Deadly Swine Flu Outbreak

[Sundae]

It's already making headlines here.
Yawn, yawn - the NHS Trusts will have to waste time and money answering media questions, reassuring the public, drawing up plans in the event of a pandemic...

We had it with ebola, a flu pandemic, SARS, avian flu... now we go through it all again.

I was interested and concerned originally. Now I'm tired of it already. Sorry, how many have died? Less than in an hour from hunger in some parts of the world? Okay, I'll zone out for a bit then.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

We had it with ebola, a flu pandemic, SARS, avian flu... now we go through it all again.

B-b-b-but... what are you going to do? You can't just continue to live your life!

I stopped taking this seriously when I was forced by my company to sit in on a DHS presentation back in '08 concerning business continuity in times of disaster. I found it a bit odd that despite giving this presentation in Florida, they didn't once talk about the obvious issue: hurricanes. Instead, they spent a full hour talking mostly about what the world was going to be when the bird flu hit and how we were to prepare for it. The usual two weeks of supplies, we were told, would not be enough and so we would have to plan for a possible full 3 months of being disconnected and shut in our houses and away the outside. Two medical respirators per person per day would be needed, along with all prescription drugs, food, and water needed for the entire duration of just one wave of the disease. "Tuna and spam", the DHS rep said, were perfect because the low profile cans would "enable you to fit many cases of it under your bed." 3 months of all supplies was the minimum, 6 was the suggested.

Right.

That presentation was when I realized how fucked up and unrealistic it all is. The same agency that told me to seal up a safe room with duct tape and plastic so that I could suffocate to death in the event of a bioterror attack on my home town was trying to suggest I needed to stock up a half year's worth of canned meat and clean out my local Home Depot of N95 dust masks while not once ever suggesting I consider the ramifications of living and working just six miles from the Gulf of Mexico or have a plan in place for when the next major storm arcs in off of Cuba and turns the area into a gigantic sand bar.

Disaster preparedness, indeed. Were we not living above limestone aquifers, I would expect them to suggest constructing a backyard bunker to live in perpetuum to protect against all threats. Wouldn't want to take any chances, would we?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

I stopped taking this seriously when I was forced by my company to sit in on a DHS presentation back in '08 concerning business continuity in times of disaster. I found it a bit odd that despite giving this presentation in Florida, they didn't once talk about the obvious issue: hurricanes.

Yabut, doesn't everyone in Florida already know about hurricanes? If they started telling you about them wouldn't most Floridians start yawning?

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Yabut, doesn't everyone in Florida already know about hurricanes? If they started telling you about them wouldn't most Floridians start yawning?

I think you'd be really surprised at how most people here react when a storm threatens. The stores get slammed, everything sells out, and people don't evacuate. Generators, food, and plywood are fought over like they were items people didn't know existed until the day before. People hoard gasoline, stations go dry. Bottled water, of all things, actually flies off the shelves and people panic when there isn't any. They act like they wouldn't be able to do anything other buy Dasani to prepare no matter how many times the news tells them to fill bathtubs, get water out of the hot water heater or, you know, just fill up containers with water from the tap before landfall. I've seen people resort to cartloads full of Diet Coke and Gatorade once the last of the gallon jugs of distilled water are gone.

My company still doesn't have a proper disaster recovery plan for a hurricane even though we talk about it every year, usually around June 1st. For the first couple years I worked in this department, they told me they were simply going to back up everything to tape and put them with me on a plane bound for Texas 12 hours before landfall. ...which, you know, might be difficult when the airport shuts down well before that time, not to mention that no one would be too interested in leaving their family behind during a major evacuation just to ensure that company data stayed dry. Today, we push data over the network and cross our fingers before everyone gets the hell out of town.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

It's already making headlines here.
Yawn, yawn - the NHS Trusts will have to waste time and money answering media questions, reassuring the public, drawing up plans in the event of a pandemic...

We had it with ebola, a flu pandemic, SARS, avian flu... now we go through it all again.

I was interested and concerned originally. Now I'm tired of it already. Sorry, how many have died? Less than in an hour from hunger in some parts of the world? Okay, I'll zone out for a bit then.

Originally Posted by Kitsune

B-b-b-but... what are you going to do? You can't just continue to live your life!

I stopped taking this seriously when I was forced by my company to sit in on a DHS presentation back in '08 concerning business continuity in times of disaster.

Disaster preparedness, indeed. Were we not living above limestone aquifers, I would expect them to suggest constructing a backyard bunker to live in perpetuum to protect against all threats. Wouldn't want to take any chances, would we?

I don't think you're the lone shoulder shrugger Jill