# 1038
Government officials have been urging people to prepare for a pandemic for more than a year. The `standard' advice has been to have a 2-week supply of food and water in every household. Many, including myself, have expressed the opinion that 2-weeks simply won't be enough in a severe pandemic.
Some local health departments have broken ranks with the Federal government, and have advocated more than 2-weeks. There is a move afoot at the federal level to try to change the recommendation to `at least 2-weeks', and I suspect we may see that subtle, but important change soon.
In York County, Pennsylvania the local health officials are recommending 90 days.
Bravo to them, for taking this bold stance. It matches very closely what many of us in the Flubie community have been saying for more than a year.
This excerpt from the York Dispatch. But read the whole article.
Planning for pandemic: Stock up on food, water and medicine
KATHY STEVENS The York Dispatch
Article Last Updated: 08/02/2007 10:46:32 AM EDT
Plastic sheets and duct tape could factor into self-preservation at some point, but emergency planners say stores of food, water and medicine are all things residents should have.
"It isn't just pandemic influenza that people should think about being prepared for," said Dr. David Hawk, director of the York City Bureau of Health. "There's always threat of a terrorist attack, a nuclear event, power outage or blizzard."
<snip>
Canned goods, powdered milk and stacks of bottled water -- three gallons a day per person is recommended for drinking, washing and cooking -- also should be included in one's emergency stockpile if possible. Smith said access to food, electricity, water and gasoline could be limited.
Look at 90 days: She demonstrated a makeshift cooking device comprising a cookie-cooling rack, four votive candles and a 4-inch tall square frame. It would work in a pinch should residents become housebound. She and other health officials recommend preparation for a 90-day span, which would cover the first wave of flu.
Hawk reiterated that pandemic is a matter of when, not if. He cited the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which claimed between 20 million and 100 million people, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That pandemic is now recognized as the worst in history, especially when compared to pandemics in 1957 and 1968 that killed 1 million each.
That's why Hawk and numerous others urge those who are able to prepare to do so now to help reduce stress on a system that will be unable to assist everyone.
"People live day to day and paycheck to paycheck," Hawk said. "They can stock up incrementally, spend $10 a week until they have an adequate supply."
Again, Bravo to the York health department for saying what needs to be said.
