I was looking the the other Disaster/Pandemic thread that Florida1 started. She mentioned that after the hurricanes, that they had problems getting basic supplies and food stores were often closed for weeks after the storm.
That concerns me. I wonder in case of disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and pandemics if the nurses who work in the area have problems like that. I'd be worried about leaving my family if there was no heat or electric. After loosing electric in the ice storms in the Carolinas a few years back, my husband bought us a generator. I try to keep enough gas stored so that I could run that and maybe have an extra tank of gas for getting back and forth to work, if things were shut down. I never want to wait in the cold on those gas lines again; or have to risk driving around to find necessities!
What disasters have you been through? What lessons did you learn about what things would make life easier if it happens again to you? What can we learn from your experience, and how can we prepare for so we dont have to go through th esame problems you did?
Where there any sepcial tricks or issues that came up that helped you at work? Any special problems that nurses in disasters face?
I have a confession- my home first aid kit is pretty anemic right now :) DH burned his hand prety badly at work last week. I hadnt checked my kit in awhile, and was shocked to see how low I was on some stuff. I only had one roll banfage and had to make a run to WallyWorld the next day! If the stores were shut or the roads iced in or otherwise impassible that would have been an issue. Maybe not life threatening- but its a small example of how not being well prepared can be a problem.
I'd have been so embarrased to admit to hubby I couldnt take care of it, or come thru when he needed me to.
What do you do to prepare? I'm going to restock my kit, and get some more OTC stuff to keep on hand too. What else should I be thinking about?
