# 2618
If this blog has a central theme, it is the call for individual, family, and community preparedness.
While the primary rationale for preparedness is to weather a catastrophic event - such as a pandemic, earthquake, or hurricane - the truth is smaller, less dramatic events happen to people every day.
People lose their job, or break a leg and can't work, or perhaps find that a friend, neighbor, or relative is in need of assistance.
Being prepared gives you options.
It was a little over a year ago when The Medical Journal of Australia published a study entitled:
A food “lifeboat”: food and nutrition considerations in the event of a pandemic or other catastrophe
Anna Haug, Jennie C Brand-Miller, Olav A Christophersen, Jennifer McArthur, Flavia Fayet and Stewart Truswell
Abstract
Influenza pandemics are a real risk and are best managed by self-isolation and social distancing to reduce the risk of infection and spread.
Such isolation depends on availability of food of adequate quantity and quality.
Australia has one of the most concentrated food supplies of any country, making rapid food depletion more likely in a crisis.
Food stockpiling by both authorities and citizens is an important safety precaution that should be given greater media coverage.
Food and nutrition guidelines are provided for survival rations in the event of a pandemic or other catastrophe.
Their recommendations can be summed up by their statement:
While long-term food stockpiling could be considered a governmental responsibility, we suggest that home stockpiling of food to last about 3 months might be done by individual households. This would allow a window of time for governments to put emergency action plans and food deliveries in place.
A website, http://www.foodlifeboat.com.au/, has been set up to help people `build their lifeboat'.
You may need to make some substitutions, depending on where you live, but this site will give you a good starting point.
This recommendation, of having 3 months of essential goods on hand, is almost identical to the stockpiling recommendations you will find on many of the flu forums and preparedness sites.
And we are not just talking food and water here. Essential goods includes prescription medications, first aid supplies, paper goods, facemasks and gloves, and cold and flu remedies.
While a pandemic could last for a year or longer, it is expected that communities would experience one or more `pandemic waves' of illness, lasting up to 12 weeks.
During these waves, there may be times when venturing outside of your home may not be advisable, and there are likely to be severe disruptions in the supply chain, resulting in shortages of food and medicine.
Having 3 months of supplies in your home will give you the latitude to pick and choose when you venture out, and could also be used to assist your friends and neighbors.
State and Federal recommendations (which must take into account political realities, such as the financial challenges many families would face trying to stockpile for a prolonged period) have ranged anywhere from `at least two weeks' up to 3 months or more.
Dr. Richard Benjamin, Chief Medical Officer of the American Red Cross, was asked during the September 2008 PlanFirst Webcast on Personal Preparedness, sponsored by the HHS, "How long should American households be stocking up for?"
His answer was, "At least two weeks"
He went on to say, "but if you could do more, that would be a wonderful thing." He added, "Six to 12 months would be wonderful, but that's probably not practical for most people."
GetPandemicReady.Org is a grassroots volunteer organization that has created an information-rich website, with dozens of small, easy to follow, preparedness articles that combined, will help you and your family become better prepared for any emergency.
Their recommendation is for a 3-month stockpile.
(Full disclosure: I am a minor contributor to this website)
If all of this smacks too much of `survivalism', remember that it wasn't that long ago - our parents or grandparents generation- when just about everybody canned foods in their own kitchen, and kept shelves lined with preserved foods in the cellar.
Our fast-food-eating, going-to-the-market-three-times-a-week, over-reliance on processed convenience foods culture is not only relatively new - it is extremely wasteful in terms of energy and money.
It is hardly carbon-footprint friendly.
And it is unsustainable in a disaster, such as a pandemic, earthquake, or hurricane.
The HHS's (Health and Human Services) Pandemic preparedness website gives this caveat (emphasis mine) on their Individuals and Family Planning page.
Stock a supply of water and food. During a pandemic you may not be able to get to a store. Even if you can get to a store, it may be out of supplies. Public waterworks services may also be interrupted. Stocking supplies can be useful in other types of emergencies, such as power outages and disasters. Store foods that:
- are nonperishable (will keep for a long time) and don't require refrigeration
- are easy to prepare in case you are unable to cook
- require little or no water, so you can conserve water for drinking
It takes time to stockpile, and prepare a family for a crisis, such as a pandemic. Weeks, perhaps even months to do it properly. This isn't something you can do by making a quick run to Costco on the weekend.
If you wait until it is obvious that a crisis is upon us, you will have waited too long. You will find yourself in competition for scarce resources with just about everyone in your community.
Many supplies, including masks, gloves, non-perishable foods, and bottled water may become in short supply during the run-up to a pandemic. Even if you find these items available, it is likely that the price will escalate with the demand.
Preparing now, before a crisis strikes, just makes sense.
A recent report from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics entitled Ethics and Severe Pandemic Influenza: Maintaining Essential Functions through a Fair and Considered Response, included the following snippet (emphasis mine):
. . . individuals and families who can afford it should do their best to prepare for any disaster. The paper notes, the more initiative the general public exercises in stockpiling several weeks' worth of food, water, paper goods, batteries medicines, and other needed supplies, the less vulnerable they will be to a break in the supply chain.
It is important for leaders to communicate to the middle class and the wealthy that it is their responsibility to prepare for self-sufficiency in order to free up scarce supplies and allow first responders to direct their attention towards those too poor or vulnerable to prepare themselves.
So there you have it. Preparing is not only essential for an emergency, it is completely moral . . . and it is our civic duty.
It doesn't get much plainer than that.
