Disaster Preparedness

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as part of my faith (and part common sense), i have prepared food, water, and supplies in the case of a natural disaster. i am not talking about a bomb shelter stocked with guns, 10 years of food, and gas masks or anything. just enough to care for my son and myself for up to 6 months in case something were to happen and the "cavalry" was unable/unwilling to come help (i.e. katrina).

obviously health care would be a major issue in a situation like that. do any of you nurses stock medical supplies for disaster-type emergencies? if so, what? for drugs, do you get the scripts from your primary care physical after explaining your intention for the drugs or do you ask a [color=#244061]colleague from work?

thanks!

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.
i am not talking about a bomb shelter stocked with guns, 10 years of food, and gas masks or anything.

why not?

if shtf and you actually began subsisting on the stores of food & supplies you're asking about how long will it take for the people around you to notice how well you seem to be doing?

if you can't protect it or yourself then you are just storing stuff other people will be using after they take it from you.

katrina demonstrated just how fragile the infrastructure can be. it really doesn't take much to disrupt things and social order to decay around you.

my wife always laughs at me for "zombie" preparedness. i laugh at her because she doesn't know what i mean by "zombies". those that are totally dependent upon the government to bail them out of any and all crises will come for you and your stores of food. will you then be prepared or will you just have wasted your time and money?

readytogo.jpgreadytogo.jpg

.... chance favors the prepared mind. :D

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I think all mom's think alike- I have diapers, wipes, canned food, and canned milk/powedered milk stored, because you never know. It is better to be prepared, but I am not over paranoid about it either. I just want to make sure my kids are fed in the event of an emergency. I am not sure about your question, there are people at my college that study stuff like this, and how to go about these kind of major decisions. On a family level, I would always make sure that you have a back up supply of medications.

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Specializes in ER, ICU.

I have to agree with Mr. Ammo, if you're really preparing for six months of civil unrest you'd better prepare for everything. There are many OTC drugs that would be worth having. If you live near Mexico you can buy many prescription drugs, like Cipro, over the counter there.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

What an interesting thread.

I live in hurricane country - so prolonged 'disaster situations' are a very real possiblity for us .. not just a theoretical exercise. It's understood that everyone has a 'family plan' to cover at least 4 days of subsistence - including meds, water, food, etc. Most of us have at least one generator so we can cope with power outages as long as gasoline is available. Many newer houses are being built with full-house generator backup systems these days.

To be honest, I have never once considered the possiblity of hunkering down in my own bunker. Instead, I am part of my community disaster network - designed to ensure that everyone is taken care of. Case in point - within 6 hours after Hurricane Ike's direct hit on Houston, we were mobilized into community response teams... distributing supplies & water to those who needed them. Even the major pharmacy chains established quick-response centers, dispensing interim meds to people until they could obtain a renewal of their regular prescriptions. Since any true 'disaster' would also entail loss of power (air conditioning & refrigeration) I wonder about the wisdom of trying to maintain a stockpile of meds under these conditions.

I'll admit, I'm an optimist. I have been through enough wide-area disaster situations in which I witnessed the fact that people generally become more caring and altruistic - they don't turn into savages.

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Thanks for posting the ammo pic! I have thought about preparing to defend myself with weapons but the thought of guns in my home scares me. Don't get me wrong, I totally respect the right to bear arms but there are so many scary stories of children and teens playing with the guns and killing themselves or a friend accidentally. I know an acquaintance through church this happened to. His young son was playing with his gun that was left out and killed himself accidentally. Yes, it was a tragic error but one that occurs too often. Please don't misunderstand, I am sure you are vigilant about making sure your guns are secure. Who knows, when I feel it is the right time, I might buy a gun to secure my family.

I didn't think about keeping the meds cold but that is a good point. Refridgeration would be non existent. However tablet/capsule form of medication could be stored easily.

About people not becoming savages, I have to disagree to a certain extent. Although people not affected by Katrina were altruistic, the situation after the flood was a state of panic. Although most of the people were not harming anyone, just wanting help, a few did make savage choices to stay alive or just to hurt others. My ex-husband is a powerline worker and saw a man shoot his sister over a bag of ice in Mississippi after Katrina. These kinds of stories were rare but if a disaster were to occur and help was not coming, there would probably be more stories like this.

Story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9063708/38454087

If any of you watch The Colony on discovery chanel, it is quite scary what the world could come to. Thanks for all the replies so far.

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