Pandemic or not, the time to prepare is now. Photo c/o ehow.com/
A lot of folks are e-mailing me or commenting that they don’t buy into all of this “hoopla” about the Swine Flu. My response is that it doesn’t matter whether or not the Swine flu amounts to anything at this moment, you STILL need to prepare for it. The point is that you should be preparing for the Swine Flu, Avian Flu, or Alien flu (yes, I made that up) the same way that you prepare for any other “disaster.” The only significance of the Swine Flu is the matter of timing. Due to the flu season and school starting back up, we MAY be looking at an imminent pandemic threat very soon. The fact of the matter is, you all still have a lot to do to get prepared to survive without all of your niceties that you’re used to. Just because the Swine Flu flurry may be perpetuated unnecessarily doesn’t make it any less of a circumstance to reckon ourselves with. I think that the issue with the Swine Flu being so pervasive in our minds is simply that it’s something that’s a bit more real to us. The timing of it is more visible. No one (who’s willing to admit it anyway) saw 9/11 coming. No one saw the damage that the tsunami was going to bring with it, and no one saw the complete disaster and horrible aftermath that Hurricane Katrina let loose on Louisiana either. Ask yourself, if you had a major earthquake tomorrow, would you be prepared? If your children all came down with some nasty flu and you were quarantined, would you be prepared?
Whether or not the Swine Flu ends up being equivalent to the Spanish Flu of 1918 is irrelevant. Yes, the Spanish Flu killed hundreds of millions of people. Yes, it affected virtually every part of the earth, even the Arctic and remote islands of the Pacific. But its biggest danger was that it came to people who were unaware, unlearned, and unprepared for such an instance. Thus what’s truly important is that you prepare for a pandemic situation like it right now while you can.
Here is a list of items for you that I recommend you have on hand in case you do end up having a patient who’s ill with a highly contagious flu virus. You will want to cordon off a room in your home for the care of such a person in order to avoid the unnecessary spreading of the virus. This list takes into consideration that you may or may not have electricity. (Obviously, this list is not all inclusive)
Items to Cordon Off a Sick Room
- Air filter
- Fan
- Plastic sheeting
- Shower Curtain
- Sheets/pillow cases
- Heavy blankets
- Cot/bed
- Bleach
- Rubber gloves
- Air masks
- Hair ties
- Shower caps
- Thermometers
- Multiple sets of sheets
- Ways to keep sick room dark
- Washcloths
- Portable water bins
- Capacity to heat water w/o electricity
- Towels (paper and cloth)
Items Necessary for the Comfort of Patient
- Fabric for bandages (sanitize)
- Baby wipes
- Anti-diarrhea meds
- Anbesol
- Listerine
- Chloraseptic
- Whiskey
- Honey
- Lemon juice
- Water, water, water
- Salt
- Multi-vitamins
- Herbal teas
- Essential oils
- Lotions
- Washcloths
- Towels
- Multiple sets of sheets
- Air flow
- Visine
- Hot packs
- Cold packs
- Lavender
- Spice For Life
essential oils - Garlic/garlic oil
- Lanacane
- Pain/fever relievers*
- Vaporizers (battery operated)
- Oversized T-shirts
- Gowns
- Vicks Vaporub
- Icy Hot
- SOFT facial tissues
- SOFT toilet paper
- Gauze
- Medical tape
- Neosporin
- Hot water bottle
- Straws
- Allergy meds
- Ensure
- Band-aids
- Q-tips
- Cotton balls
- Meal-in-bed tray
- Eye dropper
- Mouth dropper
- Books
- Juice
- Baby monitor
- Pen/notebook for records
- Anti-bacterial soap
- Olive leaf extract
- Yarrow root
- Goldenseal
-
- Hot Toddy
Red sage
- Raspberry leaves
- Catnip
- Oregano oil
- Sage oil
- Bragg’s Amino acids
- Scar therapy pads
- Hemorrhoid ointment
- Baby bottle
- Rubbing alcohol
- Bed pans
- Deodorizer
- Walker
- Sleep aids
- Crackers
- Cough medicine* (or makings for a hot toddy: 1 T of whiskey, 1 T honey, 1 T lemon, 1 C. of hot water)
- Pain relievers (aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen)*
- Simple proteins (peanut butter, canned chicken)
- Pedialyte ( Recipe: 1 liter H2O, 2 T sugar or honey, 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t baking soda)
- Hot cereals (cream of wheat and oatmeal are best on the stomach)
- Anti-Nausea treatment (crystallized ginger, chamomile, mint tea, crackers)
*Remember infant versions too
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18 Comments
amber · August 25, 2009 at 3:32 pm
EXCELLENT list…and for the naysayers I would add, even when someone comes down with regular boring everyday flu, do you really want to have to go to the store? I live alone and just had a weird flu/bronchial infection that lasted about 10 days. Because of what I’ve learned here, I had everything I needed to combate it (I don’t really “do” doctors anyway, LOL). I never once had to go to the store for anything I needed! After this I am feeling more confident about my medical preparedness! Yay!
amber · August 25, 2009 at 3:32 pm
EXCELLENT list…and for the naysayers I would add, even when someone comes down with regular boring everyday flu, do you really want to have to go to the store? I live alone and just had a weird flu/bronchial infection that lasted about 10 days. Because of what I’ve learned here, I had everything I needed to combate it (I don’t really “do” doctors anyway, LOL). I never once had to go to the store for anything I needed! After this I am feeling more confident about my medical preparedness! Yay!
Diane Rose · August 26, 2009 at 2:50 am
You list seams more geared to a neculer disaster rather than a case of swine flu. I mean really how would q tips cotton balls, shower curtain, bandages be of use for a case of the flu. Way over done
Diane Rose · August 26, 2009 at 2:50 am
You list seams more geared to a neculer disaster rather than a case of swine flu. I mean really how would q tips cotton balls, shower curtain, bandages be of use for a case of the flu. Way over done
Kellene · August 26, 2009 at 3:13 am
Hmm…well let’s see. 3 months ago when a dear friend was badly ill with “the flu” I needed something to line the mattress with because when he coughed he would urinate. Thus I used a shower curtain rather than an expensive mattress pad.
I used q-tips so that I could clean out his ears that were bothering him. Bandage on one of the bed sores, and a couple of cotton balls to apply the salve for the bed sores. Perhaps you simply don’t yet appreciate all that will be required to handle a serious illness, especially if it’s affecting more than one person in your home.
Kellene · August 26, 2009 at 3:13 am
Hmm…well let’s see. 3 months ago when a dear friend was badly ill with “the flu” I needed something to line the mattress with because when he coughed he would urinate. Thus I used a shower curtain rather than an expensive mattress pad.
I used q-tips so that I could clean out his ears that were bothering him. Bandage on one of the bed sores, and a couple of cotton balls to apply the salve for the bed sores. Perhaps you simply don’t yet appreciate all that will be required to handle a serious illness, especially if it’s affecting more than one person in your home.
jamie · August 26, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I love multi-taskers (Alton Brown fan) Use those wee wee or puppy training pads. They are pretty much the same thing hospitals use under patients. They are cheap, make your sheets stay clean and disposable.
jamie · August 26, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I love multi-taskers (Alton Brown fan) Use those wee wee or puppy training pads. They are pretty much the same thing hospitals use under patients. They are cheap, make your sheets stay clean and disposable.
Charles · August 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I was in the Military for over 21 years and I can tell you the old saying “One is none and Two is one” goes along way.
Thanks Kellene for your extensive list.
I always brought with me more than “Others” thought I should and those “Others” would be the ones asking if I had this or that.
Thanks again!
Charles · August 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I was in the Military for over 21 years and I can tell you the old saying “One is none and Two is one” goes along way.
Thanks Kellene for your extensive list.
I always brought with me more than “Others” thought I should and those “Others” would be the ones asking if I had this or that.
Thanks again!
Linda · August 26, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Thank you for this great list. I am about to teach a lesson to sisters in our ward and will use this to pass along (along with this great website to look up more information). Thank you for your excellent posts on various subjects. I’ve learned a lot from you even though I’ve been preparing and studying preparedness for a long time.
Linda · August 26, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Thank you for this great list. I am about to teach a lesson to sisters in our ward and will use this to pass along (along with this great website to look up more information). Thank you for your excellent posts on various subjects. I’ve learned a lot from you even though I’ve been preparing and studying preparedness for a long time.
Kellene · August 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Coming from a pro, that means a lot to me! Thanks!
Kellene · August 26, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Coming from a pro, that means a lot to me! Thanks!
jamie · August 26, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Update
They do have a large supply of the new “nasal spray” version of the vaccine. Be aware that it use a “live” but weakened virus. No secondary confirmation of this I saw it on the Science Channel show Brink.
I am not one to panic in fact when the 1st reports of the “Swine Flu” came out I felt great. I had a years worth of food, plenty of “meds” to treat symptoms, Face masks, gloves, and Bleach. The only thing I had to do was add some hand sanitizer from my “stash” to my Bug out bag I keep in my car. Talk about your Peace of mind.
England’s “Sun” newspaper has reported that the Home Office is putting the works mass Graves. Now the English don’t tend to be panicky. I mean several hundred years of civil war with the Irish are called the “Troubles”.
I have the chronic version of GBS, after spending 3 months in an “extended care unit” so weak I couldn’t even pull up my own underwear. I had several people say they did not expect me to live after I got better. After 3 years I am still 100% disabled and unable to work.
Think of this the cheap peace of mind or insurance.
jamie · August 26, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Update
They do have a large supply of the new “nasal spray” version of the vaccine. Be aware that it use a “live” but weakened virus. No secondary confirmation of this I saw it on the Science Channel show Brink.
I am not one to panic in fact when the 1st reports of the “Swine Flu” came out I felt great. I had a years worth of food, plenty of “meds” to treat symptoms, Face masks, gloves, and Bleach. The only thing I had to do was add some hand sanitizer from my “stash” to my Bug out bag I keep in my car. Talk about your Peace of mind.
England’s “Sun” newspaper has reported that the Home Office is putting the works mass Graves. Now the English don’t tend to be panicky. I mean several hundred years of civil war with the Irish are called the “Troubles”.
I have the chronic version of GBS, after spending 3 months in an “extended care unit” so weak I couldn’t even pull up my own underwear. I had several people say they did not expect me to live after I got better. After 3 years I am still 100% disabled and unable to work.
Think of this the cheap peace of mind or insurance.
jamie · November 29, 2009 at 8:09 pm
More reasons to prepare Biological Threats. Containing and treating them, you will need the above Items.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34580
“In an October 21 progress report, this bipartisan board cautioned that “a one- to two-kilogram release of anthrax spores from a crop duster plane could kill more Americans than died in World War II,” specifically, 380,000. “Clean up and other economic costs could exceed $1.8 trillion.” “Dark Winter,” a June 2001 high-level simulation exercise, assumed that a covert smallpox attack would infect 3.3 million Americans, one-third fatally.”
Four pounds of anthrax…carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the US, are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour,” laughed Kuwaiti professor and terrorist sympathizer Abdallah Al-Nafisi in a speech broadcast February 2 on Al-Jazeera and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “One person, with the courage to carry four pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then will do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real ‘celebration.’”
jamie · November 29, 2009 at 8:09 pm
More reasons to prepare Biological Threats. Containing and treating them, you will need the above Items.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34580
“In an October 21 progress report, this bipartisan board cautioned that “a one- to two-kilogram release of anthrax spores from a crop duster plane could kill more Americans than died in World War II,” specifically, 380,000. “Clean up and other economic costs could exceed $1.8 trillion.” “Dark Winter,” a June 2001 high-level simulation exercise, assumed that a covert smallpox attack would infect 3.3 million Americans, one-third fatally.”
Four pounds of anthrax…carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the US, are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour,” laughed Kuwaiti professor and terrorist sympathizer Abdallah Al-Nafisi in a speech broadcast February 2 on Al-Jazeera and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute. “One person, with the courage to carry four pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then will do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real ‘celebration.’”
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