.
I think most of us feel it's never going to happen to 'us', but all those faces we see in the papers and on the news after such events as Katrina etc. probably thought that too. Your article was very informative and will be of great help to those who take your very good advice.Thank you for the kind words, Brianna.
Good information. We live in the middle of the mountain meadow (subject to WEATHER - 2 inches of snow overnight last night) so we have things stored and ready but gained some new insights from this piece! MarijoSnow in September? Wow. Hear in Houston we see snow once every ten years if we are lucky. Stay warm and dry Marijo.
Thanks, Dave, for your well-written, practical advice. I will share this with Miss Harriet and the teenagers, so we can better prepare ourselves for such an emergency. You've done a great service here. ~mogama~Thank you for your kind words, Mogama. Are these your children, or are the teenagers under your care?
The teenagers are my children. ~mogama~
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