Pandemic Survival Before SHTF
(Containerstore.com)
REMEMBER..........
Avoid crowds. No more movie theaters, roller skating rinks, mall window shopping. When you shop, treat it like a mission. Get in, get the goods, and get out. Get used to your new less social lifestyle. Just think, by not bar hopping you're decreasing your odds significantly of becoming an alcoholic and ruining your life.
DEVELOP PROTOCOLS NOW and start using them. Why? Very simple. You will do as you practice. You need to have some new habits started and that takes time. Otherwise, you will oops and expose yourself and your family.
Design a protocol for getting supplies. For example, always sanitize the shopping cart before using it. In fact, avoid using one altogether if you can. Shop at off hours when there are less people. Remember, your area may at some point have carriers the CDC does not know about. Asymptomatic spreaders.
Design a specific method for sanitizing your hands. For example, I have a little rhythm thing I do while I make sure I get the tops of my hands and between my fingers. This is one to keep for life regardless.
Design a decontamination protocol tailored to your home if you plan to bug in. Bag up the clothes to be dumped into a washer? Put it in the washer directly? Do you know how to undress without contaminating yourself? There is a method for this. I had to do this working in a specialty veterinarian hospital. How you put on your protective gear is directly related to how you need to take it off!! Here is a video I found for you. You may not have a suit like this but you can still learn form it.
Know ahead of time how you are going to do things and make sure everyone is on board. It just takes one person's noncompliance to jeopardize everyone else.
Have a Lockdown/Disruption Of Distribution plan. You seriously need to think about this one. I expect food prices to go up whether there is a big problem or not. These big corporations are going to react and react early. If there are any major outbreaks requiring travel restrictions within the United States, this will disrupt movement of goods. Add some local panic and you have.....no food unless you hunt and gather it yourself. Perhaps you should start stocking up now. I recommend, just my opinion, making sure you have light weight food items stocked up as well just in case you decide you need to evacuate. Just bag it all and go. Where would you go? How would you get there? At what point do you think it would be time to get out? What signs would you look for? Not everyone is comfortable in the middle of nowhere like me nor have the skills and knowledge for it. Do you? Be flexible in an ever changing situation. Don't lock yourself into a narrow plan or a narrow way of thinking.
Don't forget to stock up on supplies especially those things unique to you. For example, I have an ample supply of Fever Few, an herb I use to control migraines. I also have two back up pairs of shades. You will need to be at your best for your health and defense. Make a list of things you need to have for AT LEAST 6 months. Why? It will take time for the immediate situation in your area to subside and it will take time for reliable distribution of goods to return and costs to stabilize. Don't forget things like epi-pens.
You can stock up on masks, gloves, and goggles if you like. If this is actually somewhat airborne it will not matter. You will be exposed at some point while you are eating or drinking or whatever. In other words, breathing air without your mask on. If you are not wearing the gear properly you are at risk as well. Either way I highly recommend boosting your immune system NOW! More on that in the next post. Reduce your sugar intake and increase your intake of vitamin C. Lemon juice in water and tea is a good place to start. Eat as healthy as you can - avoid processed foods. In other words, don't forget to prepare YOU. Just because you are exposed to something doesn't mean you are guaranteed to get sick. You can fight it off. In the case of 2019-nCoV, people are and some only experience mild symptoms. Do everything you can to be one of them. Be as strong as you can inside and out. That, in my opinion will protect us better than masks and all kinds of gear. A strong immune system and good hygiene while reducing exposure is my game plan at this point in time. Also, stress and fear compromises your immune system so be aware of that! Relax. No need to fear if you are prepared.
Water
Have a method of self defense . Preferably several. Law enforcement will have their hands full with looters and other civil unrest. You will be on your own if someone violent comes over for dinner.
For those who prefer pharmaceuticals over herbals, stock up on cold and flu over the counter medicine. Cough drops might not be a bad idea. It's cold and flu season anyway so you will more than likely use it anyway. Don't forget Ibuprofen as a anti-inflammatory and for body aches. Remember many of these products only mask symptoms. Helping your immune system win the fight is another matter. They will help you sleep however which is very important to your recovery for obvious reasons.
I personally recommend educating your self regarding natural anti-viral and anti-inflammatory options that you can easily obtain and use yourself. If you are on your own or the medical system is over run, you need options. Learn about them NOW. Because this post is so long already, this is the topic of my next post where I team up with @smithlabs to bring you the best info I can. He is my go to guy with herbal questions and is always happy to be helpful. We are not health professionals but we both have personal experience dealing with medical conditions at home. DON'T MISS IT!
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My friend was one of those preparing to bug out. He would get so angry with me when I pointed out that more likely than not, by the time one is aware they need to bug out if they are in a city, it's going to be to late. They will have restricted travel, and it's possible that armed LE and/or military groups will be more of a threat than mobs. Best solution is having somewhere outside the large cities to begin with, and second best if one can't do that is prepare to bug in.
There is also an alternative between the two if one lives on the outskirts of a city. Try to find somewhere difficult to access outside of the city that wouldn't draw adventurous people and stockpile some things there in the hopes others don't go there and discover your stash. Somewhere you could travel on foot with a likelihood of being unseen if the shtf.
I agree. Unless you get out of the city early...plan on bugging in. I just moved to a small town but I am in an apartment building. Not the best when it comes to unprepared, hungry, scared, upset neighbors. I have been looking for someplace local out of the way with a water supply in case we need to just get hidden for awhile. I already have a place picked out to go live for awhile about 10 miles away as an option. Otherwise we too would need to leave very early to get to really and truly remote areas that have both a food and water supply. The problem here is all the farms. This means contaminated by pesticides water sources everywhere and no real forests to support a food chain.
Excellent @squirrelbait. Resteemed
Thanks I worked hard on this one.