Many parents are busy with back-to-school shopping, helping their kids settle into college or making sure upcoming school activities are on the family calendar.
While you’re in the planning mode, consider getting ready for the H1N1 flu.
A second wave of the flu is expected to hit this fall. No one knows, however, how mild or severe it may be.
The best policy is to be prepared for the worst. If you wait until the flu arrives, it may be too late to make adequate preparations.
George Steckert, manager of disaster response for Gettysburg Hospital, recommends the following actions:
- Plan for schools and daycares to close. Arrange for alternative child care now. Make sure it promotes social distancing (don’t have one neighbor watch all the kids on the block).
- Develop a communication network so that family members can be accounted for and cared for in an emergency. Know how to contact each other when family members are at work or school. This communication plan will serve you well in any disaster.
- Plan for in-home care for family members who contact the flu. The fewer people caring for the ill, the better. Select family members as caregivers who have the fewest underlying medical issues. Sick individuals should be isolated or separated from other family members, if possible.
- Plan for pharmacies to be overwhelmed and for their supply chains to be interrupted. Refill prescription medicines as soon as insurance allows. Don’t wait until the last minute to refill.
- Accumulate extra food and other necessities at home. You can get more information on emergency supply kits at www.readypa.org; www.ready.gov or www.redcross.org.
Even if the second wave of the H1N1 flu is rather mild, your preparation efforts won’t be wasted.
