Tracking the next pandemic: Avian Flu Talk |
Where do I start? - Event Date: May 19 2006 |
Post Reply |
Author | |
Florence Church
Valued Member Joined: May 16 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: May 16 2006 at 11:24am |
OMG Where Do I start? How can I afford all these things? How can I get Tamiflu? How do I know when to take or give it to my family? Does anyone have a Emergency food/supplies list. What about Communications? Sorry for all the ?'s I'm just afraid for my family. They are not taking this seriopusly.
|
|
flo43223
|
|
Oisanatta
V.I.P. Member Joined: May 08 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 308 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Florence Church,
Welcome aboard! First of all, take a deep breath and relax. Next, you might want to check out the other portion of this forum with the subtitle: "Pandemic Flu Preparedness"; in there will be some sub-sections about various preparedness areas that will help to address some of your questions. Then, do the deep breath and relax bit again. It is a lot to grasp, but you are in good company with the folks on this forum. There will be lots of help along the way. It may seem overwhelming at first, but set down some goals in a timely fashion. DON'T panic that you have to have everything by today, tomorrow, or even this coming weekend. But it is good that you are now tuning in to the fact that preparedness is necessary. Check out the preparedness section of the forum and don't hesitate to ask the same questions again....and again. Folks will understand and help you out. Easy does it. |
|
The only thing worse than a brutal lie is the brutal truth. (M Twain) I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit; He set my feet on a rock. Psalm40
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Florence:
Welcome to the site. Don't panic. The feeling of being overwhelmed hits most of us when we begin. The key to attacking this problem, in my opinion, is taking it as a project with multiple stages. Research this site, especially the "priority preparations" link on the home page and you will find many great ideas.
Start with essentials:
1) Food (six weeks of canned goods, staples (rice, sugar, flour, oil, etc.) is a good start. You can expand from there.
2) Water: get a good water purifier (see the water link in the "priority preparation" area) first and foremost. Most people believe water pressure will be available for some time even after the onset of a pandemic. Then focus on water storage. You can probably have a few weeks of emergency water on hand and then collect storage containers (barrels, water bags, two liter soda bottles, etc.) to fill in the event a pandemic begins.
3) Medicine: get a store of essential prescription drugs first (insulin if you have a diabetic in the house is a good example), then over the counter medicines (ibuprofen, cough syrup, allergy medicine), and multivitamins.
I think that is a good starting goal for "stage 1" of your preps. You can expand from there to address more of the above and things like cooking power, heat (if you need it), security, lighting, entertainment, etc.
Good luck. I found that redirecting my fear into prep energy was to key to getting past my early horror.
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
With respect to food, keep an inventory list of everything as you bring it in your home to store.
The inventory list should show when the item was purchased, the expiry date if shown and where the item is being stored. Also mark the purchase date on the item itself if the item shows no expiry date. For example, I've been marking the bottom of canned goods with the date.
It's a bit of work initially but you'll be grateful later when you are trying to figure out what you need to add to your supplies or if you need to know which foods to use first as they near their expiry date. It's a lot easier to look at a list than to rummage through all your supplies.
~~~~~~~
With respect to water, start saving all your empty 2 liter soda bottles.
~~~~~~~
If storage space is a concern, now is a good time to do a spring cleaning and get rid of stuff you no longer use. Edited by Irene - May 16 2006 at 11:58am |
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi and welcome,
I also agree. Take several deep breaths. The next time you go to the grocery store/dollar store etc check out the canned goods isle.....get stuff that is a good buy. Pick up some gallons of bottled water. Set that aside and repeat the following week. The good thing is if you have SOME put aside before any panic you will not be contributing to the panic if it happens. That leaves more goods on the shelves for the poor and elderly whom I personally beleive would be most affected by any emergency event that causes a "run" on the grocery stores.
|
|
TomMI
Adviser Group Joined: February 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 194 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Florence,
please visit this site, it will provide you with information you need to know.
And, most importantly, don't pressure yourself, at the moment we are all still safe. Think rationally and logically, and you will be O.K. Edited by TomMI - May 16 2006 at 12:05pm |
|
A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them. The simpleton never looks and suffers the consequences.
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I forgot to say repeat every week after until you feel you have a comfortable amount of goods that you can use before they go bad
|
|
DAX COM
Valued Member Joined: April 02 2006 Status: Offline Points: 202 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I don't know about the rest of the long-timers here, but I really feel for those who are just becoming aware...
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Florence Church,
I think a lot of us have felt, or feel, overwhelmed. I know I did. To answer your questions: 1. Where Do I start? I think Oisanatta and Bumpman2 (and others, I see a lot of people replied as I was typing my reply..) gave you good info to search this site and the necessity of food, water and prescription medication. This site is full of good information, but it can be time consuming to go through everything trying to sort out all the info, something (time) you might not feel you have right now. If you use the search feature on the top (right) you put in any keyword you want to get info on and it will give you all the posts with that keyword (this might still give you a lot of info at one time, so you can always ask in a post as well) 2. How can I afford all these things? If you go to http://www.avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=979 ,this info discusses prepping (preparing) on a budget and gives good suggestions while not having to spend much. 3. How can I get Tamiflu? http://avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5459 is titled “Tamiflu – do you just ask your doctor about it” with info about how others went about getting Tamiflu (I still don’t have any either..). 4. How do I know when to take or give it to my family? Here is info about that: http://avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=975 There has been some discussion about dosage, and the information her is just advice, so please don’t use this as THE truth. There are many members here, and as many opinions, but hopefully you can research and make the decision that’s right for you.
5. Does anyone have a Emergency food/supplies list. This is the US Recommended Check List. http://pandemicflu.gov/plan/pdf/Individuals.pdf 6. What about Communications? http://avianflutalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=971 is the Communication Thread on this forum, as a sticky (a thread that always stays up front) in Priority Preparations. Hope this helps. Welcome, and please ask any questions you might have.
|
|
bjregg
Adviser Group Joined: March 27 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 107 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Florence Church, Please make sure that you have a water source. Bottled or whatever, it does't matter. Secondly, as much as you can, each day/week purchase items that will keep for a few months.............as much as your budjet allows. bj |
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Sorry, Florence Church,
You have to copy and paste the links I gave you in your browser, you can’t just click on them. I tried to do it that way, but it didn’t work. Grace |
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Welcome, I just bought a little extra every time I went to the grocery store. Every week I buy extra TP, paper towels etc. You will be surprised how fast you will accumulate stuff. It's great that you are starting to prep.
Edited by Ruth - May 16 2006 at 1:55pm |
|
Ravendawn
Valued Member Joined: March 16 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 462 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi Florance Church,i came to this site worried and confused,after a week or so many of my questions had been answered there is so much information on this site regarding your questions if you search the site you will find many good posts from people who have been prepping for years.Yes it is a lot to take on board take it easy,food and water i would start with, rice and beans will fill a empty belly.Everyones situation has its differences ,location,population,family the list goes on ,have a read on this site and try to assess what category you fall into and try to make a easy plan to follow.
|
|
pugmom
Valued Member Joined: March 28 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 415 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi Florence--I felt amazingly better after I had bought 50 pounds of rice and 50 pounds of pinto beans and stored them in the big plastic containers I bought at WalMart. Rice and beans, beans and rice, can keep you alive for a long time. You will see, just getting started allays much of the anxiety. Food, water, meds. Then heat and an alternate cooking source (we are going to pull the stove and oven out of our camper, and bring it into the house.) Large tanks filled with propane, generators, oil lamps, shake-em-up flashlights and much reading and research on this forum. We are glad you found us and totally understand the initial panic. pugmom
|
|
jpc
|
|
Thordawggy
V.I.P. Member Joined: January 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 107 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
When I first started, I got enough stuff for just one week. It made me feel alot better. I think I got several cans of chunky soups and beef stews and a big bag of rice to pour it over. It was a good start and a stress buster.
Also, store some water in 2 liter bottles if that is all you have right now.
It will ease your mind a bit.
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
White rice, dried beans, sugar, and salt will keep virtually forever if properly packaged. If you have water, beans, and rice you have what is required to sustain yourself. The addition of other types of food can then be made. Other types of food can give you better variety, better taste etc, but are not as cheap to store, so I would start with the basics, and then add on as I could afford to.
|
|
janetn
V.I.P. Member Joined: February 04 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 333 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
I wouldnt worry about spending money for Tamiflu at this point. Take a wait and see on the Tamiflu. Their might be a problem with resistance, we have to wait to get more info on this - we might want to look at another class of drugs First calm down and take a breath. Then look here and at other flu sites, plenty of infomation is at your fingertips. All the information you need is available. take things one step at a time. Very few of us are flush with money were all managing to prep on a budget. Do you live in the city or in a rural area? Is a garden feasible? Wher you live impacts how your going to prepare. |
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Spread the word. Go to chat rooms. Tell people don't panic prepare. Tell them to check out cdc, and who sites and make their own minds up weither bf is a danger to their lifes or not. I have had some sucess doing this. One more prepper is better than none. And then they spread the word. It might work.
|
|
Penham
Chief Moderator Moderator Joined: February 09 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 14913 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Knowledge is power. Read and absorb all the info you can from this website, it has some great ideas, suggestions, how to tips, etc. Almost any issue you can think of has been addressed here, just look around. We have all been where you are, please try not to panic, but educate yourself as much as possible. Start with buying the basics, then extras, only you can decide what are the basics for your family (knowing what they eat and don't, food allergies, medical issues, etc). Once you actually start reading and getting started you will start to feel better, the more you prepare, the more confidant/better you will feel. After you start getting food and water stored and you are looking at other "extras" to purchase, don't forget to look at yard sales and thrift stores for things like camping stoves/lanterns, candles, oil lamps, extra clothing, books. You can find alot of items used for cheap, my best find was a breathing machine for asthma for .50 at Goodwill (works great) paid over $100 for the one we already have new (and this was a few years ago).
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
H, florence church and a very warm welcome. Here are some links which will provide you with pretty complete lists for your preps. Print them out and think about the food you eat now. It is generally NOT a good idea to change your diet drastically during times of high stress, so taylor the lists to fit your family's needs. Then buy what you eat and eat what you buy!
Inventory everything right from the beginning so you know what you have and still need. Update it every time you buy or use anything. Let us know if we can help with anything. good luck!
The last is a great site for recipes, menu plans and calorie counts. Especially geared for the budget! Print out recipes you'll use and set up a preparedness cook-book.
|
|
Chrystle
V.I.P. Member Joined: May 06 2006 Status: Offline Points: 70 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
***
|
|
Chrystle
|
|
Guests
Guest Group |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Hi there Florence Church! I'd like to suggest that you assess your home for any needed reapair.Roof, plumbing, etc.We have trees fairly close to our house and we intend to do some heavy pruning. Just my two cents. Take care!
|
|
Post Reply | |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You can vote in polls in this forum |