Panhandle Health District
8500 N. Atlas Road Hayden, Idaho 83835
www.phd1.idaho.gov
May 29, 2009
By Cynthia Taggart
Panhandle Health District
The Novel H1N1 influenza virus, first called swine flu, yanked the state’s attention to Kootenai County in early May. A Kootenai County woman was Idaho’s first confirmed case of H1N1 flu and Kootenai County residents immediately flocked to local stores for protective facemasks and hand sanitizer. Some people even stocked up on food and water so they could stay home if the virus permeated the area.
On a national scale, people told pollsters that H1N1 prompted them to wash their hands more diligently to prevent infection and some said they stayed home sick from work and school with symptoms they typically ignored.
A virus is never desirable, but H1N1 inspired people to act on wisdom they’d heard from the public health world for years, and everyone was better off for it. Now the trick is continuing that behavior as the public’s alarm over H1N1 diminishes.
“We need to stay ready,” Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said this week. “We do expect H1N1 to return. We’re strengthening our planning for the surge of illness we expect in the fall.”
H1N1 was accommodating enough to provide northern Idaho a trial run without causing much damage. We’d be foolish to ignore its lessons.
Planning ahead tops the lesson list. Emergency preparation at home makes sense for a wide variety of dilemmas. A stockpile of food, water, supplies and medications will help during any extended illness or injury, whether it’s pandemic flu or broken bones from a bike crash. What a relief to know you can take care of yourself without leaving home for weeks, if you need to.
That stockpile will enable you to stay out of crowded stores during a flu outbreak and ensure you supplies during the public’s panic runs on stores. Even during H1N1, people were in the news complaining about store shelves emptied of hand sanitizer.
An emergency stockpile of food and daily essentials also serves as a sort of safety net if you lose your job or your family runs into hard times.
In emergencies such as some toxic chemical spills, staying home with the doors and windows sealed may be the best protection. A well-provisioned stockpile will enable you to stay indoors comfortably until the “Shelter in Place” recommendation is lifted. Will you want to risk the health of your family because the spill hit when you’re out of groceries?
Health officials believe the likelihood is good that H1N1 will return after the warm weather. The public is familiar with the virus now and has some idea what to expect, although history indicates the virus may gain in virulence by fall.
Schools in plenty of states closed this spring as H1N1 spread from student to student. Idaho so far has been spared, but people here have seen in the media what H1N1 can do. Has your family planned what to do with the kids when schools are closed for an extended time but worksites remain open?
People with symptoms or confirmed cases of H1N1 infection were advised to stay home for seven days or longer if the symptoms persisted. Do you keep enough food, medications and supplies, including pet food and baby items, at home to stay out of public contact for at least a week?
H1N1 taught many people to protect themselves and others by washing their hands more often and making certain they cover their coughs and sneezes. Turning those behaviors into lifelong habits will help protect you and your family from any number of illnesses.
H1N1 pointed northern Idaho to the tools it needs to help survive a community emergency. Now we have to put those tools to work.
For preparedness guidance, visit www.Ready.gov or www.PandemicFlu.gov.