https://n2v.almanacnews.com/square/print/2020/02/24/preparing-yourself-and-your-family-for-a-possible-pandemic-take-time


Town Square

Preparing yourself and your family for a possible pandemic takes time

Original post made by Peter Carpenter, Menlo Park: Park Forest, on Feb 24, 2020

It is too early to state that the Covid 19 virus will become pandemic BUT if it does the ONLY tool available to individuals and their families will be "social distancing". Unfortunately it takes time to acquire and organize the resources required to "social distance " your family.

An excellent guide for making such preparations was produced by Atherton/Menlo Park residents in response to the avian flu pandemic and was then revised for the swine flu pandemic. This document was circulated world wide and translated into a number of languages.

It remains a well tested and proven generic plan for any pandemic.

Web Link

Director, Annual Reviews, former Director InSTEDD, Former Director Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Former Ex Dir Stanford Univ Medical Center, ARPA, OMB

Comments

Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on Feb 25, 2020 at 5:10 pm

The window for getting prepared is NOW!!

""Disruption to everyday life might be severe," Messonnier, who is the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters Tuesday.

Messonnier said she told her children over breakfast that they will need to begin preparing for an escalated outbreak. Parents and caregivers, she said, should ask officials at their children's schools about plans for school dismissals, closures, and teleschool in case the virus spreads in their school districts.

"I contacted my local school superintendent this morning with exactly those questions," Messonnier said. "All of these questions can help you be better prepared for what might happen.""


Posted by Thoughts and prayers, folks
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on Feb 25, 2020 at 5:28 pm

Thank you, Peter. The link was instructive.

Good thing our top levels of government are on the ball. Alas, it reminds me of a previous warning:

Aug 6 PBD: Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US
Bush & Rice: welp, time to go on vacation for a month to Crawford!

CDC: This is within weeks of becoming a global disaster
Trump: let us pray that my reelection chances are not effected by this! Time for a selfie at the Taj Mahal (no, not the one he bankrupted)

***

Thoughts and prayers, folks. (Forbes: "Trump Proposes 16% Cut To CDC As Global Number Of Coronavirus Infections And Deaths Rise" Web Link )


Posted by David B
a resident of Portola Valley: Central Portola Valley
on Feb 26, 2020 at 1:24 pm

Peter, the doc is very useful, but I wish it were posted on something besides SlideShare. 1) It doesn't work on iPhone, and 2) SlideShare was trying to hook into my LinkedIn account, already is spamming me, etc. I'd recommend posting it on a public drive with a simple link.


Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on Feb 26, 2020 at 1:43 pm

David - I will provide a PDF file to the Editor and ask her to post a link to that file.


Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on Feb 27, 2020 at 8:07 am

UNtil the Almanac posts a link to the Citizen's Guide here is a no passowrd Dropbox link:

Web Link

"Influenza Pandemic Preparation and Response: A Citizen’s
Guide describes possible consequences of an influenza
pandemic, and makes it clear that individuals
and families can and must know what to do should
a pandemic occur. It also describes how those
with this knowledge can help to educate others
in the simple measures that will mitigate and limit
the negative impact of an influenza pandemic on
the world’s communities. Public health authorities
throughout the world agree that the responsibility
to respond to a public health emergency such
as pandemic influenza cannot be fully placed on
health workers and other primary responders, who
may themselves become incapacitated by illness
and death. It is thus each individual’s responsibility,
alone or collectively, to plan for and respond to
a pandemic in the home and/or in the community.
Influenza Pandemic Preparation and Response: A Citizen’s
Guide clearly describes, in lay terms, the actions that
each of us can take."

-David L. Heymann, M.D.
former World Health Organization, Executive Director, Communicable


Posted by Yep
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on Feb 27, 2020 at 9:53 am

I knew our friends would try to pin Covid 19 on Trump. Bet you’re glad you got the wall now!
Seriously though, thank you Peter. I’ve been in touch with several local schools and all have been emailing parents regarding their monitoring efforts. Once these docs make it to the school’s website and I can get a link I will post here.


Posted by Julia Brown, assistant editor
a resident of another community
on Feb 27, 2020 at 11:21 am

Here is a PDF version of the link: Web Link