# 645
A long article, but one worth reading in it's entirety. As a proponent of individual preparation, including the stockpiling of food, I applaud Bill Bishop, Idaho's director of Homeland Security, for getting out this message.
My only quibble? I'd prefer the message be for 3 months, instead of 3 weeks worth of preps.
In a flu pandemic, even those who don't get ill would suffer
Idaho officials, experts say preparation is the key to preventing deaths and long-term economic disruption
By Cynthia Sewell - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 04/09/07
Business owners, managers and employees: Take a look around your office or facility and imagine one-third of the staff absent for several weeks or even months.
Working parents: Imagine the logistics of childcare if schools closed for weeks on end.
Everyone else: Imagine the long-distance truck haulers that daily replenish food supplies for Treasure Valley restaurants and stores making only sporadic deliveries.
"Nobody is immune from this. Even if you don't get the virus, you will be impacted," Darcus Allen with Central District Health Department said.
If a flu pandemic strikes, Idaho health officials want everyone to consider these very possible scenarios.
There is no sign that a nationwide or global outbreak is imminent; in fact, influenza pandemics are rare — the United States has had three in the last 100 years — but pandemics may be inevitable.
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Community aid required
The scale and scope of a pandemic flu are beyond the ability of federal, state and local governments to manage.
"This is an event that no matter how hard government works … we do not have the resources to deal with a full-blown pandemic," Bill Bishop, director of the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, said.
"Government is not going to solve this problem," Bishop said. "What is going to fix this problem is individual and family preparedness. Folks are going to have to take care of themselves. This is a case where we save our own lives."
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The Treasure Valley and Idaho do not have much long-term food storage capacity — nearly all the items on shelves in Idaho grocery stores are trucked into the state. "Idaho is kind of at the end of the line for warehouses," Bishop said.
If there were a sudden shortage of truck drivers, food "simply isn't going to get to the shelf. It just isn't," he said.
"The bottom line in a pandemic is you've got to be able to take care of yourself and your family at a level that isn't day to day," Bishop said. "If you love someone, buy them a sack of pinto beans."
He recommends each family have a three-week supply of food and water — a 25-pound bag of pinto beans can help meet that requirement.
