Now that the spread of swine influenza has grown and the WHO has raised the pandemic alert level from 4 to 5 (a pandemic imminent, though not underway), it is important to include as part of your overall emergency preparedness a basic swine flu pandemic action plan. Not only is this a good idea for the short-term uncertainty of how the H1N1 virus will spread, but in general having emergency plans ready to go is a wise idea for all sorts of situations.
In a previous post where I’ve been keeping updates on the swine flu pandemic, I briefly mentioned what supplies you should have in the event of a pandemic spiralling out of control so that you can do your best to protect yourself against the virus if human-to-human transmission accelerates.
A Word On Swine Flu Reporting In the Media
Before I get into a list of recommended pandemic supplies for your “shelter-in-place (SIP)” or “bug-out bag,” I want to say a few words about so much of the public “backlash” towards the media reporting of swine flu. At least on Twitter, it’s as if people are really upset that they have to listen to these updates at all. I’ve never seen such a single news topic arouse so much unhealthy commentary. But I think I know what’s behind this: because most of these people don’t look into the facts, and just take the media at face value, they have no other way to react to the threatening news other than to dismiss it, because they are mostly unaware of the grounds on which the threat is real and unique. The people who do know a thing or two about it don’t seem to be panicking (or vehemently mouthing off about it on Twitter (just follow the hashtags like #swinefluidiocy (very apt!)), because we know that the most we can do is pay attention to reliable media updates.
I don’t rely on the average news media for proper analysis of the virus – best leave that to the WHO and the CDC and their national equivalents. But what the news media updates are great for – and here, better than Twitter, I unfortunately have to say – is the simple brute conveying of factual updates on the spread. Don’t call me naive, I realize some media reports come out premature and there have been mistakes – but you can get a good general sense fairly quickly of the situation if you do your own “reading between the lines.” Unfortunately, sites like WHO and the CDC tend to only update once a day, so they’re accurate, but not great for real-time updates (I’ve been trying to provide more of these, but so far I’m updating about once, maybe twice a day in the post I linked to above – I’ve got all the confirmed cases up there).
Get the Swine Flu Food and Supplies You Need for Proper Pandemic Preparedness For Shelter-In-Place (SIPs) and Bug-Out Bags
As I mentioned in my post on protecting yourself in the event of a pandemic, you’re going to have to decide first and foremost on whether, if the pandemic escalates and worsens, you will (1) stay put in your home and try to “ride it out” by effectively not leaving your house and not letting anyone else in (or out) – or (2) whether (perhaps for some single people) you will try to “bug out” to a safer, ideally more isolated place where you expect you won’t have to run into anyone. Each situation requires a unique set of supplies, but there are some supplies you will need no matter what. So here’s some help starting your list:
You’re going to need water, shelter, food, basic hygiene and first-aid kits, fire-starters and light/heat devices, and emergency communication devices of some kind. It’s a good idea to start now in order to figure out where you need to get all this stuff. For what it’s worth, in my own area today I already saw a man stocking up (or “prepping”) on extra filtered water. In fact, he had his car trunk open on the side of the street and was actually selling some of the water to a woman walking by!
Basically I recommend having everything you need to be self-sufficient for up to 3 months (the amount of time it takes for one “wave” of a pandemic to potentially pass):
- batteries, candles, matches, wood, generators
- dried foods, canned goods, bulk food supplies (rice, flour, grains, peanut butter)
- extra pet food and pet supplies!
- extra jugs/bottles water
- toilet paper and other essential hygiene items
- tape, duct tape, nails, garbage bags
- hydrogen peroxide, bandaids, emergency first-aid kits
- online bill payments (for those who will stay indoors in their house)
- withdraw the cash you need now from the bank
- extra cigarettes, etc. for those who will “need” them
Although it is true that the pandemic has not spun wildly out of control yet, the amount of geographical terrain it has covered in such a short time is threatening. Not even the Asian avian H5N1 spread this far this fast. No one wants to create panic or feel panic, and I’d agree. Nevertheless, just as you have to buy your insurance in advance and build up your emergency funds in advance, I think it is also best to start prepping now before stores get too out of control or supplies run out.
What do you think – are you one of those who like to keep extra supplies in hand anyway throughout the year? If so, perhaps you won’t have much more work to do if you plan to self-quarantine at home should the pandemic get really bad. The really important things, I’d say, are water and hygiene. We can survive much longer on just water than without it. And no one wants to be out of toilet paper!:)
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