What do you do with the elephant in the room?
Sit it in the corner and cover it with a doily!
Actually...that's the WRONG thing to do so let's take a minute to address the current elephant in our room - Swine Flu. It's hard to keep up with the latest update since things are moving so quickly. We keep hearing all kinds of scary things every time we turn on the TV or log onto the internet. Sunday, the women learned in our class at church that we can't always control what's going on around us but we have complete control over how we react to what's going on around us. Panic doesn't help anyone!
So this is the conclusion that I've come to....there's NOTHING that I can do to contribute to the Flu resolution on the international front, HOWEVER, I can make preparations for taking care of my own family and that's one family less that the state has to worry about.
Here is a link to Red Cross updates - let's track what is going on in our own area!
Here I quote from a Time Magazine online story:
"The truth is that every outbreak is unpredictable, and there's a lot we don't know yet about the new swine flu. There hasn't been a flu pandemic for more than a generation, and there hasn't been a truly virulent pandemic since long before the arrival of mass air transit. We're in terra incognito here. Panic would be counterproductive - especially if it results in knee-jerk reactions like closing international borders, which would only complicate the public-health response. But neither should we downplay our very real vulnerabilities. As (Janet) Napolitano put it: "This will be a marathon, not a sprint." Be prepared."
So let's start with terminology:
What is a Pandemic?
A pandemic may be defined as an epidemic which affects an entire continent, region or the entire globe.
What is an epidemic?
An Epidemic is defined as an infectios disease which spreads more broadly and rapidly through a given population than is the norm. When the number of those affected grows unusually high it is considered an epidemic.
So what can we do to prepare?
I have moved the box with Pandemic information to the top of the right hand sidebar of this page. There's lots of studying that can be done there. After reviewing my links again I've found that some are more worthwhile than others when it comes to this current situation. I've re-ordered them according to what I feel is the most useful info with the least amount of intense study. In addition - here are a few things that we can do today....
1. Have food on hand (3 months worth would be nice!) If a quarentine is called in our area, people will not be able to go to work and so stores will close which means we will feed our family with what you have on hand! Can we do it?
2. Teach our family about good personal hygene. This would make a great lesson/discussion for a family meeting! Carry tissues AND USE THEM, wash our hands lots and lots with soap and water, move away from people who are coughing and sneezing without a tissue - better yet, offer them one of ours!
3. Have a few basic medical supplies on hand. Typical meds that help you get through the flu symptoms, face masks - this may turn out to be something that saves our lives!, latex gloves - can be bought at the pharmacy,
4. Be prepared to be Quarentined! Have our sign ready (from your House ID kit) and teach our children that if they see the red sign hanging on a door - DON'T GO TO THAT HOUSE! What? Did I hear someone say what House Kit? The local Mormon ward paid for every house on our 3 streets to have one of these kits. If you haven't seen yours yet....Call your Block Captain - they have them! Maybe you weren't home or something when they came around so get yours RIGHT AWAY! You might be needing it soon!
So take some time to click on those links under Pandemics It's stuff we all need to be familiar with.
Sit it in the corner and cover it with a doily!
Actually...that's the WRONG thing to do so let's take a minute to address the current elephant in our room - Swine Flu. It's hard to keep up with the latest update since things are moving so quickly. We keep hearing all kinds of scary things every time we turn on the TV or log onto the internet. Sunday, the women learned in our class at church that we can't always control what's going on around us but we have complete control over how we react to what's going on around us. Panic doesn't help anyone!
So this is the conclusion that I've come to....there's NOTHING that I can do to contribute to the Flu resolution on the international front, HOWEVER, I can make preparations for taking care of my own family and that's one family less that the state has to worry about.
Here is a link to Red Cross updates - let's track what is going on in our own area!
Here I quote from a Time Magazine online story:
"The truth is that every outbreak is unpredictable, and there's a lot we don't know yet about the new swine flu. There hasn't been a flu pandemic for more than a generation, and there hasn't been a truly virulent pandemic since long before the arrival of mass air transit. We're in terra incognito here. Panic would be counterproductive - especially if it results in knee-jerk reactions like closing international borders, which would only complicate the public-health response. But neither should we downplay our very real vulnerabilities. As (Janet) Napolitano put it: "This will be a marathon, not a sprint." Be prepared."
So let's start with terminology:
What is a Pandemic?
A pandemic may be defined as an epidemic which affects an entire continent, region or the entire globe.
What is an epidemic?
An Epidemic is defined as an infectios disease which spreads more broadly and rapidly through a given population than is the norm. When the number of those affected grows unusually high it is considered an epidemic.
So what can we do to prepare?
I have moved the box with Pandemic information to the top of the right hand sidebar of this page. There's lots of studying that can be done there. After reviewing my links again I've found that some are more worthwhile than others when it comes to this current situation. I've re-ordered them according to what I feel is the most useful info with the least amount of intense study. In addition - here are a few things that we can do today....
1. Have food on hand (3 months worth would be nice!) If a quarentine is called in our area, people will not be able to go to work and so stores will close which means we will feed our family with what you have on hand! Can we do it?
2. Teach our family about good personal hygene. This would make a great lesson/discussion for a family meeting! Carry tissues AND USE THEM, wash our hands lots and lots with soap and water, move away from people who are coughing and sneezing without a tissue - better yet, offer them one of ours!
3. Have a few basic medical supplies on hand. Typical meds that help you get through the flu symptoms, face masks - this may turn out to be something that saves our lives!, latex gloves - can be bought at the pharmacy,
4. Be prepared to be Quarentined! Have our sign ready (from your House ID kit) and teach our children that if they see the red sign hanging on a door - DON'T GO TO THAT HOUSE! What? Did I hear someone say what House Kit? The local Mormon ward paid for every house on our 3 streets to have one of these kits. If you haven't seen yours yet....Call your Block Captain - they have them! Maybe you weren't home or something when they came around so get yours RIGHT AWAY! You might be needing it soon!
So take some time to click on those links under Pandemics It's stuff we all need to be familiar with.
2 comments:
You will be happy to hear I am prepared! The only thing that scares me is if one of my family members got seriously ill. I would worry about other loved ones and neighbors, but if lives were not at stake, I would say bring it on! (not really) But I am ready!
and it's a good feeling isn't it? I think about it a lot - I want to be prepared but not so over-prepared that it takes over my life! We have to get to that point that we are right in the middle. Tonight I heard that they expect the flu strain to calm down for the summer months and then hit with a vengence in the fall. We're in for a long haul!
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