Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Building Your Bird Flu Preparedness Kit
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=896043
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=896043
The looming threat of bird flu is causing emergency planners to rethink some of their advice.
You've no doubt heard for years now that you need to be prepared to survive on your own for three days after a natural disaster. In a flu pandemic, you could well have to hold out longer. Correspondent Tom Banse has the updated thinking.
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John Wiesman: "'Social distancing' is a very simple concept. Basically, it's about how do you limit the amount of face-to-face contact with other people. How do you avoid being in crowds."
Officials like Clark County Health Department Director John Wiesman agree: Good hygiene and keeping several arms-lengths away from other people will be primary flu control strategies.
John Wiesman: "You might close down school or ask movie theaters or places where there would be large crowds to not open...cancel sporting events."
Wiesman says a good analogy would be an extended "snow day." You'll want to build up your emergency stash accordingly.
John Wiesman: "If you're one of the those who already had three days of supply, start working towards something longer, maybe as much as two weeks."
With officials like Wiesman saying the disease could well disrupt commerce and services in your town for six to eight, or even twelve, weeks, how do you prepare? We asked one group that knows -- the Mormons.
(Sound of a crowd in a church hall.)
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Olympia annually hold a preparedness fair.
Congregation leader John Anderson says readiness and self-reliance have long been tenets of the Mormon faith.
John Anderson: "We talk about home storage and family preparedness that goes up to a year. Depending upon what the circumstance might be, your family may be in need of basic food supplies and water for a longer period of time. Whether that be a job situation or a disaster or whether it be a pandemic or an epidemic."
There's no mention of bird flu at any of the displays that line the church hall. But there doesn't need to be, because the same advice applies for all kinds of disasters.
A married couple, Dick and Sarah Bullard, have barrels and plastic buckets of dry goods stacked five high against one wall of their garage.
Dick Bullard: "The church says hey, for a person to live he needs so much wheat, and so much honey, salt, and so much water for a period time. We tried to match with that."
(Sound of a thump on a barrel.)
Dick Bullard: "There's a big barrel with 350 pounds of wheat in it. So there's probably four, five hundred pounds right there. These have dried corn in them that we could grind and make corn meal if we wanted to. And some water there (taps on barrel). Then some pinto beans and there's some Great Northern Beans here someplace."
Sarah Bullard: "Yeah, it'll be a hardship. We'll all miss our Twinkies and Ho-Hos and Oreos. But we're living you know, and that's the basic point."
The Bullards' six kids are all grown up, so they'll be spared the challenge of keeping a cooped-up household peaceable. Other congregation members have stashed toys, games, and homework.
Of course, entrepreneurs are swooping in to help the less prepared, even though bird flu has not appeared in this country and the virus is presently incapable of rapid human-to-human transmission.
In Oregon City, website operator John Hart says he's doing a brisk business selling facemasks coated with a "viruscide." They start at three for 89 bucks.
John Hart: "You don't need to wear a mask in the house, but if you go outside you surely better be wearing something, because we will not know who is sick and who isn't."
John Hart: "So I think it's a valuable investment. It's a piece of insurance. Look at it that way. You gotta have something. What if it comes, and you're caught with nothing? Do you really think all the masks that are out there will still be there? I doubt it."
Public health experts are quite dubious about bird flu survival kits sold on the internet. But a surgical mask could be an item to add to your emergency kit anyway. That's because if you start hacking and coughing, it can prevent your germs from landing on someone else.
Web extra:
Pandemic preparedness checklist
You've no doubt heard for years now that you need to be prepared to survive on your own for three days after a natural disaster. In a flu pandemic, you could well have to hold out longer. Correspondent Tom Banse has the updated thinking.
-------------
John Wiesman: "'Social distancing' is a very simple concept. Basically, it's about how do you limit the amount of face-to-face contact with other people. How do you avoid being in crowds."
Officials like Clark County Health Department Director John Wiesman agree: Good hygiene and keeping several arms-lengths away from other people will be primary flu control strategies.
John Wiesman: "You might close down school or ask movie theaters or places where there would be large crowds to not open...cancel sporting events."
Wiesman says a good analogy would be an extended "snow day." You'll want to build up your emergency stash accordingly.
John Wiesman: "If you're one of the those who already had three days of supply, start working towards something longer, maybe as much as two weeks."
With officials like Wiesman saying the disease could well disrupt commerce and services in your town for six to eight, or even twelve, weeks, how do you prepare? We asked one group that knows -- the Mormons.
(Sound of a crowd in a church hall.)
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Olympia annually hold a preparedness fair.
Congregation leader John Anderson says readiness and self-reliance have long been tenets of the Mormon faith.
John Anderson: "We talk about home storage and family preparedness that goes up to a year. Depending upon what the circumstance might be, your family may be in need of basic food supplies and water for a longer period of time. Whether that be a job situation or a disaster or whether it be a pandemic or an epidemic."
There's no mention of bird flu at any of the displays that line the church hall. But there doesn't need to be, because the same advice applies for all kinds of disasters.
A married couple, Dick and Sarah Bullard, have barrels and plastic buckets of dry goods stacked five high against one wall of their garage.
Dick Bullard: "The church says hey, for a person to live he needs so much wheat, and so much honey, salt, and so much water for a period time. We tried to match with that."
(Sound of a thump on a barrel.)
Dick Bullard: "There's a big barrel with 350 pounds of wheat in it. So there's probably four, five hundred pounds right there. These have dried corn in them that we could grind and make corn meal if we wanted to. And some water there (taps on barrel). Then some pinto beans and there's some Great Northern Beans here someplace."
Sarah Bullard: "Yeah, it'll be a hardship. We'll all miss our Twinkies and Ho-Hos and Oreos. But we're living you know, and that's the basic point."
The Bullards' six kids are all grown up, so they'll be spared the challenge of keeping a cooped-up household peaceable. Other congregation members have stashed toys, games, and homework.
Of course, entrepreneurs are swooping in to help the less prepared, even though bird flu has not appeared in this country and the virus is presently incapable of rapid human-to-human transmission.
In Oregon City, website operator John Hart says he's doing a brisk business selling facemasks coated with a "viruscide." They start at three for 89 bucks.
John Hart: "You don't need to wear a mask in the house, but if you go outside you surely better be wearing something, because we will not know who is sick and who isn't."
John Hart: "So I think it's a valuable investment. It's a piece of insurance. Look at it that way. You gotta have something. What if it comes, and you're caught with nothing? Do you really think all the masks that are out there will still be there? I doubt it."
Public health experts are quite dubious about bird flu survival kits sold on the internet. But a surgical mask could be an item to add to your emergency kit anyway. That's because if you start hacking and coughing, it can prevent your germs from landing on someone else.
Web extra:
Pandemic preparedness checklist