# 3515
According to the old joke, the answer is, “I don’t know, and I don’t care!”
Unfortunately, six weeks into this pandemic, we seem to have an abundance of both.
Summer is here, and most people in the northern hemisphere are more inclined to think about vacations, spending time out of doors, and more leisurely pursuits than seem interested or concerned over this flu.
Today, in a news report from a local TV station here in Florida (WTSP-10), local’s were interviewed about their level of concern over the swine flu outbreak.
Swine flu is back with a vengeance
St. Petersburg, Florida - The Bay area has already had dozens of confirmed cases of H1N1 but this is the first time we've seen so many deaths in one week that are directly related to the virus.
So far, statewide, there have been fourteen deaths due to swine flu. Three of those were in the Bay area -- two in Sarasota County and one in Polk County.
"Three deaths, just recently? That's pretty serious," said Tampa resident Lisa Johnson.
While Johnson worries, Kasha Vaskolo of St. Pete doesn't. "To me, it is just another cold, like SARS, people were freaking out but it never really got anywhere."
I’ve heard of SARS described many ways, but `just another cold’ is a new one on me.
Unfortunately, this is pretty typical of the way many people regard threats. They tend to dismiss them unless it has killed someone they know . . . recently.
I know that most people’s days are filled with innumerable deadlines, responsibilities, and distractions and that it is hard to devote much, if any, of their attention to anything that is more than 24 hours in the future.
That’s why so many people in Florida don’t prepare for hurricanes in May or June, and wait to see if one pops up in August or September. Or why most Californians put off putting together that earthquake emergency kit.
There’s always a belief that there will be ample warning, and plenty of time to make preparations, if a threat really comes a knockin’.
But of course, you can’t always count on that.
The time to put together that first aid kit, or to take a CPR course, is before you are faced with a medical emergency. And many disasters can strike with too little warning to allow for preparedness.
But we go through our busy days, convinced it will never happen to us, and even if it does, it won’t be so bad, and even if it is, someone will come to our rescue.
Right now, we are in the middle of the Atlantic Hurricane season, and while so far its been a quiet season, the tropics normally don’t ramp up until August and September. Earthquakes . . . well, they can happen anytime. As can tornadoes.
All perfectly good reasons to have a 72 hours (or greater) emergency kit in your home and automobile, a family emergency plan and a well practiced business disaster plan.
Added to the normal mix of threats we now have a pandemic.
Maybe not the monumental event that many expected (although its eventual severity is unknowable), but serious enough that we should all be thinking about how we will deal with it later in the year.
Which is a good enough reason for people to be preparing now to be able to care for flu victims in their homes, and to stay home for a week or perhaps two, if isolation or quarantine requires it.
And as an added bonus, having some extra supplies on hand may enable you to share them with a friend, or relative, or neighbor who is in need.
Whatever the envisioned crisis, our preparedness goal should be making our communities more resilient. And for that to happen, we need to do more than just stockpile some extra supplies in our homes.
People should seriously consider volunteering with the American Red Cross, The Medical Reserve Corps, CERT, or their Neighborhood watch.
People may find other opportunities to assist through their local church, school, civic organization, or by volunteering at a hospital or nursing home.
A crisis, even a pandemic, is no time to hide away in our homes and wait for others to help our communities.
For more information on preparedness, you can go to any of these reputable sites.
FEMA http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm
READY.GOV http://www.ready.gov/
AMERICAN RED CROSS http://www.redcross.org/
For Pandemic Preparedness Information: HHS Individual Planning Page
For more in-depth emergency preparedness information I can think of no better resource than GetPandemicReady.Org.
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