Preparedness Tuesday: Back To The Swine Flu

It's Preparedness Tuesday - each Tuesday I post one thing you can do to help prepare you and your family for everyday disasters - be it job loss, bad weather (between being stuck in the middle of hurricane season, and the coming colder winter we're predicted), or even that ugly recession they keep talking about (blech!)

I'm going to rant here. I'm someone who believes in preparedness, but I think there's a little bit of insanity coming out:

I keep seeing folks saying let's close our borders and quarantine the ill in order to deal with the "swine flu". (It's not even really swine flu. This is a hybrid of 3 different flu's) Let me address both:

Closing our borders? Tee hee. Seriously, folks. This is AIRBORNE. Alright, no one in and out of the country. Tourists are stranded here. Those on vacation in other areas are stranded in that country. The flu in 1918-1919 went on for 18 months before it started to die out. 18 months. Those with husbands, children on the other side? Think about that. Our military families stranded where they have been stationed.

Again, anything that has been coughed on, touched? Then that shouldn't be let in either. Say goodbye to cargo. Supermarkets wouldn't be restocked. If it's not grown and made here in the US - that includes packaging - how is it going to get in? The boat doesn't float itself or load and unload itself.

See what I am saying?

To go to the quarantine:

Let me just use 2.5 words: World War II

Who's going to work the hospitals? The hospitals will be closed off - is everyone going to go back to giving birth at home? How about open heart surgeries? If you don't use the hospitals for the quarantines, then you walk dangerously close to camps. People that are ill should STAY HOME. You are better off taking care of yourself at home with this.

We went out today, and I was in the bathroom at WalMart. 2 out of 3 people in there did not wash their hands. Not looking good, is it? Common sense is long gone. Wash your hands, sneeze or cough into your shirt.

And I just want to add: It's estimated 36,000 people die in the US each year due to the flu. Why on earth is everyone freaking out now?

OK, rant off. :) I've already posted a few steps to help prepare yourself to try to help keep your family healthy from this new virus. Here's a few extra thoughts:

*I mentioned taking your shoes off at the door. Take it one step further by changing when you come home, immediately putting the clothes into the washer if you can. If not, use disposable gloves when loading your laundry into the washer.

*When grocery shopping, try to use self checkout. You'll cut down on one or two other people handling your groceries. Remember to use hand sanitizer after touching the screen.

*Carry a messenger style handbag instead of a regular purse so you can wear it all the time instead of placing it down on tables, chairs, or especially, in the bathroom or on a table at a restaurant. One of the worst places you can put your purse down is actually on the shopping cart seat. Diaper leaks, anyone? (This will probably make you want to never put your groceries on that part again)

*Try not to use the restroom at all in public. With the amount of people who don't wash their hands, the public restrooms can be a serious hazard.

*Don't touch doors or surfaces with your hands. Push the bottom of the door with your feet, or use your elbow.

For more random preparedness thoughts from my blog, click here.