Are you lucky enough to live in an area that has thought ahead and planned for how it will respond to a large-scale problem like those mentioned above? If that kind of planning has taken place, have you been educated about your role in the solution, and how to prepare your family for survival?

If you don't live in such an area, are you being proactive about planning for your family's survival? Such planning, whether done privately, at the community or county level, or at the state or national level, is important for the health and survival of all concerned.

It's easy to say that there isn't going to be a natural disaster in your area, that you are safe from hurricanes or tornadoes, from earth quakes or tsunamis, or from snow storms or other things that can cause road closures. It's easy to say there won't be a pandemic to threaten your life or lifestyle. But what if you're wrong? Are you prepared to live in isolation because the unthinkable happens? Will you be able to take proper care of your family in that situation? It's time to think about it, and act. That's the kind of preparedness I'm talking about.

The U.S. was impacted in December 2006 when Colorado was blanketed by two feet of snow. DIA, the international airport in Denver, was closed for days, stranding both travelers and packages. Roads were closed all over the state, impairing the delivery of food, merchandise, supplies and mail. Store chains that had warehouses in unaffected areas were able to get supplies other stores weren't. But I heard people all over the state commenting on how barren the store shelves were, as were their home shelves. People were anxious.

And what about people who subscribe to the "just in time" theory of stocking medicines and supplies? Were lives endangered because the much-needed drug didn't come quickly? Probably. And the effects weren't felt just in Colorado. People across the country rely on Colorado airspace and roads being open so they can get their food, merchandise, supplies and mail. There were lots of empty mailboxes, food shelves, and merchandise shelves beyond the Colorado borders.

Why am I making such a point of this one, isolated event? Because it's not so isolated, and we can anticipate other similar events happening. After Hurricane Katrina, oil supplies were reduced, impacting all of us. Food and water supplies were shifted to where Katrina Refugees were congregating. Building supplies faced a shortage because of the massive amounts of reconstruction going on. You didn't have to live in "hurricane country" to feel the effects of the hurricane. Or the snowstorm. Natural disaster affect larger areas than the immediately impacted location. Innocent bystanders are impacted. That sense of "innocent bystander impact" is what you need to plan for in regards to a pandemic.

What is a pandemic? The Wikipedia entry for pandemic says it is the outbreak of an infectious disease, aka epidemic, that spreads across a large region or even worldwide. According to WHO (the World Health Organization) there are three conditions that must be met before an outbreak is considered pandemic
    1. the emerging disease is new to the population
    2. the agent infects humans, causing serious illness
    3. the agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.
Being infectious is the key component of a pandemic, not just the widespread nature of it or the high death rate.

There have been pandemics for thousands of years, not unusually killing 25-50% of the population. The most well known U.S. pandemics are the:
    1. "Spanish Flu" from 1918-1919, killing 25-50 million worldwide with 500,000 people in the U.S. in six months
    2. "Asian Flu" from 1957-1958, causing an estimated 1-4 million deaths worldwide with 70,000 deaths in the U.S.
    3. "Hong Kong Flu" in 1968-1969, causing 750.000 people worldwide with 34,000 deaths in the U.S.
Through the centuries, pandemics have included plagues, cholera, influenza and typhus.

Is the norovirus a possible pandemic and thus something you want to be prepared for? My in-laws were isolated in their retirement community for several weeks because of a norovirus outbreak. It could happen to you too.

Perhaps the combination of fast action by health organizations, better hygiene and improved education are helping squelch pandemics before they do too much damage. Perhaps we've just been getting lucky with the more recent pandemics. But either way, are you willing to take a chance that a pandemic, or some other natural or human disaster, won't strike, leaving you unprepared?

So, what do you need to do to be prepared for such widespread events? Develop a plan for what you need to do and learn to take care of yourself. Create a larder of food and medicine basics, and water supplies if you can. And don't forget your pets. The biggest question is how much do you stockpile? Your personal storage space will dictate some of that answer, but essentially have as many emergency supplies as you can. strive for a two week supply at the very minimum. Maybe the crisis itself won't last that long, but it could take "the system" to get back into the swing of things enough to restock store shelves, and you don't want to be left without. If you have space for more supplies than two weeks, stock even more.

Start with buying non-perishable supplies every time you go shopping, a can here and three there. Buy items when they are on sale and slowly build your supplies until your storage space is full. And be sure to write the purchase date on the item so you can rotate your inventory to keep things as fresh as possible. In addition to food items, remember paper and cleaning supplies, vitamins and medicines, first aid and hygiene supplies, and batteries. There's a certain comfort from knowing you can survive with what you have on hand, should you be restricted to your home for a period of time.

You may not think a pandemic is likely to hit your community, but what about other natural disasters? Will you be prepared when the inevitable happens to you?