By Kellene Bishop
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
Thieves Oil photo c/o aromatherapyliving.com
- Air flow
- Visine
- Hot packs
- Cold packs
- Lavender
- Garlic/garlic oil
- Thieves Oil/products
- 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
Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.
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