Is Your Movie Theater Making You Sick?

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By Kellene Bishop

Popcorn photo c/o granitegrok.com/

Let me ask you a question. Would you cook up fresh popcorn only to stuff it in a garbage bag, store it on the floor of a closet overnight, and then serve it the next day as “fresh popcorn?” Would you even want to eat such a food item? If so, would you be willing to pay “theater prices” for such a treat?

While working for a movie theater, if you saw a drink cup fall to the floor, what would you do with it? Throw it away, right? Ah…but that would be a problem if you were a concession stand employee at the American Fork, Utah Cinemark theaters.

Missi* was newly employed at the Cinemark Theatre at The Meadows in American Fork. Grateful to have a job unlike many kids her age, she was eager to please. On her second day of the job however, she got a rude awakening as to just how much she would be required to do to keep her job. As she spotted a drinking cup drop to the floor, she put it in the trash. According to Missi, her manager, Mr. Bejera, proceeded to yell at her and asked, “What do you think you’re doing?” Thinking that perhaps she had violated some kind of an accounting protocol, she took the cup out of the trash and placed it on the counter where the movie theater put broken and unsalable items. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what Mr. Bejera had in mind. Missi claims that Mr. Bejera continued to holler at her saying, “That cup is not dirty!” He then reclaimed the cup from the counter, placed it on the top of all of the other soda cups to be provided to the consumers and hovered over Missi until she had actually sold the cup to an eager movie-goer.

For those of you who may practice “the three second rule” in your home, you should know that according to my interview with the Utah County Health Department, a concession stand drinking cup is a single-use item and should have been discarded after it fell on the floor.

Photo c/o Melanie Sochan | The Saginaw News

Unfortunately, this potential nightmare doesn’t stop there. Missi and two other employees of Cinemark at The Meadows confirmed with me the policy of overnight popcorn storage. The unsold popcorn is placed in a garbage bag—yes, the same ones they use for the garbage cans—NON-food grade—, tied off, and then stored in a closet overnight. One morning when the employees began set-up for the concession stand, they went to retrieve the popcorn bag only to see that it was open. They had no idea if it was left open during the entire night, if the cleaning crew had a sudden craving during their shift, or if any critters had made their way into it during the storage time. Regardless, they retrieved it from the garbage bag and served it fresh that day.

For you to know, the Utah County Health Department Guidelines will permit the popcorn to be served the next day IF it is stored in a food-grade container. Yeah, I’m always putting my leftover chicken teriyaki in a garbage bag and then serving it the next day, aren’t you? In fact, I think Costco would save a us all a whole lot more money if they just bagged all of the bulk items in garbage bags instead of all of that fancy food-grade packaging—don’t you?

But wait. It gets better. The policy at this Cinemark Theater is that when a concession popcorn bag drops on the floor, the employees are required to leave it on the floor UNTIL there aren’t any customers in sight. Then they are required to pick it up and return it with the rest of the popcorn bags to be sold. Now, I ask you. If this is such a safe, ethical, and moral practice, then why are the employees admonished to wait until no customers are in sight?

When you’re ordering a hot dog, you may want to inquire specifically as to when they were cooked. In my opinion, if I’m paying $5-$7 for a hot dog, I don’t want one that was cooked at 11:00 a.m. the day before.

This same Cinemark Theater has a militant policy about employees coming in sick to work. “If you don’t get a replacement for your shift, then you are strongly encouraged to come into work,” says Missi. Don’t you find it interesting that the doctor’s offices don’t even want you to come in with the flu and yet a movie theater insists upon it? Sick employees are berated and treated with contempt for missing work due to illness. Management even goes so far as to arbitrarily require a doctor’s note prior to an employee returning to work if they aren’t satisfied with the timing of the absence. Whether an employee is sick with a headache or flu-like symptoms, the theater has no problem requiring them to work at the concession stand or handling tickets.

Sample Food Handlers Card. Photo c/o kcmo.org

Were you aware that there are no standard requirements regarding WHEN an employee is to have a Food Handlers Permit? For some practical reasons a great deal of leeway is provided to employers at food establishments as to when their employees must be educated in the handling of food. In the case of this particular Cinemark Theater, numerous employees were able to work at least 30 days at the concession stand without verification of an FHP.

Lastly, as I feared, there are absolutely NO requirements by the health department to clean arm rests, seat backs or door handles in a theater. I interviewed three employees from the theater. None of them could recall a time in which they were asked to clean any more than the “standard”—vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the baseboards, or peeling gum off of the theater seats. So yes, when you rest your hand or arm on that armrest in the theater, you are joining the throngs of people before you who sneezed, spilled, coughed, drooled, etc. Sani-Wipes, anyone? I can assure you that I will never look at popcorn and a soda the same way again. 

As we enter this concerning flu season, I find it even that much more alarming that regard for the public’s health is taking a back seat to the cost of a concession stand cup or popcorn bag. That message speaks much louder to me than any movie promotion ever could.

Cinemark Movie Theater photo c/o lezgetreal

You should know that the regional and national Cinemark offices clearly did not take this issue seriously. In spite of several detailed telephone messages over several days, no one felt that this issue was serious enough to merit a comment on this story. I don’t know about you, but the silence on the other end of the phone line speaks volumes in my mind. It solidifies the impression that the company culture of Cinemark tolerates these types of actions and that it’s not isolated to a rogue middle manager. Apparently an issue like this plays second fiddle to what Brad Pitt has to say about his current girlfriend and kids as he promotes his latest film.

So what does all of this have to do with preparedness? As we enter the flu season I’ve shared two articles with you over the past week regarding “germ warfare.” I’ve shared with you many ways that you can be mindful and better prevent yourself from becoming ill amidst all that threatens our bodies during this season. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that part of that prevention may require avoiding a particular movie theater, or perhaps all of them.

May I just remind you that you have every right to be HYPER VIGILANT about your health? Don’t look the other way when you see questionable hygiene or food handling practices. Address it head on. Say something to a manager. Call the health department. (The Health Department assured me that all complaints will be handled anonymously when addressing the business owner.) Ignoring the issue may cost you your life. At the very least it will cost you a couple of sick days. Ultimately you are the one responsible for your health. I can assure you that in the future I will certainly think twice about the real price of attending a movie.

*The real name of the employee has been changed.

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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Germ Warfare—Part II

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By Kellene Bishop

Germ Warfare. Photo c/o positivepsychologynews.com

Yes, you do have a right to be a fanatic. When it comes to war, any war, the winner is always the one who never assumes they are safe. These same tactics must be applied to germ warfare as well.

There just had to be a Part II to my previous article on Germ Warfare. After writing the first article, I kept being mentally nagged by other danger zones I had left out. In some instances, I believe these germ danger zones may be more nefarious than some of those listed in my original article. So read on, and prepare to change some more of your life’s habits.

Soda pop and other canned goods—The other night while I was teaching a class on quarantine/pandemic ironically, a free can of soda pop was offered to everyone in the room. As I watched everyone happily opened their can of pop and drank from it. I on the other hand washed mine at the sink, wiped it off with a sani-wipe and then drank from it—simply because I couldn’t find any straws. Remember, you have absolutely NO idea what rodents the cans were exposed to at their original warehouse, as they were transported, or as they were housed at the retailer you purchased them from. Hanta virus is still a viable concern even if you have no rodents in your own home.

According to a new study, steering wheels have twice as many germs as toilet seats. Photo c/o autoexpress.co.uk

Steering wheel—Even if I avoid the fact that many people have questionable hygiene habits when they are in their own little world in their car, the fact of the matter is, you don’t exactly turn your head away from your steering wheel when you sneeze, cough, etc. Your steering wheel gets the brunt of all that nature expels from your mouth and nose. PLEASE be sure to clean it off regularly with sani-wipes. (If you haven’t picked up on it yet, manufacturers of sani-wipes may be a hot stock pick right about now. :))

Get your drinks WITHOUT ice—I know that’s unfathomable to most of you. But here’s an eye opening statistic. You have a 70% chance of having MORE e-coli (which comes from feces) in your ice than is in the toilet from the same restaurant, airline, hotel, etc. Yes! Not just a 70% chance of finding e-coli there. But a 70% chance that your ice will be MORE contaminated than the toilet water! Studies showed that the number of stars a restaurant or hotel had made no difference in the quality of water in most cases. E-coli is introduced into the water by the water source used to make the ice, bare hands used to load the ice (instead of the scoop) and the fact that the lines to the ice machines are virtually NEVER cleaned out. 

Lemon wedges—avoid them in your drinks. I loathe the taste of tap water but I simply mask the taste by requesting a lemon wedge. Alas, I won’t be doing that any more. Lemon wedges have a 77% chance of being contaminated with e-coli, staph infection, or a myriad of other infectious bacteria. The only good thing you’ve got going for you is the fact that lemon juice is a natural anti-bacterial and disinfectant agent. *whew* Lemons are usually put into your drinks by bare hands despite the fact that they’re supposed to be handled with gloves. However, most restaurants leave it up to the servers to put them in your drinks. Having them placed on your dinner plates should be safe though as that’s usually done by a food handler in the kitchen.

Beware of gas pumps! Photo c/o blog.foreignpolicy.com

Gas pumps—If I had to give an award for the LEAST amount of cleaning on a public item ever, gas pumps would win hands down. Think about it. When have you EVER seen someone clean those? When you pump your gas, use a paper towel that the station usually has on hand or at least sanitize the heck out of your hands before you touch ANYTHING else—including your keys.

Last but not least is a stern word of warning about playgrounds. Those bouncy houses that your kids play in NEVER get sanitized. They get vacuumed sometimes, but never fully cleaned. The ones containing the bouncy balls are a cesspool of germs of the grossest kinds. When have you ever seen a school janitor clean the chains on the swings or the bars on the monkey bars or the handles on the teeter totters? How about the playground equipment such as balls, jump ropes, etc? It’s imperative that you teach your kids to SANITIZE their hands after recess or after using such equipment on any occasion.

Bottom line, you have EVERY right to be fanatical about your health care. This is your life we’re talking about here. You MUST be in a heightened state of awareness in order to prevent you and your family from getting unnecessarily ill. One touch is all it takes folks, so be mindful. You wouldn’t take your kid down a dark alley in the middle of the city at 3:00 a.m. Making contact with e-coli or the Hanta virus or the H1N1 virus isn’t any less of a gamble. So start putting the odds in your favor. This is called germ warfare for a reason. Position yourself to win every battle.

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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The Expiration Date Deception

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By Kellene Bishop

If you’ve read my articles in the past, then you know that I usually take issue with folks who are naïve and spread their ill-informed opinions around—usually to the demise or hindrance of other’s preparedness efforts. Well, yesterday I was commenting on a couponing forum to a gal about how her addiction to brownies no longer needed to be hindered by the expiration dates on her mixes if she was properly equipped with a FoodSaver. Unfortunately, a naïve, very ill-informed person got after me and claimed that it was unethical and just plain wrong for me to tell anyone that they could store any food product for that long. She even went so far as to present the grid that FoodSaver publishes which is their official claim in terms of how long food can be preserved with the benefit of a FoodSaver. (Obviously, the claims were nowhere near the time periods I had expressed.) So, today’s article is in honor of those who have been duped into believing that the expiration dates printed on a food product are some kind of a Cardinal rule to live by. And I’m even going to tell you exactly why they are not.

In a previous article I shared with you that “expiration dates are created for one reason and one reason only” and that was to protect the food manufacturers from any legal liability. It’s not liability from food poisoning so much as it is false advertising. For example, if you store your cereal that claims it has 100% of a days worth of Vitamin C, well, that won’t be accurate if you store it forever, right? Eventually the nutritional value will be lost and yet they will still have printed on the box an assertion regarding the Vitamin C content. With this article however, I’m also going to show you a couple of other darker sides in the use of expiration dates.

One of my food storage heroes, Wendy Dewitt

First of all, let’s face it. Food doesn’t poison a person. Germs and molds IN the food do. So let’s make sure we’re battling the correct culprit here. If you can store a food in such a way that you inhibit the growth of “critters,” then you will outlast the deadline of any expiration date on the planet. Oxygen, light, and heat are your enemies when it comes to preserving food. If you can control the exposure your food has to those beastly enemies, then you can control the longevity of your foods. One of my personal food storage heroes, Wendy DeWitt, has successfully stored Snickers candy bars for eight years by adhering to this battle plan. (How she refrained from eating it that long is beyond me.) The Snickers tasted just as wonderful as it did the day she bought it. I have successfully stored brown sugar, brown rice, oats, Keebler Fudge-Striped Cookies, nuts, chocolate chips, Peanut M&Ms, pudding mixes, Rice-a-Roni, and other packaged foods (even with hydrogenated oils) successfully in my cool, dry, basement for over 10 years by eliminating oxygen, light, and heat!

Of course there’s no manufacturer on the planet that is going to say “You can store this $2 box of cake mix for 10 years, so stock up when they are on sale and never think about buying them again for 10 years”, right? Think about this for a moment. You can store sugar for years and years. You can store cocoa for years. You can store spices for years. And you can store oils for years. So what makes a package of brownie mix exempt from being stored just as long? Oh. It’s that mean, ole’, ugly, expiration date on there, eh?

Rotting macaroni. Photo c/o wichita.edu

This leads me to another one of the dirty little secrets of the food manufacturing industry. Another key reason for issuing an expiration date on a particular product (and in some cases their 1^st consideration) is for marketing purposes. They don’t want you to take advantage of that special at the grocery store in which you can get a box of brownie mix for only .47 cents, stock up, and not buy their brownie mix again for years. Their strategy, when they work with retailers to create a special sale, as well as print and distribute coupons, is that you will TRY a product that you may not have tried otherwise, and/or to increase their sales by 3-12% in order to keep stockholders happy. But darn it. They can’t combat the savvy couponers out there who will stock up on products when such deals come along and who then buys 10 boxes of brownies, or cereal, or pasta sauce, etc. So what counter measures do they employ in order to force even the coupon crazies to fall in line and buy the product again and again? They convince the consumers that the food will be rotten, disgusting, and just plain scary after the expiration date. This isn’t about rationing food or keeping you safe, folks. This is about selling more product. Tell me you haven’t fallen for it before? Sure the cereal tastes stale after it’s sat in your pantry for too long. But you didn’t repackage it, did you? Sure you’ve had salad dressing that goes rancid after being stored too long. But that doesn’t make the expiration date rule the be all and end all for every food. (Note: I haven’t found a way to make salad dressing last much longer than 6 months outside of refrigeration past the expiration date. So instead I like to also store items that I can successfully MAKE dressings with to use on my sprouts.) 

Also, here’s another little secret to let you in on. When the coloring changes in a food, it does NOT mean that the original nutritional value has been altered yet.

About 8 years ago I read a study that the Army had done to determine the expiration of MREs. (I WISH I had known that I would be writing like this professionally many years later so that I could provide it to you. But even a lengthy look on Google didn’t turn up anything—yet.) While MREs are indeed created to undergo more extreme storage conditions, the key results of the study were interesting. The Army study discovered that despite the intended expiration date of 3 years the meals continued to provide their original nutrition value for 25 years and only then began to have coloration variances.

Just in case some of you are wondering what the heck a FoodSaver has to do with significantly extending the life of your foods, I’ll remind you of one of my well-used tactics.

Foodsaver lid. Photo c/o cabelas.com

You can stuff a Mason jar with any dry ingredient such as rice, nuts, chocolate chips, granola, etc. Place the lid, no ring, on the jar. Connect the air port from the FoodSaver to your Mason Jar attachment with the hose that comes with the FoodSaver. Place the jar attachment on top of your jar. Turn on your FoodSaver, and bzzzzzz…a moment later you have successfully sucked out the oxygen from your jar. After doing so you should store it away from heat and regular light. As such you will win the battle against expiration dates.

Foodsaver Canister

Here’s some really good news. As it turns out, if you have the canisters that typically come with the FoodSaver, you don’t need the Mason Jar attachment. All you have to do is put the jar with the lid on it inside the canister and then seal the canister like you would with anything else inside. Doing so actually sucks the air out of your jar. Simply remove the seal to the canister once you’ve done the seal process and then store your jar. Pretty cool, eh? (To be on the extra safe side, I would use the jar sealer though if I had my druthers.) The nice thing is WHEN you do get into that jar of Peanut M&Ms, so long as you don’t ruin the lid trying to dig in feverishly, you can simply reseal the jar again and again. In fact, since your seal is not reliant on the rubber ring getting hot, you can even use old lids that you may have left over from other canning projects. Simply make sure they are nice and clean when you use them.

Just in case any of you are looking for the jar attachments, FoodSaver isn’t offering the regular sized one right now, only the wide-mouth. But a Google search will easily pull up several options for you.

Well, I hope that clears up expiration dates for you. And I hope that you are never duped by them again.

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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Update on Swine Flu Vaccinations

Photo c/o mommylife.net

This blog has moved. Please visit us at www.preparednesspro.com.

Some claim that the forced vaccinations may just be a lot of media hype. That may be accurate, however forced vaccinations made the news in MD only 2 years ago. Read the article here for more info.

Also, I keep getting asked what to do IF you are forced to vaccinate. A doctor has actually written some very sound words of advice on this subject.  http://rense.com/general87/vaccin.htm

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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Pandemic or Not, It Doesn’t Matter

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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EMP 101: Part III—Prepare Medically

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How to prepare medically for an EMP attack

By Kellene Bishop 

When any natural disaster hits a region there will always be devastating consequences, particularly to those who are in ill health or who rely on medications and modern technology to get through their day.  Unfortunately, without preparing medically, these individuals will be the first casualties of such a disaster.  I understand that stating such a reality doesn’t make me popular or a preferred guest at your next dinner party, but I do feel compelled to teach you the real consequences of a crisis, while also teaching you to prepare medically so you can avoid being a death statistic.

Photo c/o chip.state.il.us

First get the 10,000 foot view of how an EMP attack or a solar flare will affect your medical preparedness.  ALL electrical gidgets and gadgets will be fried and made useless, regardless of whether or not they are turned on, plugged in, or out of their styro-foam box.  So, if your “plan” is to race to Walgreens once you catch wind of an emergency, you’re in for a rude awakening.  Medical supplies such as prescriptions run on a one day delivery schedule.  That means that the most that pharmacies have on hand is ONE day of supplies for their regular number of customers.  Regular, as in a peaceful, calm, normal day.  If the “fit hits the shan,” you need to understand the mathematical problem in expecting your supplies will be on hand when you need them in a mass emergency situation.  You will have LESS than 30 minutes to get there, get it, and get out.  So you see why that’s not the best plan to prepare medically?  What you should do is to have a frank conversation with your doctor, tell him that you want and need to prepare medically for an emergency, and ask for a 1 to 3 month supply of your medications in addition to what you need to be taking.  So long as your prescription is not a controlled substance, you should be able to make a convincing argument to prepare medically.

If you are dealing with diabetic issues in which you need insulin, get what you can as a supply AND store advanced technology ice packs to prepare medically.  There are kinds of ice packs that look like a pox-marked quilt that stay frozen and distribute the cold for longer periods of time than simple ice.  There are also gel packs that can be heated or frozen.  They hold their temperature a lot longer than ice.  Keep in mind, if you store your insulin in the refrigerator, dramatically limit opening that refrigerator.  You will be able to keep it cool for a 50% longer period of time.  Other preparedness methods that you should explore are solar energy generators sufficient only to run a small refrigerator, a “solar oven” that converts to a refrigerator at night and how to construct an electricity free refrigerator (see Google).  Our forefathers did without electricity and so can we if need be.

Photo c/o ehow.com

Another suggestion to prepare medically is for you to be certain that you are storing nutritious foods.  I hear folks frequently tell me that they will be able to survive off of their food storage simply because of all of the boxes they have of Kraft Mac and Cheese.  I assure you, that is not surviving.  It’s barely even living.  In an emergency situation your body is naturally in a heightened state of stress.  Your body needs MORE nutrition to “survive”, let alone to thrive.  Stress compromises your entire health system—especially your immune system.  Having proper nutrition in a crisis situation is the utmost of importance.  Multi-vitamins, essential oils, quality grains, sprouting supplies, etc. will all be crucial to you surviving not only an existing medical crisis, but one that may occur due to your circumstances as well.  You can not underestimate the power of nutrition for your health—especially in an emergency.

It’s easy for us in this country to become complacent with all that medical technology will do for us that we aren’t willing to do for ourselves.  On New Years Day this year, I looked at my nightstand and was struck by how many prescription bottles I had that I needed to take everyday.  I suddenly became very aware of how those prescriptions would compromise my ability to survive and emergency.  Thus in the name of emergency preparedness I made a vow that I would eliminate the need for all of them this year if it were at all possible.  As of May, I have eliminated all but one of these meds by being more conscientious of what I eat, how active I am physically, and using nutrition as my medicine instead of just as my food.  (Please consult your physician before attempting this.)

Photo c/o flickr.com/photos/troikkonen

For the first 8 years of my marriage, my husband’s breakfast consisted of two handfuls of peanut M&M’s, a Cherry Coke, and a bag of Cheetos (he fondly called it “Vitamin C3”).  Throughout the day he would eat Lindt chocolate and any other kind of sweets that sounded appetizing.  I couldn’t get that man to eat veggies unless it was on a slab of beef.  Healthy, eh?  However, one day it hit him that he didn’t want to be a slave to these kinds of foods in an emergency.  So he went from a sugar addict to a “no sugar guy” overnight.  He’s now 2 years “sober”—all in the name of emergency preparedness.  He also runs up “Y” mountain in Provo, Utah every morning while stopping long enough to do a total of 600 push-ups along the way.  Each day it’s being prepared for an emergency that motivates him. (Please consult a psychologist before attempting this! 🙂 )

While it’s not realistic to arm yourself with a year’s supply of medicine, you can arm yourself with as much health and strength as you can possibly store AND you can also have a year’s high-quality nutritional products on hand.  I’m not talking about diet shakes.  I’m talking about products such as Reliv, Sunrider, Young Living, Xooma’s water sachets, etc.  Worst case scenario, stocking up on some Ensure may save your life if you can’t get the other products.  I don’t recommend nutritional products such as these to make money in an “MLM.”  I recommend products like these to literally save your life.  (Which is exactly why I’m NOT going to provide you with contact information for these products. Please Google them.)  

Increase your knowledge of the use of essential oils, herbs, and alternative medicines. There is an abundance of information freely available.  Even cancer can be appeased with alternative medicine (click here) All of these chemicals we take have their own natural origins.  Go to the source.  Even diabetes can be made less severe with essential oils and herbs (click here).

Lastly, in order to prepare medically you need to keep in mind that in the event of an EMP attack, it’s not likely that you will have any notice.  Unlike a tornado warning, you won’t be able to go underground for safety.  BUT…if you DO have such a warning, then be prepared to flee into or to store vital items immediately in a Faraday cage or like protection.  (More info on that coming up this week.)  If you have a pacemaker or oxygen machine, get yourself as far below ground as possible.

The bottom line is, we do not have to be helpless medically in any event with some concentrated efforts to prepare medically now.  Remember, you won’t be able to rely on hospitals, doctors or emergency services to help amidst a catastrophic event (Think Hurricane Katrina).  But as you prepare medically, you can be self-sufficient with mental and physical preparedness now.

EMP 101: Part I–The Likelihood.

EMP 101: Part II–The Aftermath.

EMP 101: Part III–Prepare Medically.

EMP 101: Part IV–Faraday Cages.

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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