The “window of opportunity” to contain and prevent the spread of #Coronavirus has closed in many places. Sustained, community person-to-person transmission has already been established. It is growing in many cities, regions, towns, and countries. This requires a shift in our thinking, and behaviour, to minimize the risks, harms, and poor outcomes for us, our loved ones, and our communities. This is the time to be practical, strategic, and focused on planning and getting prepared to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, and communities.
Preparing for a pandemic is essentially the same as preparing for any serious, or catastrophic emergency. Because this concerns public and personal health we need to make some additional plans related to providing for our health care needs, or those we also care for, and trying to minimize, and decrease risks associated with viral transmission.
At this point, my focus is on getting information and resources to people, as we may need to manage all manner of things on our own, in our local communities. It is important to not let fear and anxiety get in the way of solution-focused planning and enhancing our resilience for dealing with and managing the emergency situations, and increase survival rates.
It is also crucial that people take personal responsibility for planning and readiness for themselves, and their loved ones. In crisis situations, people who haven't prepared will encounter more problems, and may not be able to have a successful and sustainable way of managing, or even surviving, what life is throwing at them.
Emergency Preparedness Planning: Stocking up on Water, Food and Other supplies
- Water – Ensure you have enough for every member of your household for an extended period of time. 72 hours is a good start, but think longer-term.
- Fresh, canned, and packaged foods – Prioritize having proteins, vegetables, fruit, especially antioxidant-rich foods.
- First aid kits – Fully stocked, prepared for any medical emergency with the resources you may need. Take a First Aid & CPR course as part of your planning.
- Food and supplies for your pets, including medications, if required.
- Medications – Ensure you have several months worth of medications for those who need them.
- Over-the-counter cold/flu & cough medicines for adults and children – You may be on your own to manage the symptoms. Fortunately, the current research is that approximately 81% of cases are mild.
- Sanitation management - Plan ways to manage garbage, food waste, and other sanitary and hygiene issues if regular pick ups stop for a time. Consider a way to burn paper items, and how to manage liquid and solid waste in emergency situations.
Heat - Depending on where we live, being able to have a source of heat may be a survival priority. Fireplaces, heaters, blankets, and other ways to keep warm may become very important.- Light sources – Flashlights, candles, matches, lanterns. Batteries of different kinds.
- Ability to cook without electricity – Whether that is a BBQ, Coleman stove, or over an open fire, make sure you have a way to cook hot food.
- Food Storage – Have a way to secure and store your food, and a way to keep it fresh and cold, and out of reach of animals, if that becomes necessary.
- Cleaning, Toilet and Laundry Supplies – Ensure you have bleach, bleach wipes, paper towels, and any other cleaning, and laundry supplies you need. Toilet paper is essential. Face tissues to help manage symptoms.
- Masks and plastic gloves – N95 masks may help decrease the transmission of COVID-19 for those who have it. There isn’t evidence-based research that says they help people not get it. Plastic gloves can help potentially decrease risk associated with touching surfaces that could be infected, or when caring for others who may be ill.
- Create a File Folder with Your Important Documents – Ensure you have your passport, identification, copies of your Power of Attorney, Will, and any other personal and financial planning documents arranged for your loved ones. Tell trusted others where these can be found.
- Planning for your children and vulnerable adults – If you have children, elderly, and/or vulnerable loved ones, ensure there is a safety plan for who will provide care and support for them in the event of something happening to you. Go over the plan with your loved ones, and extended family.
- Ensure a trusted person can care for you/your children/vulnerable dependents financially – This can be done formally, through personal and financial planning documents. Informal plans should also be in place in the case of you not being able to take care of your children/vulnerable dependents financially. See Nidus for more information and templates for personal, health care, and financial planning.
- Prepare for Special health needs – If you, or family members have any special health conditions, and needs, ensure you have a document that explains what the conditions and needs are in a simple, straightforward way, including instructions for medications, procedures, or any special needs.
- General and Manual Supplies – Can openers; scissors, exacto knives/cutting instruments; have supplies for anything you might need that requires equipment, and consider what you would need if you had no electricity for a time.
- Have cash on hand – If banks, or the banking system wasn’t working, ensure you have enough money on hand to buy supplies.
- “Grab and Go” bag/tote – If you had to leave your home/location quickly, having a grab & go bag/tote ready with essential supplies is important.
- Buy an Emergency Kit – It may be worth the money to invest in an emergency kit.
- Things to Occupy & Entertain – Children, teens, and adults will need something to do with their time. Books, games, puzzles, toys, cards, or any other things that will help people have a focus, or be entertained is a good thing.
- Substances – You may want to ensure you have a supply of your “substances of choice” on hand. If that means a few bottles of wine, cannabis, or other things. I don’t endorse using these as a way of coping, but an emergency isn’t the time to realize you really need caffeine to survive/its not a good time to detox from anything.
- Supplies for Quality of Life – There are all things we don’t need in emergency situations, but things we use that improve or enhance our quality of life in some way. Ensure you have a supply of the things that do this for you. This could be as simple as personal hygiene products, such as toothpaste, deodorant,
- Mental Health Care & Support – Anxiety, fear, panic, and trauma for children, youth, adults, vulnerable people, and pets are real. In times of emergency, being able to have/share connection, care, and support with others enables our resilience to flourish, and can help us tap into our internal strengths and resources, which we can then share with others.
- Connect with others at a neighbourhood & community level – Individual, family, and community resilience are enhanced when we find/create ways to connect with
- Get Your Garden On! – Local food security/access to food is often one of the major impacts of emergencies. Even if you have never gardened before in your life, if you have any green space in your yard, have a patio, or anywhere that has good exposure to sunlight obtain gardening supplies (pots/containers; soil, seeds, or “starts” (young plants) and get planting. Also connect with other local community gardeners/farmers. Sharing of seeds, tips, and other resources are all things we can do to boost local food security and community resilience.
- Build Local/Neighbourhood Capacity & Resources – Having access to tools, experienced and knowledgeable people all help boost local responses, and help shift things from what might be a negative situation, to a more hopeful, positive, and strengthening experience.
- Volunteer & Connect – Assess the safety risks in your area and consider finding ways to volunteer and help others out, or your neighbourhood. Check on vulnerable neighbours. Share helpful, factual information through your interactions with others.
Additional Resources
Preparing a Family Emergency Kit in Plain English video
Emergency Supply List from FEMA: https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1390846764394-dc08e309debe561d866b05ac84daf1ee/checklist_2014.pdf
Your Emergency Preparedness Guide – An excellent printable resource to get your important information and plan down on paper. Discuss and include all members of your family so they know what the plan is, and review it.
Link: https://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/yprprdnssgd/index-en.aspx
Prepare for An Emergency from the Government of
Canada:
Link: https://www.getprepared.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx
Get Your Kit Together Videos: Emergency Kits for Home, Work, Older Adults & Kids; Grab & Go kit:
Link: crd.bc.ca/prepare-yourself
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/prepareyourselfca
Nidus Personal, Health, and Personal Planning in British Columbia
(templates)
Link: https://www.nidus.ca/
How to Prepare for Death Needs – Catastrophic emergencies leave
families struggling to cope with their grief, as well as the practical needs to
make arrangements for the death, cremation, and/or funerals for loved ones. One
of the most important things we can take responsibility for our
proactive planning while we're still here to make these arrangements. This also
reduces stress, strain, and struggle for our loved ones.
This BC website outlines how we can receive support for this planning.
Check to see if your province/state/territory has anything similar by googling:
'memorial society planning [your area]'.
People’s Memorial Society of BC & Vancouver Island Memorial Society
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