Hong Kong: Caught With Their Masks Down

Credit NIOSH

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To nobody's great surprise, the sudden appearance of an unidentified pneumonia in Wuhan, China and the recent isolation of as many as 30 travelers from that city by Hong Kong public health officials, has led to a run on both surgical and N95 masks in the region.

As Crof reported last night in his blog (see Supplies of N95 mask running low in Hong Kong as Wuhan virus scare sparks panic buying and marked-up prices), those that don't already have a supply of masks on hand are having problems obtaining them. 

The wearing of a mask (surgical or N95) in public to protect against respiratory infections is quite common in Asia, and only a month ago, Hong Kong's CHP released a tutorial on the subject (see HK CDW: Surgical Masks For Respiratory Protection).

Figure 2 - How to wear a surgical mask. (Source: The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health. 

While the `need' for civilians to stockpile N95 masks because of this pneumonia may be debatable,  the time to prepare for any emergency is before the threat appears; when supplies are ample. Yet time after time, we see the same pattern.

Too many people wait until a hurricane, or a blizzard, or some other disaster looms large before they begin to prepare.  And by then, it may be too late. 

That is precisely what happened a little over 2 years ago in Florida, a full 5 days before Hurricane Irma hit. With the storm still 1000 miles east of Miami, on Sept 6th, 2017 I wrote:

If you live in Florida you already know that most store shelves were stripped of bottled water, flashlights, batteries, and other hurricane supplies by early afternoon yesterday.

I talked to friends in Tampa, Orlando, and Apopka last night - all 200+ miles north of Miami - and heard identical stories of long lines and empty shelves from each location. This mad rush to stock up happens before every storm, and while there are always last minute items to get, much of it could be avoided if people prepared at the start of the hurricane season.

Which is why I practice personal preparedness, and promote it heavily in this blog.  The last place you want to be in any emergency is in a slow moving queue hoping against hope that there will be something left on the store shelves by the time you get in the door.

While where you live, and your local threat environment, may dictate some changes, but as a general rule, the things you should have in advance to deal with a disaster or emergency include:

• A battery operated NWS Emergency Radio to find out what was going on, and to get vital instructions from emergency officials
• A decent first-aid kit, so that you can treat injuries
• Enough non-perishable food and water on hand to feed and hydrate your family (including pets) for the duration
• A way to provide light when the grid is down.
• A way to cook safely without electricity
• A way to purify or filter water
• A way to stay cool (fans) or warm when the power is out.
• A small supply of cash to use in case credit/debit machines are not working
• An emergency plan, including meeting places, emergency out-of-state contact numbers, a disaster buddy, and in case you must evacuate, a bug-out bag
• Spare supply of essential prescription medicines that you or your family may need
• A way to entertain yourself, or your kids, during a prolonged blackout

Although the threat from the Wuhan pneumonia remains far from clear, the odds favor seeing another (possibilly severe) pandemic sometime in the future. 

Last September, we looked at a sobering WHO/World Bank GPMB Pandemic Report : `A World At Risk, which warned that `. . . an outbreak equivalent to the 1918 influenza pandemic could kill an estimated 50 to 80 million people, spreading around the world in less than 36 hours and wiping out nearly five percent of the global economy.'

When that happens, supplies of personal protective equipment PPEs (masks, gowns, gloves) will quickly become in short supply. 

A couple of blogs on that topic include:

NIOSH: Options To Maximize The Supply of Respirators During A Pandemic

Supply Chain Of Fools (Revisited)

In 2017, the CDC released a 16-page Household Pandemic Planning guide, which emphasizes the use of NPIs - or Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions - during a pandemic. 

Get Your Household Ready for Pandemic Flu [PDF – 16 pages]

Among their recommendations, the following sage advice:

Plan to have extra supplies of important items on hand. For example, keep on hand extra supplies like soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, tissues, and disposable facemasks.

If you or your household members have a chronic condition and regularly take prescription drugs, talk to your health care provider, pharmacist, and insurance provider about keeping an emergency supply of medications at home. These supplies can always be used for a different emergency and then restocked. 

While I'm hopeful the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak will be contained, or may recede on its own -  as a matter of routine personal preparedness - I always keep a box or two of facemasks, some vinyl gloves, extra hand sanitizer, extra soap, some common OTC flu meds, and a month's supply of essential Rx meds in my emergency stash . . . just in case.

Things you may want to consider adding to your first aid supplies now, while they are still easily affordable, and are in ample supply.