Stock up now to be ready if pandemic hits
Each family needs to prepare now to have food, other essentials on hand.
What would you need to survive in your home for a week, maybe two or even a month? Allen County residents are encouraged to think on that and begin gearing up for a potential pandemic flu. Starting today, free pandemic flu preparedness guides are available at area grocery stores and pharmacies.
Committees organized by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health have been meeting for months to develop the guides, which include extensive checklists of recommended nonperishable grocery items, medical supplies and emergency equipment that individuals and families should have on hand.
States and counties have been mandated by federal health officials to prepare for a pandemic disease. The one most feared is the H5N1 avian flu virus, which has infected 241 people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe; 141 of those individuals died. No bird or human cases have been found in the United States to date.
Although so far this year only nine new human cases have been reported, the World Health Organization warns slight mutations in H5N1 could allow rapid human-to-human transmission, which has not yet occurred. The H5N1 avian flu strain abroad is similar to the one that caused the 1918 pandemic flu. Also disconcerting is the fact many of the cases of H5N1 that have occurred in the past year in China have occurred in areas with no reported outbreaks in poultry. The first cases in Asia occurred in individuals who had direct contact with infected birds.
“The message here is people need to be prepared,” said Dr. Deborah McMahan, Allen County commissioner of health. Residents are encouraged to gather enough food and supplies to last two to four weeks, the period she describes as the most draining on family and community resources should schools and businesses be required to close.
“We all need to develop a system for integrating buying groceries and other things to have ample supplies on hand,” McMahan said, recommending people begin now to buy foods on the grocery checklist. With no way of knowing when a major health disaster – or even a natural disaster – will happen, the food items must be checked for expiration dates and used before then. “It’s doable to develop a system to rotate your menu and food with two weeks of nonperishable foods,” McMahan said.
For example, buy canned chicken and note the expiration date clearly with a marker. As items are added to the nonperishable food supply, put the more-recently purchased items in back. “Learn the skill of rotating these nonperishables in the daily menu,” she said. Helpful recipes using nonperishable foods are available at www.fighttheflu.org.
Expiration dates also must be adhered to when storing medicines on that checklist, said Chad Buhr, district pharmacy manager for SuperValu Pharmacies Inc., which operates pharmacies in Scott’s Foods. Buhr has served on the committee that helped develop the medicine/medical equipment checklist.
“If the 56 pharmacies in the area were to close, what would you need to get by?” is the question he and his colleagues posed when developing the checklist. He hopes he never finds out, he said.
“The things on the list aren’t anything out of the ordinary,” Buhr said, with many found in the family medicine cabinet. In the event of the avian flu, or even mass cases of a less-virulent winter-flu strain, people who are ill but who do not require respiratory support or other more serious medical intervention will be asked to self-treat at home. The goal is for people to have on hand the items they need to treat flulike symptoms, as well as ample supplies of their prescription drugs. By starting now, families can purchase several bottles of certain over-the-counter drugs such as cold medicines that require a signature and have quantity limits.
Also, the cost will be spread out over time. When The News-Sentinel ran the tab for the medicines/medical equipment list, assuming a family had to purchase everything new, the cost was in excess of $100. McMahan said the health department may encourage stores to have an “item of the week” to ensure supplies are adequate and to spread out the cost.
Buhr said what pharmacies and grocers want to avoid is the “snow scare” syndrome in which the bread racks and milk coolers are nearly bare within hours of a blizzard forecast.
“They won’t be able to do that with this,” Buhr said of a disease outbreak. Things like cough medicine and Pedialyte, a pediatric hydration liquid, are not in as great of supply on a normal day as milk and bread are.
Preparedenss is about developing a system now, McMahan said. “It’s about learning to feel comfortable that under dire circumstances, you can eat, feed your kids, hydrate them, keep their fevers down.”
Assisting the public to be ready for the worst-case scenario, even if it never happens, is part of the mission of public health, said McMahan, who has spent the past seven days inoculating nearly 4,000 people against hepatitis A. A local pizza restaurant food handler traveled outside the country, got the disease, and potentially infected anyone who ate at the restaurant Aug. 12-19.
Getting food and medicines together as well as making a family emergency and communications plan in the event of pandemic flu “is like getting your hepatitis A shot before going on a trip,” McMahan said. “You don’t want to have to be worrying about it when you’re there.”
Get the guide
Pick up a Pandemic Flu Preparedness Guide, developed by the health department, at local grocery stores and pharmacies.Begin gathering the suggested items listed on Page 3A. For an online pandemic supply checklist, as well as the rest of the preparedness guide, go to .
Start buying
The family medicine/medical equipment preparedness kit and emergency supplies should include the following:
♦Prescription drugs (ask your doctor and insurance company if you can get an extra supply – rotate supplies to ensure medicines don’t expire).
♦Acetaminophen or ibuprofen
♦Expectorants, decongestants and antihistamines
♦Cough suppressants
♦Multivitamins
♦Oral rehydration drinks such as Gatorade or Pedialyte
♦Thermometer (one for each member of the family)
♦Heating pad
♦Hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap
♦Eyeglasses, contact solution, hearing aid batteries, denture needs
Optional:
■Throat lozenges, nasal swabs or inhalers containing zinc
■Oscillococcinum dissolvable granules (a homeopathic remedy that may relieve flu symptoms
Emergency supply kit should include the following:
■Flashlight and batteries
■Portable radio
■Manual can opener
■Tissues, toilet paper, diapers
■Bleach or disinfectant
■Personal-hygiene items
■Garbage bags
■Extra blankets
■Entertainment items such as books, games, videos, DVDs
Talk back
How are you preparing for a possible flu pandemic? Respond at www.news-sentinel.com.
More toothbrushes too!
Also thinking about putting together first aid kits for everyone so we do not have to share things like tweezers, thermometers etc. I'm not an expert but during a medical emergency having the healthy share medical supplies with those sick with contagious disease dose not sound like a good idea to me. Any health care experts care to comment?
Love the site and the great information found here. This is my first attempt ever at adding to a thread so I hope I do it correctly. I am attaching a food list that I have put together (one that I currently am using at home) and a Supplies/First Aid chart as well. I hope it has some value to someone out there getting started as I did last year. I found so many great lists out there on many different sites, and finally put one together that works for my family.
I have found that putting the lists together over the last few months and working away at gathering the items that my family will need very liberating! My husband looks at me with a raised eyebrow and other family members shake their collective heads ..but oh well! My standard reply is now "I would rather look the fool and be prepared than be the fool and not be prepared".
Thanks for the opportunity to get involved with other like minded individuals ..
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=506
Sonoma, eh? So you'll have no lack of resveratrol from wine. :D
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More toothbrushes too!
Also thinking about putting together first aid kits for everyone so we do not have to share things like tweezers, thermometers etc. I'm not an expert but during a medical emergency having the healthy share medical supplies with those sick with contagious disease dose not sound like a good idea to me. Any health care experts care to comment?
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/images/misc/progress.gif
Don't forget the dental floss. An emergency visit to a dentist during a pandemic would be a serious problem. I'd also suggest some bottles of mouth wash that kill germs. But the best thing you can do is to teach your kids, husband and self to wash your hands often, as well as learning to sneeze into your elbow. Good idea about the first aid kits.
Do I really want to be the only one out here cooking for a long time, or even a little time, smelling up the place (attracting bears)?
How much food weight and space am I willing to pack in AND trash to pack out?
What food is the lightest weight, most compact, most nutritious, requires no cooking (just one cup of boiling water/person), requires no clean-up, tastes great and leaves almost nothing to pack out?
The answer is freeze-dried camp food.. It can be very expensive unless purchased in bulk. There are a few companies out there that do sell in bulk....but in the past, I would go to the nearest camping store and select a few different brands to test them for flavor, etc., then make my choice. Many bulk items may sound good but require long cooking times and much energy (elect., gas, fire, loud generator, propane). In the wilderness or the big city when power, phones and toilets are not available or don't work, issues such as energy conservation and disposal of trash and human waste become critical.
I find the saying "leave no trace" to be equally valid for preperations for wilderness or the city during bad times. One more thing......there is almost nothing worse than caffeen withdrawal. Don't forget coffee or tea if you are used to it. I went cold-turkey once and even three months later was affected. My family begged me to never do that again!
Thanks, again, everyone for all your great ideas. Hope mine can help, too.
There is a lot of honesty, humility, courage and compassion in this article IMO.
I need to stock several bottles! LoL:(
One thing I can't live without is my coffee and creamer and a few good bottles of wine so stock away anything that gives you comfort and helps you keep sane during all of this. :)
http://www.sproutpeople.com/
http://waltonfeed.com/grain/sprouts.html
Ken
How long can food supplies be stored?
To judge how long you can store food supplies, look for an “expiration date” or “best if used by” date on the product. If you can not find a date on the product, then the general recommendation is to store food products for six months and then replace them.
Some households find it helpful to pull food products for their regular meals from their disaster supplies kit and replace them immediately on an ongoing basis, so the food supplies are always fresh.
What kinds of food supplies are recommended to store in case of a disaster?
Try to avoid foods that are high in fat and protein, and don’t stock salty foods, since they will make you thirsty. Familiar foods can lift morale and give a feeling of security in time of stress. Also, canned foods won’t require cooking, water or special preparation. Take into account your family’s unique needs and tastes. Try to include foods that they will enjoy and that are also high in calories and nutrition.
Store supplies of non-perishable foods and water in a handy place. You need to have these items packed and ready in case there is no time to gather food from the kitchen when disaster strikes. Sufficient supplies to last several days to a week are recommended.
Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking, and little or no water. Foods that are compact and lightweight are easy to store and carry.
Try to eat salt-free crackers, whole grain cereals and canned food with high liquid content.
Recommended foods include:
* Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables. (Be sure to include a manual can opener)
* Canned juices, milk and soup (if powdered, store extra water).
* High energy foods, such as peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars and trail mix.
* Comfort foods, such as hard candy, sweetened cereals, candy bars and cookies.
* Instant coffee, tea bags.
* Foods for infants, elderly persons or persons on special diets, if necessary.
* Compressed food bars. They store well, are lightweight, taste good and are nutritious.
* Trail mix. It is available as a prepackaged product or you can assemble it on your own.
* Dried foods. They can be nutritious and satisfying, but have some have a lot of salt content, which promotes thirst. Read the label.
* Freeze-dried foods. They are tasty and lightweight, but will need water for reconstitution.
* Instant Meals. Cups of noodles or cups of soup are a good addition, although they need water for reconstitution.
* Snack-sized canned goods. Good because they generally have pull-top lids or twist-open keys.
* Prepackaged beverages. Those in foil packets and foil-lined boxes are suitable because they are tightly sealed and will keep for a long time.
Food Options to Avoid:
* Commercially dehydrated foods. They can require a great deal of water for reconstitution and extra effort in preparation.
* Bottled foods. They are generally too heavy and bulky, and break easily.
* Meal-sized canned foods. They are usually bulky and heavy.
* Whole grains, beans, pasta. Preparation could be complicated under the circumstances of a disaster.
What is the basis for the Red Cross recommendation to store supplies to last several days to a week? Red Cross recommendations to have food, water, and other emergency supplies on hand are not new, and are considered reasonable in case of any disaster. Our recommendations are to have supplies to last several days to a week. Most reasonable people would not consider such quantities of supplies as a "stockpile" or "hoarding."
Some families may choose to store supplies to last several weeks or more. Certainly, if they wish to do so, they may. It is always wise to have sufficient food and water supplies on hand in case access to such supplies may be disrupted by a disaster.
For more information, please contact your local Red Cross chapter. Ask for a copy of the following brochures: “Your Family Disaster Plan” (A4466); “Your Family Disaster Supplies Kit” (A4463) and “Food and Water in an Emergency” (A5055).
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March 9th, 2010 at March 9, 2010 | | Permalink