When it comes to preparing for a pandemic, it’s not something that is high on our preparedness list, although it’s nowhere near the bottom either. I think this is because in the United States we generally take a proactive approach to disease and sanitation, and it doesn’t affect us like it does in other 3rd world countries.

As humans we can go anywhere on the planet within days or hours, traveling through busy airports and flying on airplanes with god knows who. This means that regardless how prepared we are as a country, we still at risk. All it takes is 1 flight, with 1 sick person to start the ball rolling.

Epidemics throughout history have been somewhat localized, and with our advances with medicine and sanitation, most threats have been eradicated or put in check. We have seen a few near misses in recent history though such as the H1N1 virus, the Avian Flu, SARS, and most people don’t think of HIV/AIDS as a pandemic, but it was/is.

Hollywood has almost made pandemics seem like “something that only happens in movies” because when people think about pandemics they think of movies like Contagion, 28 Days Later, and the hundreds of zombie movies out there.

A pandemic doesn’t need to be a large-scale statistic breaking event to affect your life. For a disease to be considered a pandemic, it only needs to affect a small number of people on several continents. Epidemics are localized (Malaria), pandemics are worldwide (H1N1). To be a pandemic, the disease must also be deadly, and contagious.

SPP246 Preparing for a Pandemic and Other Biological Threats

This week in the show we talked about how even a small-scale pandemic or epidemic could affect our lives and our family, and how something large-scale would require extreme precautions. We also covered what supplies you would want, and how to use them.

Staying Safe During a Pandemic

Shelter in Place: The safest place to be in an event like this is away from the danger. We have control of how clean our homes are, and this is where all of our supplies are. In smaller scenarios we may still need to venture out to work or school, but we should take precautions, and remain home whenever possible.

Safe Rooms: This would only be necessary in an extreme pandemic scenario, and safe rooms come in all shapes and sizes. For the purposes of a pandemic or viral outbreak, a safe room should be completely sealed. You will need to get clean air into the room, and that can be done with a HEPA filter and a shop vac. 

Quarantine Areas: This is a little different than a safe room, but serves a similar purpose. A quarantine area is used when someone shows up late and you want to make sure they are not contagious before letting them into the home.

Know the Symptoms: In a situation like this we need to get as much information as possible. This means the lifespan of the disease, the severity of the outbreak, and what the signs and symptoms are. This is especially important if someone is in quarantine, and you need to evaluate them daily.

Personal Protective Gear: In the video below Lisa and I showed the proper way to put on and remove PPE (Personal Protective Gear). Further down in the article we have a list of pandemic supplies you may need.

Disinfection and Sanitation: One of the most critical and easy steps we can take to protect our home is to make sure it is clean…REALLY clean. We can’t see these little biological threats, and they could literally be anywhere. It’s also important to make sure we are clean, and paying attention to personal hygiene.

Entertainment Items: Being stuck in the home, or worse, being stuck in a quarantine room will get pretty boring.