Deeanne Gist - www.deeannegist.com - Inspirational Romance Author

Monday, November 21, 2005

Planning for Disaster

The Christian Emergency Network is strongly advising all citizens to prepare in advance for a global breakout of the avian flu (for which we have no immunizations). They are encouraging us to "to plan now in case authorities call for voluntary or mandatory quarantines for several weeks."

They strongly suggest we keep "extra supplies" on hand, but don't give a suggested list of what extra supplies we should stock up on. Certainly, I can see stocking up on bottled water, batteries, Tylenol, canned goods, that sort of thing. But, I wish I had some expert giving me specifics. A list I could take to the store and buy.

I saw that the government has issued some health and safety tips for families, but the instructions for how to actually prepare were pretty vague. CEN is offering kits for sale, but that would be for keeping in the trunk of your car. Not preparing for a flu break out of epidemic proportions.

So, what do you think? What would you put on your shopping list? Are you planning on preparing for this?

posted by Deeanne at 9:32 AM

1 Comments:

Barb said...: Hmmm. Well, we always try to have extra food and meds around, incl 7-Up for sick tummies. Batteries, flashlights, and cars prepped for winter (at this point), with first aid kits and blankets. We also have water barrels filled in case of emergency, in case water or power is affected for more than a couple of days. And we're installing a generator this year. We have a wood burning stove in the living room, but it doesn't heat the whole house. We have a little hand-cranking radio which is a pain to use, but could be really useful in an unexpected situation. Re a flu pandemic--not sure. I think being physically fit in the first place would help somewhat--in shape physically, taking your vitamin C, etc. Isolating ourselves from some of the social situations we're in would be a serious question in a case like that, as much as prior preparation I'd think. If it hits your school, do you continue to let your kids go? What about working out in the bizzy bizness world? We'd never heard of the CEN before--thanx for mentioning it!