Prepping for the Seriously Ill and Infirm

If you are an average healthy person with enough money to prep and enough time to practice, you will be at the top of the food chain when it comes to a SHTF scenario.  If you, or someone you love, however is seriously ill or infirm, you have a lot of extra work to do to get prepared.  Here's how:

• If you have babies, consider what you would need as far as extra preps go.  Stockpiling diapers and formula?  Adding an assortment of children's medicine to your first aid kit?  Purchasing cloth diapers to use in an emergency?
• If you wear glasses or contacts, do you have a spare pair of glasses in your BOB?
• If you need hearing aids, consider stocking up on batteries and, when you get a new pair, tuck away your old hearing aids, along with a quantity of batteries, for use in a disaster should your new hearing aids become damaged.
• If you wear dentures, again, consider tucking away your old pair for use during an emergency should your newer pair break.  Obviously this isn't ideal as the structure of your mouth changes over time making your old dentures virtually unusable but it is better than nothing.  Note that dentures can and do break but they can usually be super glued back together for a temporary fix.  Also, consider implants which are less likely to break and have a longer lifespan.
• If you need prescription medication, ask you doctor for a 90 or 120 day prescription and be sure to renew your prescriptions early so you will always have enough meds to see you through an extra few weeks.  Be sure to put some of your medications in your EDC and BOB in case you need them and are not home to access your usual medications.  Also, keep a list of your medications (names, dosages, copies of prescriptions) in your wallet in case you are evacuated without your meds and need to get new prescriptions.
• If you suffer from severe allergies, consider stockpiling a few EpiPens, asthma inhalers, etc.  Note that these can be expensive and expire rather quickly.  If your doctor will write you a prescription and teach you to draw your own Epi you may be in a more favorable position.
• If you require insulin which must be refrigerated, consider you options beforehand and plan accordingly.  Purchasing a 12-volt cooler which can be plugged into your vehicle may be an option.
• If you require oxygen, ask your doctor about your options.  You can store additional tanks of oxygen, you can ask your local Department of Emergency Management or hospital disaster coordinator if they have contingency plans for providing oxygen during a disaster, you can get a portable oxygen concentrator but note that these still require you to be able to charge the battery so consider how you would do this if the power goes out (car charger? generator?).
• If you require critical care and will literally die if a disaster happens and your power goes out (ie: on a ventilator) consider installing a back-up generator and stockpiling extra fuel.  Again, ask your doctor/hospital disaster coordinator/department of emergency management for preparedness options up to and including pre-evacuation before a possible disaster.
• If you require other kinds of critical care (such as dialysis) and will literally die if you are unable to access medical care during a disaster, consider your option.  Obviously pre-evacuating prior to a possible disaster such as a hurricane or tornado is a good idea.  Also, ask your local department of emergency management about Special Needs Shelters, where they will be located, and how to access them.
• Put together a local team.  People who are ill or infirm, mentally ill, or physically debilitated need a team of people to help them out after a disaster.  Able-bodied people who can help extricate someone in a wheel chair after their house falls down due to an earthquake are an important part of the team.  A neighbor who can check on an elderly person to make sure their needs are taken care of before and after a disaster is also important.  Pre-planning is absolutely  necessary when it comes to caring for people who are ill or infirm and cannot take care of themselves before, during or after a disaster.

For additional information on preparing with a serious illness or infirmity, go here, here, and here.

What to Do If You Get Sick

With sickness being so much in the news these days (Ebola, enterovirus, a mystery neurological disease, etc), the prospect of becoming ill has become a whole new level of scary (especially if you have kids).  Here's what to do if you become ill:

• Isolate yourself (call in sick to work, stay home, don't go shopping or out in public, etc).
• Monitor your symptoms (using a notebook if necessary to record dates, times, symptoms)
• Determine if you need to see a doctor or go to the emergency room (ideally your medical provider has a nurse on call where you can report your symptoms and receive medical advice).
• If you are in distress by all means go to them hospital (symptoms such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, extremely high temperature, stroke, severe bleeding, severe burns, eye injuries, broken bones, etc. mean you should go to the hospital ASAP). 
• If you have reason to suspect that you have been exposed to an infectious disease (ie: traveling from an Ebola outbreak area) call your doctor and/or 911 and explain your symptoms and the reason you think you may be contagious (this will help providers get you safely to the hospital without for example, the patient taking a bus to the hospital and possibly exposing others to the disease).
• Follow your doctor's advice for treating your illness (ie: if your doctor says you don't need antibiotics, don't demand them).
• Have the basic supplies on hand to treat your symptoms (aspirin, Tylenol, Thera-Flu, a thermometer, kleenex, decongestant, etc).
• Use some old fashioned methods to speed your healing (drink plenty of water, rest as much as possible, have some chicken soup, etc).

Your Sick Kit

Now that we are starting to get prepared based on most likely disaster scenario (financial emergency) to least likely scenario (TEOTWAWKI...and yes, we will get to this), it's time to put together a "sick kit" as it is nearly a sure bet that you or someone in your family will end up with anyything from the common cold to the flu this season and, of course, you want to be prepared.

• Your emergency fund, is, of course, necessary to your sick kit.  A week off work, flat on your back with the flu and no sick leave will probably require the use of this fund.
• Stockpile some canned soup (when you feel like crap, you don't feel like cooking so soup is a good alternative).  Soup is cheap and can be stored for years.  Ditto for ginger tea and other home remedies that you use when you are sick (ie: you don't want to drag your infectious carcass out to the grocery store when you have a 102 degree temperature so prepare ahead).
• Get a basic first aid kit together (more on putting together a comprehensive first aid kit in a future post).  The basics for your "sick kit" include a thermometer, Tylenol, cough drops, acidophilous, and Thera flu (I swear by this stuff).  Cold and flu relief usually falls to symptom relief so store the medications that can relieve your cold and flu symptoms like decongestants, aspirin, etc.
• Stockpile a half dozen boxes of Kleenex (you may rarely ever use Kleenex but when you come down with the common cold, you can run through boxes of them)
• Practice good hygiene ahead of time.  A lot of avoiding cold or flu germs involves avoidance of sick people.  Don't touch your face/eyes/nose/mouth with your unclean hands.  Stand a bit distant from people who are coughing/sneezing/etc.  Wash your hands regularly and often with soap and water.  Be aware that the stuff you touch (office phone, keyboard, etc) can have other people's cold germs on it.
• Live a basically healthy life that can help you avoid getting sick in the first place: plenty of rest, exercise, nutritious food, etc.
• Get a flu shot, especially if you are in a high-risk category (a teacher, a nurse, etc)
• If you have a chronic health condition, ask your doctor how to prepare for a cold or the flu (diabetics and others with serious health conditions will need to take more care when they get sick)
• Get professional help if needed.  For the majority of people, the only thing you can do when you are sick is to let the virus run its course, however, if you are REALLY REALLY sick you should seek emergency help (this includes having shortness of breath, severe headache, chest pain, symptoms that go on for an extended period of time, or other severe symptoms)

Let's Prepare for...Getting Sick

Hopefully you won't get sick this cold and flu season, but you should be prepared for that eventuality nonetheless.  Here's some things you can do to prepare for that possibility:

• Get a flu shot.
• Add some extra money to your emergency fund (especially if you don't get paid sick leave).
• Put together a "sick kit".  Include a thermometer, cough drops, Thera Flu, Tylenol, Sudafed, a box of Kleenex, Zinc lozenges, a bottle of Vitamin C, acidophilous tablets, Carmex, Vicks Vapo-rub, and some echinacea, 
• Put together a small stock of food that you would want to eat and drink if you get sick: canned soup, Pedialite, Gatoraid, teabags, etc.
• Have a small stock of these germ-buster products: nitrile gloves, face masks, Clorox wipes.
• If you have children add children's pain reliever/fever reducer to your sick kit.  Also keep on hand coloring books and crayons as well as other activities that children can do while they are recuperating.
• Know that the best way to treat your average cold or flu is to rest quietly and sleep as much as possible.  Don't forget to stay hydrated which is also very curative.
• If you get sick and have a chronic illness which requires daily medication, be sure to ask your doctor what to do in the event that you either vomit up your medication or forget to take it.  Ditto if you are taking birth control pills.
• Don't automatically reach for an antibiotic if you become ill.  Many of these seasonal illnesses are caused by viruses not bacteria so an antibiotic won't help (unless you have strep throat which is a bacterial infection).  Overusing antibiotics encourages antibiotic-resistant infections and illnesses. 
• For a severe case of the flu which causes a very high fever, dehydration, severe dizziness, shortness of breath, or other life-threatening symptoms, don't hesitate to call 911 or go to the emergency room.