# 3070
Over the next few days it is very likely that we will continue to get reports of the swine flu virus’s spread around the world. There is no reason, at this point in time, to expect the virus to stop.
We will get reports of individuals, and probably clusters of individuals, with illness. Tests will be run, and some will come back positive for this new virus while others will have something unrelated.
Experts have stated that they expect to find serious illness, and even deaths, here in the United States. That the `mild’ cases reported so far offer no assurance that this virus won’t prove deadly here as it has in Mexico.
We probably won’t know for days, or even weeks, just how bad this virus will be. It could recede during the summer months and return next winter or fall with a vengeance.
We’ll simply have to wait to see.
Maybe we’ll get lucky, and Swine Flu will fizzle out.
If so, I hope we learn a lesson from it, because the next one might not be as kind to us.
The H5N1 bird flu virus is still out there and it, along with a host of other viruses, is still capable of causing a severe pandemic. If we dodge a bullet this time (which remains to be seen), we can’t pretend the next one won’t get us.
Today our attention is focused, rightfully, on swine flu. That is the most immediate threat.
But it isn’t the only threat.
Before Swine Flu, or any other threat, escalates we need to ramp up our personal, neighborhood, and community preparedness.
Now is not the time to stay glued to your television watching events unfold like a bad made-for-cable-tv movie.
Now is the time to act.
Every family should be preparing to be able to stay home, without making a grocery store run, for at least 2 weeks. Once you have 2-weeks on hand, start working towards 4 weeks or more.
GetPandemicReady.Org, along with a number of state and local agencies, recommends working up to 3 months supply. Their site is filled with preparedness information.
Highly recommended.
If you prefer a government source of preparedness information, the HHS has a personal planning page with a lot of good advice.
Families need to be figuring out how they will deal with school or day care closures. That isn’t a remote possibility, it is already happening in some places.
Right now, hospitals can cope with the limited number of cases. But that could change. During a bad seasonal flu season many hospitals have to turn away patients simply because they have no available beds, or staff to manage them.
We could easily see that happen in even a mild pandemic.
Many people will likely be forced to care for themselves, and their family members, at home.
If you aren’t already prepared to do so – with medicines, masks, gloves, and cleaning supplies – you need to be getting them.
If you haven’t downloaded Dr. Grattan Woodson's Home Treatment of Influenza guide, you need to now.
And then read it. Before you need it.
While you are at it, take some time to explore his website. It is chock full of good information.
If you live alone, or with someone who would be unable to care for you if you became ill, you need to find a `flu buddy’. A friend, a neighbor, or a relative who you can call on to help you if you get sick.
If you know someone who is alone, or who is perhaps a single parent with small children, you should be offering to be their flu buddy.
There has never been a better time to join, and support, community volunteer organizations like the Red Cross, CERT, or your Neighborhood Watch.
If you prefer, you may wish to volunteer your time to your local faith based agencies, or at a hospital or nursing home.
And while you are thinking about it, there are a number of hard working NGO’s out there (non-government organizations) that could use your financial support as they work to prevent poverty and disease in developing countries.
Agencies like CARE, and SAVE THE CHILDREN, the RED CROSS, and the Salvation Army are on the frontlines every day, and need your support.
If you own, or run a business, you should be pulling out your pandemic plan (you do have one, don’t you?) and making sure it is workable.
You may find yourself operating short handed, with a large percentage of your staff out sick, or taking care of loved ones. Can you operate if your bookkeeper is out sick?
What other important roles or skill sets do you need to figure out workarounds for? If you rely on suppliers, do you have backups in case they are unable to deliver?
Are you prepared for social distancing at your workplace?
Have you even read OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces For an Influenza Pandemic ?
If not, I suggest you do so now.
If you don’t have a pandemic plan for your business, you need to go to the HHS planning page for small business and begin with their checklists.
And you need to start today.
These are all things we should be doing anyway. It shouldn’t take a pandemic threat to get us to prepare.
There are always threats – earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods . . . . and preparedness can save lives and ease suffering.
For more information on preparedness, you can go to any of these reputable sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
For Pandemic Preparedness Information: HHS Individual Planning Page
For more in-depth emergency preparedness information I can think of no better resource than GetPandemicReady.Org.
