Posted: 4/20/2013 2:31:15 PM EDT
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Wife unit is getting very concerned over the potential flu superbug in China becoming a pandemic. We figure it is best to get what we need now, hopefully to avoid crowd. We have decided that should things get bad, we would bug in and isolate. My work is internet/home based. As long as the internet and phones still work, our income will not be affected. Our son (going into 1st grade) would be home-schooled. Live on 5 acre hobby farm. We have decided to take 1K out of our savings to get 'things' we may need should this come about. Our food stores are not great. We are good on (and have a year supply of the following) canned veggies, powdered milk, sugar, flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Water is secure. Private well with back-ups to get it out. Of course, we could always use more guns/ammo, but we are pretty good on that. Looking for ideas on what to prioritize on. Thanks! **Edit for more info. |
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Prioritize on the things needed to live reasonably well first.
Water,Food,Medical,Clothing,Cooking,Sanitation,Defense,Heat,Light etc..... In the case of Pandemic get some Nitrile gloves,Isolation Gowns and N95 Masks as well. Think of the things your family would need and the quantities that would allow you to shelter in your home for several months at least. Don't forget books,games etc to pass the time if for some reason Internet or Electricity goes down. I would suggest haveing more than one fuel/energy source for cooking,heat and light. Once you have acquired what you need then you can get things that would be nice to have. Prepare in a broad way and you will be able to get through most events. |
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Strictly for flu, you don't really need much.
Round out your food supply. Keep enough food and water for two weeks (at least), along with a way to cook if the power goes out. Remember that most camp stoves shouldn't be used indoors do to carbon monoxide. N95 masks Nitrile gloves Alcohol-based hand sanitizer Lysol Teach you kid not to rub her eyes or scratch at scabs Honestly, the best way to "miss out" on a flu pandemic is just to stay the hell home. Note that the gloves and masks come in different sizes. You need to get fitted before you order. Call your local hospital, get the operator, and ask for the Occupational Health department. If you ask nice enough, they'll fit-test you with a hood and some saccharine spray. The mask does you NO good if you don't wear it properly. |
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Looking for ideas on what to prioritize on. isolation buys you the time it will take for any pandemic/epidemic to burn out. ergo, any preps that extend your isolation time increases your survivability. water, food, fuel, medical, etc -- take inventory of what you have, how fast you are consuming it now, and start filling in the gaps. that said, the fewer the folks you come into contact with during such an event, the better. i'm not a fan of the prophylactic approach (e.g., N95/N100 masks and so on) for a couple of reasons, so figure out how to minimize contact. ar-jedi |
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Looking for ideas on what to prioritize on. isolation buys you the time it will take for any pandemic/epidemic to burn out. ergo, any preps that extend your isolation time increases your survivability. water, food, fuel, medical, etc -- take inventory of what you have, how fast you are consuming it now, and start filling in the gaps. that said, the fewer the folks you come into contact with during such an event, the better. i'm not a fan of the prophylactic approach (e.g., N95/N100 masks and so on) for a couple of reasons, so figure out how to minimize contact. ar-jedi Good information. Also what is the burn out time for a pandemic like the one described. That would let you know how long you need to prep for. If the number is 6-8 weeks then I would get 16 weeks preps at the very minumum. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Looking for ideas on what to prioritize on. isolation buys you the time it will take for any pandemic/epidemic to burn out. ergo, any preps that extend your isolation time increases your survivability. water, food, fuel, medical, etc -- take inventory of what you have, how fast you are consuming it now, and start filling in the gaps. that said, the fewer the folks you come into contact with during such an event, the better. i'm not a fan of the prophylactic approach (e.g., N95/N100 masks and so on) for a couple of reasons, so figure out how to minimize contact. ar-jedi Good information. Also what is the burn out time for a pandemic like the one described. That would let you know how long you need to prep for. If the number is 6-8 weeks then I would get 16 weeks preps at the very minumum. Yup. Our plan is for total isolation. Nobody in, Nobody out. Our plan is to 'ride it out' and wait for itself to burn out. If things are still 'running', we can mail order some items if we MUST, and sanitize them before they are brought in. Hopefully, we won't need anything. In theory, If we needed say fuel, I could go in the middle of the night and pay at the pump in full germophobe dress. I wouldn't run into anyone. Depends on how bad it is. If power is down, the only thing fuel stores will be for is running the generator to get water from the well. We have kerosene for secondary heat and cooking. We have a camper outside and some propane. Need to get more propane (couple hundred pounds, or a 500 gal tank outside), though. Camper will double as secondary housing unit, also the stove runs w/o power on propane. We are planning for a 6 month bug-in/isolation period. I don't like the idea either of going into public armed with a N95. Seems like you are really rolling the dice, although we do have a stack of about 20 masks. Is there any data about the burn out time of such a pandemic? Keep the ideas rolling!
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how are your meds? It would suck to get strep or some other infection and not have meds to treat it forcing you to go to the ER.
http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/11/a-veterinarians-perspective-on-prepper-medicine-by-da-dvm.html |
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In theory, If we needed say fuel, I could go in the middle of the night and pay at the pump in full germophobe dress. I wouldn't run into anyone. Depends on how bad it is. If power is down, the only thing fuel stores will be for is running the generator to get water from the well. i have an experienced and now improved mindset regarding "going to get fuel"... http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/661411_Sandy____12_days_without_power__what_worked__what_didn_t____.html summary: don't depend on getting fuel. ar-jedi |
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Quoted: Quoted: In theory, If we needed say fuel, I could go in the middle of the night and pay at the pump in full germophobe dress. I wouldn't run into anyone. Depends on how bad it is. If power is down, the only thing fuel stores will be for is running the generator to get water from the well. i have an experienced and now improved mindset regarding "going to get fuel"... http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/661411_Sandy____12_days_without_power__what_worked__what_didn_t____.html summary: don't depend on getting fuel. ar-jedi We do have between 25 and 45 gallons (plus at minimum half full truck tank) on hand at all times. If it gets bad, fuel will be reserved to run generator JUST to run the well long enough to fill the 700 gallon cistern. 25 gallons should go a LONG time. I want to double our kerosene reserves (entire winter worth of heat), get at least a couple hundred pounds of propane (and propane kit for genny), and get up to 75 gallons of gasoline. With all that, I should be OK for a while in bug in mode.
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In theory, If we needed say fuel, I could go in the middle of the night and pay at the pump in full germophobe dress. I wouldn't run into anyone. Depends on how bad it is. If power is down, the only thing fuel stores will be for is running the generator to get water from the well. i have an experienced and now improved mindset regarding "going to get fuel"... http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_17/661411_Sandy____12_days_without_power__what_worked__what_didn_t____.html summary: don't depend on getting fuel. ar-jedi We do have between 25 and 45 gallons (plus at minimum half full truck tank) on hand at all times. If it gets bad, fuel will be reserved to run generator JUST to run the well long enough to fill the 700 gallon cistern. 25 gallons should go a LONG time. I want to double our kerosene reserves (entire winter worth of heat), get at least a couple hundred pounds of propane (and propane kit for genny), and get up to 75 gallons of gasoline. With all that, I should be OK for a while in bug in mode. You are already better off than 99 % of Americans and frankly, probably better than 90% of people on this forum. |
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Quoted: how are your meds? It would suck to get strep or some other infection and not have meds to treat it forcing you to go to the ER. http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/11/a-veterinarians-perspective-on-prepper-medicine-by-da-dvm.html We do lots of natural/homeopathic medicine, and I have a colloidal silver generator. We are trying to go in for every excuse to get antibiotics, just to stock up. We do need to work on first aid type stuff. I don't think we have near enough dressings either. I would really like to take some more in-depth classes, but I can't find anything but CPR classes around here... Frankly, I don't have training to use much more than what we have now. We do have a couple skin stapler kits, though
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We do lots of natural/homeopathic medicine, and I have a colloidal silver generator. We are trying to go in for every excuse to get antibiotics, just to stock up. We do need to work on first aid type stuff. I don't think we have near enough dressings either. I would really like to take some more in-depth classes, but I can't find anything but CPR classes around here... Frankly, I don't have training to use much more than what we have now. We do have a couple skin stapler kits, though .Homeopathic medicine is a load of bunk, I'm sorry. Colloidal silver isn't going to do you any good either. And unless you know how to diagnose, and to use, your antibiotics that you're stockpiling, they're useless. If you are truly serious about learning more medical stuff, contact your nearest LARGE hospital (one with a Level I or Level II trauma center, if possible), and ask the operator there to connect you to the Medical Education department, or similar. Chances are they offer classes, from actual nurses, doctors, and EMT's, that have actual experience with what they're teaching. Alternately, if you're truly serious about wanting to learn enough "emergency medicine" to be able to use a fully stocked trauma kit, contact your nearest community college and ask about EMT classes, or contact your local fire department and ask how/if they train volunteer EMT's. Even something as relatively simple as a skin stapler is NOT something you want to fuck with without the proper training. </rant> ETA: Sorry, that came off a bit rough. You'll have to forgive me. I'm the asshole that gets to mix up all the really, really expensive IV antibiotics when someone gets admitted to the hospital because they tried to treat their cold with antibiotics one to many times, and now they're septic w/ MRSA. Not saying you're one of them, I'm just a bit touchy about people that stockpile antibiotics without the training to use, store, and rotate them properly. ETA 2: Wanna really learn some shit? Find an old, retired, ER or ICU nurse that keeps their license active, and befriend them. They're a wealth of knowledge and experience, generally awesome people, and have some truly gruesome stories. |
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Quoted: Quoted: We do lots of natural/homeopathic medicine, and I have a colloidal silver generator. We are trying to go in for every excuse to get antibiotics, just to stock up. We do need to work on first aid type stuff. I don't think we have near enough dressings either. I would really like to take some more in-depth classes, but I can't find anything but CPR classes around here... Frankly, I don't have training to use much more than what we have now. We do have a couple skin stapler kits, though .Homeopathic medicine is a load of bunk, I'm sorry. Colloidal silver isn't going to do you any good either. And unless you know how to diagnose, and to use, your antibiotics that you're stockpiling, they're useless. If you are truly serious about learning more medical stuff, contact your nearest LARGE hospital (one with a Level I or Level II trauma center, if possible), and ask the operator there to connect you to the Medical Education department, or similar. Chances are they offer classes, from actual nurses, doctors, and EMT's, that have actual experience with what they're teaching. Alternately, if you're truly serious about wanting to learn enough "emergency medicine" to be able to use a fully stocked trauma kit, contact your nearest community college and ask about EMT classes, or contact your local fire department and ask how/if they train volunteer EMT's. Even something as relatively simple as a skin stapler is NOT something you want to fuck with without the proper training. </rant> ETA: Sorry, that came off a bit rough. You'll have to forgive me. I'm the asshole that gets to mix up all the really, really expensive IV antibiotics when someone gets admitted to the hospital because they tried to treat their cold with antibiotics one to many times, and now they're septic w/ MRSA. Not saying you're one of them, I'm just a bit touchy about people that stockpile antibiotics without the training to use, store, and rotate them properly. ETA 2: Wanna really learn some shit? Find an old, retired, ER or ICU nurse that keeps their license active, and befriend them. They're a wealth of knowledge and experience, generally awesome people, and have some truly gruesome stories. 1. I won't get into the natural medicine debate with you, seeing as you have a medical background. All I will say is I have seen what it has done for ME. There will always be those who say it is impossible, how it can't work. OK, sure. 2. It is close to impossible to know about another person and their abilities/knowledge (or lack there of) over the errornet. And honestly, I am not going to go and spell everything out either. I have better things to do. As far as antibiotics, we plan on printing data sheets on them. Also, my mother is a nurse, she knows how to use them. She was also an EMT,she knows a lot more than I do. I am going (right now until I get more training) on the idea that if she happens to be here, she will know how to use what I have. Sarcasm is hard to read on the errornet as well. 3. We have no large/good hospitals. Everyone gets airlifted to the cities around here (2.5 hours away). With my business, I have no way to take classes that far away. Fire dept. is a good idea, though. ETA: For your link on the end of colloidal silver: One guys's opinion, and the lack of an FDA approved study doesn't mean it doesn't work. The FDA hasn't tested it, so it doesn't exist (basically)? Is that the same FDA that OK's tons of drugs that are later recalled because they kill you? That says aspartame is OK? Sorry, I have little faith in what the FDA says. |