Pandemic Prep…Sanitation
I had a slight set back with my finger healing yesterday so this post will be short and sweet.Have you heard that Panasonic has told all their employees in South America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, and former Soviet states to move their families back home by September 2009? Their reason was concern that families could not be protected and moved quickly enough in the event a pandemic occurs. We are not the only ones thinking a pandemic may be coming.
One of the very most important considerations when planning for a pandemic is sanitation. Once you are self quarantined you want to make sure your family remains healthy and safe. There are a few things to consider.
First cleaning: You will want to guarantee, as much as possible that the surfaces and items in your home remain free of germs. Even a common cold during an outbreak of a pandemic illness can weaken family members and make them more susceptible to other illness. For cleaning surfaces and clothing you will want strong disinfectants. In the past I have advised you to store a few sets of white sheets that can be bleached when laundered. When possible you will want to wash items in hot water, detergent, and bleach. Bleach is also one of the cheapest ways to clean surfaces. Simply add 1/4 C of bleach to a gallon of water.
Trash: You will need a generous supply of plastic trash bags for use during a pandemic. Tissues, paper plates, food containers, food waste, all will need to be disposed of, preferably outdoors. That is the easy part. What happens when there is no trash pick up because trash collectors are self quarantined and caring for their families? When we lived on the family farm several years ago we had a burn barrel. It was a 50 gallon metal barrel in which we burned much of our trash. You see those in old movies when they depict life on “skid row” but we actually used one. Now it would probably be illegal, but during a pandemic who is going to come issue the ticket? How will you dispose of trash? Bottles and cans can be rinsed and placed in plastic bags but what of the rest? As we talk about planting a garden this may be a good time to consider learning to compost, great for the garden and also a great way to “recycle” food scraps during a pandemic. At the very least we will need to think differently about the trash we generate and be prepared to separate trash into several categories for disposal, those we can burn, those we can stockpile until trash service resumes, and those that can be composted.
Do you have more than one large trash can to separate items into? Do you have a way to wash and dry laundry if the electricity is out? Do you have the items needed to compost? Do you have sufficient bleach, laundry detergent and other cleaning supplies for a 3 month self quarantine? Something to think about and them plan for…
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I feel that you make some very valid points, and that this is just another reason that we should be prepared for just about anything.
Thanks for the tips and the reminders…
I really appreciate your posts about being ready for a pandemic. After seeing a lady senator saying commenting about the stimulus package, I got pretty upset. She said that all the senators were concerned about a world wide flu pandemic, but did they want to spend the money to prepare for it now? No, they would worry about it later.
That just proves that we need to be prepared on our own.
Your blog is on my daily ‘must check’ list – have just been called as ward RS welfare person & I love all your posts, you have so much wisdom & good stuff to share ! Thank you for your time & effort to do so, hope your finger gets better soon ! Best wishes, Jeni
When I moved into my house 20 years ago the yard was bare of all nutrients etc. I regularly compost all summer long and a bit during the winter. Now when people drive by they say things like “you are so lucky, you have green thumb”. Little do they understand how many potato peels, loads of manure etc. have gone into it. Composting is a wonderful way to go regardless of whether circumstances demand it or not. Just remember not to compost meat/fat.
You have brought back some memories from my youth when we, too, used a barrel to burn trash. Beyond the legality of using a barrel to burn trash, there is some risk involved; burning embers and burning things sail out of the barrel (heat rises and produces an updraft), which presents a fire hazard to surrounding vegetation and homes. The solution we used was a grate made of woven metal strands that was placed over the barrel which allowed the smoke to escape but kept the burning contents inside. For those who might want to prepare a barrel for this purpose, you will need to place holes in the barrel in the sides near the base of the barrel to allow air to enter, otherwise the burning will be inefficient and incomplete. The smell from smoldering trash can be pretty awful. We used a pick or pick axe to put the holes in the barrel, which was quick and effective. Certainly from a medical point of view, burning is a time honored way of destroying potentially infectious material.
Good things to think about and prepare for. Thank you for sharing!
I learned about a handy way to wash laundry in an emergency. You can read more about it on a post I made at: http://preparednessnibblesandbits.blogspot.com/search/label/Emergency%20Clothes%20Washing%20Kit
Evan, thanks for the reminders and info. We too had a grate for over the top and holes in the sides for air circulation. I had been planning to write directions when I can type better so thanks for doing it for me.
KP, We all seem to be thinking alike. I was also planning a post on washing in just this way.Thanks for the link that does it for us.
I love this blog. I have learned so much and hope to be able to pass it on to the sisters in my ward. I only wish I had full time to devote to the topic and to preparing my family and friends. It’s beginning to “rain.”
Great post. The 2 of us produce less than 2 plastic T-shirt bags of garbage a week. We feed our food scraps (not fat or meat/chix) to our worms as we are not allowed to compost in our retirement community. We recycle, on site in our community, metal, glass, aluminum and paper/cardboard. So our waste is usually plastic & styrofoam trays from food.
We have burned a small amount of paper waste from illness (tissues when hubby had a bad cold) in a #10 can used as a burn barrel. Done daily, it was a less than a 5 minute task so no one noticed.
During a pandemic would flushing paper waste from illness be safe? or would the system be overloaded and spread the illness?
Thanks, Bellen
I would like to know more about the burn barrel – where to get one, store one, how to burn etc. We have burned alot of thing in our parent’s firepit, like sensitive documents, etc, but I don’t think we could do large amounts of waste.
How do you suggest getting rid of disposible diapers? Or maybe I would just have to switch to cloth!
I also have the cloth diaper question, though my situation is opposite. I diaper my twins with cloth, but I’m wondering if I should switch to disposable to reduce the work and electricity usage in the event in the event that we have to care for sick folks in our house.
About the flushing waste being safe in a pandemic. My son in law was in Marine bootcamp when 9/11 happened & was one of the first shipped off to war. When he received his small pox shot he was required to keep it covered with a bandaid for a predetermined amount of time. He was also required to change the bandaid at least daily AND to flush the bandaid down the toliet. No putting it in the trash – orders were to flush!! Our best guess was the length of time a pathogen can survive away from the host, waste treatment plant chemical or if a home septic – no one digs into the tank just for fun. Pandemic should be similiar.
Such interesting information!
I have so much to consider and prepare for…