Swine Flu, what to stock and what to do

Ok, so you have swine flu in your area, here are a few things to think about.
One, you may decide to self quarantine or for some reason you could be placed under quarantine.
You will want to have food, water, medicines, (expecially prescription drugs) stocked up and on hand.
You'll want to have feminine hygine items and other toiletries.
Most often when it comes to those things, you will probably have enough on hand to last a while anyway. So, if you are strapped for cash and need to make your money count, take stock of what is already on hand before going to the store.
You'll want some bottled water.
Here's a tip about that. Save your soft drink bottles, rinse them out and fill them with water.
Soft drink bottles are excellent for water storage. You will need to figure a gal. a day per person in you home or group.

The reason water should be included in swine flu prepping is in the event that the grid goes down from absenteeism, you won't be caught without water.

As for stocking up food for this type of prepping you'll want to buy and stock things that you like to eat!
If you don't like beans, don't buy 50 lbs. of pinto beans!
For flu prepping, you'll want easy to prepare foods that require little or no cooking. This is in case you get sick and are too ill to cook.
Soups are a great item to stock for flu.
Buy also some Gatorade or other electrolyte type drinks or drink mixes. You'll need to stay hydrated if you become ill.
Put some Popsicles in the freezer. They can help you stay hydrated if you are sick.
Try and avoid dairy products while running a fever.

As for how many months to prep for, there are all kinds of estimates from 3-18 months.
I'd go with 3 months at this time and if you can get together 3 months of supplies you can add to it later if things go well.

Here's a sample list for you to use and add to or change depending on your needs.

for 2 people, if you are eating 3 meals a day that is 6 meals a day for 90 days, that comes to 540 meals.
add to that snacks and drinks and you get an idea of how much food you will want to have on hand.
Most importantly is to not get overwhelmed with the amount of food, just start right away and but some extra food and begin building your pantry.

You'll want to pay special attention to canned foods that can stay good without refrigeration.

canned soups or stews
crackers
oatmeal
Bottled water
Gatorade mix
Instant tea or coffee
sweetener
favorite comfort foods
(think about easy to eat food you'd give to someone if they were sick)
scrambled eggs are good too so you might want to make sure you have some eggs in the fridge
they will keep for quite a while under refrigeration.

If you are quarantined without illness in your home you food choices can be expanded but make sure you have sick-time foods.
Easy to eat, easy to get to, easy to prepare.

These are just a few main things to shoot for immediately.
Use your head, don't waste your money on things you hate to eat but also buy with an eye to ease of storage and shelf life. You want to get the most bang for your buck too.

There are some other things you'll want to get to make life easier if you are stuck in you house for awhile.

you'll need cash or funds for bills.
light bulbs
batteries for radio and flashlight
Lysol
Listerine
bleach
vinyl or latex gloves
N95 dust masks
paper towels
toilet tissue
soap
feminine items
toothpaste
vitamins
Tylenol
(don't take or give aspirin to a person running a fever, especially children, it can cause Rhys syndrome)


I'm going to add more to this this afternoon when I get all my ducks in a row.
I'll have something about caring for someone if they should get the flu and you are looking after them.

hope this helps get you started.

love,
mom a.k.a. Nanna