Pandemics and Ebola

Ebola is hitting the news big these days.  I have been following it somewhat, and have decided that there really isn't much that I can prepare for, other than prepping for a normal pandemic.  Ebola is more deadly

than the Swine Flu ever was, however, I learned just recently of a young man in his 30's who contracted Swine Flu a few months back, and within one week it had killed him, leaving behind a young mom and a couple of little children.  You just never know what it is that is going to affect you and your family.

I believe in natural forms of treatment as much as possible and use herbs on a daily basis in my home.  One thing to note about the Ebola virus, is that the herbs such as Echinacea - that enhance the immune system, won't be a good thing to help stop this virus.  Sometimes there are virus' that kick the immune system into overdrive already, which using an herb that will

boost that even more, isn't a good thing.  If you are going to use herbs for viruses, please do your research to know which ones will be the best for each situation and each virus.  Viruses are different, they are deadly if not treated right, so please understand the virus and understand your natural medicines before just going ahead and administering them. I have some serious mixed feelings on something this serious.  I believe in natural treatments, but not to the point that modern treatment is put off and a person dies.  Seriously, do the research and make wise decisions.

I don't believe in panic preparing.  I do believe in thinking rationally and deciding well ahead of time, the possible scenarios that could happen, and then prepare for them, so that if this particular scenario plays out, you will be ready to respond to it, without panic.  Thus, prepping for pandemics is a must.  


I thought I might share a bit about pandemics. This info is in a post here on this site from a couple of years ago.  I have no doubt that at some point we will have to deal with something very serious. Whether it will be the “Bird Flu”, Ebola, Swine Flu, or some other virus, or perhaps something that we haven't even heard of yet, who really knows? But I think we should all be aware and be prepared for whatever it might be. I want to share just a bit about past pandemics we have had.
1918 – Spanish Influenza – killed approximately 100 million people.
1957 – 1958 – Asian Flu – approximately 2 million deaths
1968 – 1969 and 1970 – 1972 – killed approximately 33,800 people
2009 – Swine Flu – approximately 11,00 deaths - not particular deadly, but spread incredibly fast around the world.  Could have been much worse had it been a more deadly virus.  Perhaps this was just a trial run to see who was paying attention.

A Pandemic occurs when there is a new virus or disease, where there is little or no immunity to, and then is spread easily from person to person. It is global and effects global populations. It can be mild, moderate, or very severe causing death.   Check out this site http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic/en/ to see how they classify a pandemic and to learn more about what to prepare, and get a checklist.

Pandemics can last up to 2 years with the infection coming in several different waves, that usually last up to 8 weeks at a time. This is where it is really important for everyone to have a 3 month supply of food and supplies in your home, and be prepared to shelter in place if and when need occurs. Your food should be easy to prepare meals and foods that are familiar to your family. This is not the time to start experimenting with long term food storage. And easy to prepare, so any family member could prepare them if mom and / or dad happen to get sick.

Think of a worst case scenario such as trucks stop running because the truckers are sick, or the warehouses that stock the food for the truckers to carry to the store don't have the employees because they are sick. It wouldn't take long for the public works in your city to shut down if people are sick, and soon garbage would pile up, perhaps the water won't get treated because the only people that know what to do are sick or dead, and the maintenance on the other utilities will not be kept up since many people are too sick to maintain them. It wouldn't take very long for stores to run out of food, and even if they did have food, they might not have the people to keep it up and running.

1918 Pandemic make shift hospital

Looting would be taking place. People tend to go a bit crazy. What if the hospital was overflowing with sick patients, but the nurses and doctors are short staffed because they are sick themselves, or they just plain refuse to work because they don’t want to get sick? Perhaps your city will enforce a quarantine, nobody in and nobody out. Believe me, they likely have plans in place to enforce just such a scenario.


Items and services that we take for granted will become nearly or completely unavailable. There are so many if's, and what if's in this kind of a situation, and the best thing to do, is to ask yourself and your family some of these what if's. Sit down with them and take a hard look at what would really happen, and then make a plan to prepare for that worst case scenario. Preparing for the worst case scenario, is just smart planning, and then no matter what hits, you will be able to deal with it.

Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, 2006 – 2009 said, “Any community (or family) that fails to prepare and expects the federal government to come to the rescue is tragically wrong.”

So really, how can we prepare for such a wide spread, crazy event? Here are a few ideas and links to follow.
1. Do your best to stay healthy and fit. This is not always a guarantee of safety, but is a good place to start.

2. Make sure to have a 3 month supply of prescription medications on hand, or any other types of medicines you think you will need. Don't count on running to the drug store to get them, because every other person in your local area will be thinking the same thing and if you aren't the first one there, well you just won't get it. Have pain relievers, cough syrup, cold and flu medicines, etc.

3. Learn how to prevent the spreading of germs. Proper hand washing, coughing, sneezing, social distancing, (avoid large groups, keep your distance – six feet – when you do have to communicate) are all things that you should be practicing right now so that in an emergency, it will just be common sense to do them. You can read more here on washing hands properly. Handwashing   Hand sanitizers are so important. Carry them with you all the time. Use them when you are out in public. Carry wipes with you and clean buggy handles, door handles, and things like that before you touch them. Sanitize your hands after touching. Here Coughs and sneezes you can find information about proper sneezing and coughing.

4. Have on hand masks, gloves, flu medicines, and anything that your family would usually use when someone has the flu. Make sure you have enough of these things on hand to last you for several weeks. For example, if you like jello, or chicken noodle soup, or gingerale, now is the time to stock up on these things. Remember lots of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, paper towels, bleach and things like that. Take into consideration personal hygiene, sanitation, clothes washing, trash, cooking, power, heating, communication, and entertainment. At the following link you can find some planning helps Personal Pandemic Planning Prepare to quarantine yourself in your home, whether you might be sick or might just not want to get sick. You may have to stay in your home for quite some time, until it passes. Here are a couple of links to follow about sheltering in place Shelter in Place and here Shelter in Place
 
5. Think ahead about your home, and where you would be able to put a sick person to quarantine as much as possible from other members of the family. Easy access to a bathroom, some form of entertainment like a tv in the room, and least possibility of spreading the germs. Things you might want to have in a sick room: thermometers, rubbing alcohol, humidifiers, garbage bags, disinfectant wipes, sanitizers, and anything else that might help the situation. Here is a site that tells a bit about that here isolation and quarantine

There are so many different ways to prepare for something like this. Do some research. Check with your local government websites, most of them will have information for you.

Here is a great rehydration recipe for someone who is sick and in jeopardy of dehydration.

1 tsp salt

8 tsp sugar

5 cups clean drinking water. You can add flavoring such as Kool-Aid to make it taste a bit better. Stir the mixture well until all dissolved. Give liberally to a sick patient as they can take it, to prevent dehydration.

An idea that I use to prepare for things such as pandemic, would be to place all items you might need that go together into a rubbermaid type bin and label it well. For example I have a bin called my flu bin. It has all my meds, masks, gloves, bed pads, straws for easy drinking, and things like that in it.

Here are a few links to check out which will give you much more information.
www.getpandemicready.org
http://pandemicflu.utah.gov/
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/
Good Home Treatment of Influenza by Grattan Woodson, MD – an excellent resource manual for every home.
Birdflu Manual

I guess my worst fear for a pandemic is one of biological warfare, where an enemy would actually let loose a virus with the intent to spread and kill as many people as possible. It is a very real threat, one that we should all consider. Then there are also the bird flu variations that seem to be mutating on a pretty regular basis. This ebola threat is pretty serious as well.  Point being - we shouldn't let our guard down. 

I know many people who believed that the Swine Flu was just so hyped up, that I am sure when another pandemic swings around, they probably won't even pay any attention to it.  I, however, will watch and pay very careful attention because I am sure that the Swine Flu was just a practice run for us all.  What did we learn?  What did we do about it?

Learn what you need to, and prepare what you should so that when, not if, the next pandemic strikes, you will be ready for it.  Don't look at the last one we had as a big hype and nothing to serious.  It was very serious, and it should have opened our eyes to just how fast our lives can be changed.  One very small virus could take down a huge portion of the world's population in a very short time.