I am frequently irritated by people who want to poo-poo my preparedness lifestyle choice. It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to follow the two lifestyle choices to see which one has the most resilience. I take command of my life and stock up on food, water, medical supplies, etc, the other guy doesn’t. We both move through time and whenever I hit a snag I fall back on my skills and supplies, as the other guy scrambles to figure out which bill he is not going to pay, or as in the case of a natural disaster like Hurricane Ivan, he has to stand in line for water and food. 
I feel the same irritation when I hear people say that there could never be a medical emergency so huge that it overwhelmed our medical community, as if the doctors, nurses and paramedics can stop a flu outbreak! Tell that to the doctors who survived the Spanish Flu in the early 1900’s. The low estimate is that 50 million people died worldwide, that 3% of the WORLD’S population, and 27% of the world’s population (500 million) were estimated to have been infected. Paraphrasing the great poet MC Hammer, “Can’t stop this!” Because it’s not just the virus… I mean it’s not just that the virus exists. It has to travel, and the quicker the transition from host to host the better, and this is where I’m heading- transmission vectors.
I was in the book store I frequent the other day when a man sneezed. Now men have been known to sneeze so it was only the noise that initially attracted my attention, and the noise was on the far side of the shelf so I couldn’t see him. In fact, I wasn’t really sure it was a man, and anyway I paid little attention until he sneezed several more times. I rounded the end of the set of shelves and saw him standing on the far end looking at some books. He appeared to be a man in his 60s, decently dressed in khakis and a button-up shirt, leather shoes you know, normal old-guy stuff. Then he sneezed again, and two more times after that. The man was sneezing into the open air towards the books without covering his mouth or blocking the spray in any way! While this is an article on disease transmission I still have to state my disgust at sneezing into the open air in a public place… really? Your mamma didn’t teach you any better?! But I digress.
Watching this guy sneeze reminded me of the casualness of man in the area of disease control. Had we understood this better in past history many millions of people might have survived the plagues and diseases that ran rampant through villages and families during ancient and Medieval times. And even today, how many people does the simple act of covering your mouth save from colds and influenza every year? How about just washing your hands regularly… a couple hundred thousand maybe?
This gentleman wasn’t some homeless, disease ridden bum (just using a stereotype I am not anti-homeless, or anti –disease- ridden-bums for that matter) this was a guy who looked like he was probably looking for information on tire swings so he could get one made before his grand kids’ visit on Saturday, but my point is- IT WON’T MATTER! Influenza doesn’t care who it passes through! A millionaire COULD pass it to a homeless bum if neither he nor the bum took proper precautions. And the Rhinovirus (common cold)- just using a common example –can be transferred through the air (someone sneezing or coughing into the air, and through contaminated surfaces; and the more porous the surface the longer the virus will live. This guy was rolling doubles for winning the Typhoid Mary award; he was sneezing into the air and at rows of paper books!
So to all of you who think, “I’m safe in this modern world, giv’r a try H1N1!” I would suggest you look around for the next week. Watch
how many times someone coughs or sneezes without covering their mouth, or sneezes into the hand, wipes their hand on their pants (now labeled a disease storage area) then touches something thus contaminating it. Then remember that those pants still have the virus on them so rub your hand on your pants after washing them and you can re-contaminate your hand. Sneeze, hand to pants, open a door- the pants and the knob are contaminated so that the next person who comes along and touches the knob can potential transfer the virus. If you keep your eyes open for the behavior you’ll begin to wonder why we all don’t have each other’s diseases!
My purpose in this writing is to bring awareness. In a viral epidemic I think there are two options; a strict personal adherence to personal protection protocols (which YOU will need to create), and at some point I think staying home. You will need to have what you need to enable you and your family to pay bills and eat for 1-3 months. Also, you will want to have an infectious disease protocol in your home (BTW- a protocol is a systematic way of doing things, feel free to use your own name for it.). What will you do if little Sally gets sick? Well, take her to the hospital of course! But just realize that that’s were all the sick people will be so mask up, wear long sleeves/pants, maybe some latex gloves; use common sense knowing what the transmission vectors are. And what about when you get home, what will you do with Sally then? Or what if the reports are that the hospitals and clinics are full, or that there are reports of medical facilities running out of medicines? You will need to establish a “sick room” until Sally gets well, with only limited contact from the other family and then only after wearing the appropriate safety attire.
As the medical event moves on you will either see the cases drop off within a week or two and things will get back to normal, or it will get worse and you will hear reports of clinics and hospitals being overloaded. If you haven’t gone-to-ground before then, that would be the trigger point.
I recommend you research the areas of viral transmission, and care, and come up with your own protocol that will help to take you safely through one of these events.
Respects….