Pandemic Preparedness

Pandemic preparation has two integral components.  First, you should have a basic 3 day emergency kit, just as you would for an earthquake, storm, hurricane, or other disaster. The only difference in preparing for a pandemic is that you should extend the level of preparation to last much longer.  The flu lasts approximately two weeks, but it can conservatively take 6-8 weeks for it to go through a population. During this time you will need to be prepared for disruption of services just as with other large scale emergencies.

Second, is the preparation for infection control, it involves hygiene and barriers to contamination. Hygiene includes hand washing, covering sneezes and coughs, and daily disinfection of surfaces such as doorknobs, keyboards, and faucets.  The barrier method of infection control requires that sick individuals be isolated and that others wear protective clothing. Only by wearing the appropriate quality masks, gloves, and goggles can the flu virus be prevented from entering through the mucosal membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth.

It's about time...

When a pandemic is happening around the world, we do not know how long it will last.  Preparing for a pandemic is much the same as preparing for any other emergency, except that we need to extend the level of preparation to last much longer.

We have been told that we need to have enough food, water and clothing for 3 days.  If you were to be quarantined....either by health officials or voluntarily.....how long could you sustain yourself?  Three days?  Two weeks?  Three months?  Now is a good time to inventory your household.  What do you really have on hand?

Water is critical.  You need to have 1 gallon of water per person per day for at least two weeks.  That is 14 gallons per person.  (Read our Water page for more information.)