The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but…H1N1

Posted by Carolyn on May 21st, 2009 in Before the Disaster, Food Storage, Pandemic | Comments Off

Today I received a comment I really wanted to share:

I am really weary of hearing or reading the words “not to panic”. There is a very good article on CIDRAP by Peter Sandman dated today that really describes why I feel that way. I hope it can be posted with Carolyn’s post. The article: Pandemics: good hygiene is not enough

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v459/n7245/full/459322a.html

See also Essay, page 324, and for ongoing coverage of the H1N1 outbreak: http://www.nature.com/swineflu.

Discuss this topic on Nature Network: http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/4662

I have wrestled with this for weeks, since this flu began. I have no desire to panic anyone but I do want people to have the facts so they can make informed choices for their families. I read the articles Jeanette recommended and could not agree more with them. I want to share just a little with you. The following refers to the 1918 pandemic:

In Philadelphia, for example, public-health director Wilmer Krusen promised — before a single civilian had died — to “confine this disease to its present limits. In this we are sure to be successful.” As the death toll grew, he repeatedly reassured the public that “the disease has about reached its crest. The situation is well in hand.” When the number of daily deaths broke 200, he again promised: “The peak of the epidemic has been reached.” When 300 died in a day, he said: “These deaths mark the high-water mark.” Ultimately, daily deaths reached 759. The press never questioned him.

With no public official to believe in, people believed rumours and their most horrific imaginings. A man living in Washington described the result: “People were afraid to kiss one another, people were afraid to eat with one another … It destroyed those contacts and destroyed the intimacy that existed amongst people … there was an aura of a constant fear that you lived through from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night.”

Elsewhere, fear, not illness, kept people at home. Absenteeism reached extraordinary levels. Shipyard workers were told that their duties were as important as a soldier’s; they were paid only if they worked; and, unlike elsewhere, physicians were available to them on site. Yet absentee rates in the shipyards — one of the few industries for which there are good data — still ranged from 45% to 58%. Absenteeism crippled the railroad system, which transported nearly all freight, bringing it to the point of collapse. It shut down telephone exchanges, closing off communication, and further isolating and alienating people. Grocers refused to open. Coal sellers closed. In cities and rural communities, the Red Cross reported that people “were starving to death not for lack of food but because the well were too panic stricken to bring food to the sick”.

All that seems unforgivable and so sad to me. People so fearful. It is absolutely true that those who are prepared shall not fear. I believe it is much healthier and much more helpful to tell the truth now and provide information so we can prepare, than to be advising them later, during a pandemic, when they are afraid and no longer able to make wise choices. When we operate in an atmosphere of fear we inevitably make serious mistakes.

If a full blown, deadly pandemic arrives this fall I will still be giving the same advise I am giving now. The difference will be that much of what I am encouraging you to do, food storage, storing medical supplies and cleaning supplies, etc. may not be available.

My other reason for sounding the alarm now is that during a crisis it is difficult to make decisions. The more information you have before that time the better your decisions will be. Your brain will automatically pull up information that you have previously put there. If you have no knowledge, and have not thought about what you would do in a specific emergency, you will be unable to make crucial decisions. That is panic. What we are doing now is preparation.

I went to the grocery store yesterday to get milk. While I was there I checked out the produce isle and walked past the meat counter to get there. I ended up buying $32.00 worth of sale items and saved $27.00. All this was possible because I have a three month supply of food. I never buy anything that isn’t on sale! Food storage is not just for a pandemic but for everyday use. The last time I went to the grocery store was two weeks ago for eggs and milk. I have spent less than $50.00 this month on food. I am living much more cheaply because I have food storage.

As you can see from the chart above the 1918 pandemic began just like this year’s swine flu has begun. Not many deaths at first, and then…

If a pandemic hits tomorrow or this fall, or a flood, or an earthquake, or a hurricane, or terrorist attack, anything, I can feed,cloth, and take care of hygiene and basic medical needs for my family. Can you? That is called peace, not panic. No, you should not panic BUT you should not be complacent just because the present flu is mild. Be proactive and take your family’s future into your own hands.