Prepping

[finsntins]

yeah,cause all the panic monger jackwagons bought them all.along with all the tp!!!!!!

[Sk8man]

Basic preparation for emergency situations is a rational process and this situation shouldn't be the mechanism for starting to think about it. You can't count on the government at any level to cover your butt if the crap hits the fan.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Sk8man

[lost a lure]

Sit back and watch Fox News. Everything will be fine.

[Dusty]

[Jimmyi]

Just got home from work a little while ago.  We sold more pistol and rifle ammo today than ever before.  A lot of first time gun buyers also.  It was insane.

[jimski2]

The stock market crash of 1929 caused a "Depression" that lasted years. Unemployment caused lines at soup kitchens. Unemployed youth were desperate for income and crime was rampant. Police officers were laid off. The time for a firearm in every home has come so be prepared. Yet goofball politicians are running for office on gun control laws on all parties. You are now 911,  Protect your family and home. Catch and release fishing will be over, you will need fish to feed your family. Ninety per cent of our seafood is imported and that will end shortly. Be prepared for tough times. Those old men running for office now do not have a clue,just listen to their speeches. Maybe they will catch the flu and our government will be run by younger people who will be around in the future.

[Norm Moser]

I was in the store yesterday morning and the place was just about cleaned out. there was a guy that had a cart full of toilet paper it was so high you could not see over it, i said to him man you must go a lot ,he smiled and said he was stocking up to sell on ebay later at 3 times the price and that he had all kinds of stuff cleaners, sprays. so I told him man its a good thing you have all the toilet paper because your the biggest  A hole I have ever seen.  people a Nuts. A country boy can survive.

[Outdoor Lover]

Isn't this how "Planet Of The Apes" started???

[garrymny]

Eight years ago I bought a book about Prepping. It's called The End of The World as we know it. TEOTWAWKIT. It described exactly what is happening right now, with a pandemic, an attack, EMP, whatever, in the opening chapter. The author called it the "big machine" that we all rely on to keep running smoothly. I urge you to get the book. Yes, I took it seriously for a few years, even got a "deep larder" of food that will keep 20 years, etc. Then I got complacent. Now I'm realizing how that was a mistake. Prepare my fellow citizens, we cannot depend on the big machine.

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[pjprod]

Here is a good read: The world has gone crazy!!

 

You are here: Home / Health / Health Portal Notes / Letter from Toronto: An Infectious Diseases Specialist Reflects on COVID-19

Letter from Toronto: An Infectious Diseases Specialist Reflects on COVID-19

March 10, 2020 by Letter to Editor

Email

Editor’s Note From the pages of Facebook:

I’m a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis,TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria…there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared.

I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19.

What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic, stockpiling obscene quantities of anything that could fill a bomb shelter adequately in a post-apocalyptic world. I am scared of the N95 masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers and instead are being donned in airports, malls, and coffee lounges, perpetuating even more fear and suspicion of others. I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed with anyone who thinks they ” probably don’t have it but may as well get checked out no matter what because you just never know…” and those with heart failure, emphysema, pneumonia and strokes will pay the price for overfilled ER waiting rooms with only so many doctors and nurses to assess.

I am scared that travel restrictions will become so far reaching that weddings will be canceled, graduations missed and family reunions will not materialize. And well, even that big party called the Olympic Games…that could be kiboshed too. Can you even imagine?

I’m scared those same epidemic fears will limit trade, harm partnerships in multiple sectors, business and otherwise and ultimately culminate in a global recession.

But mostly, I’m scared about what message we are telling our kids when faced with a threat. Instead of reason, rationality, open-mindedness and altruism, we are telling them to panic, be fearful, suspicious, reactionary and self-interested.

Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.

I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.

Facts not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts.

Our children will thank us for it.

Dr. Abdhu Sharkawy

[Sk8man]

Wonderful summary Thanks for posting it

[Kingfisher06]

Crock of crap letter.

Worried you'll cancel weddings, graduations, and family reunions while ensuring the reader the spread is nowhere near over. The cognitive dissonance in this rambling is astounding. If you are running around scared as a grown man-waiting in a 100 yard line before Costco opens to shove your 4 sq ft shopping cart with 7 sq ft of toilet paper, then yes, be scared of your own stupidity. Being prepared is a community service. It allows one to be calm, check in on the elderly, and have control. Preemptive closures of schools is the first priority-that flattens the infection rate curve allowing hospitals staff/infrastructure to treat the very ill and keep themselves from being overwhelmed. The people who are worried about the Olympics and school lunches not being divided out are the ones lacking compassion and facts. He should call Italy's Medical Chief for an opinion-never mind, he died from it.   

[muskiedreams]

The virus is here and it is real.

But!!!

1) Everybody needs to, above all, use common sense. Stop, seek professional knowledge and advice and think before you act. Don't be a naysayer.  Don't use pure emotions. Don't be a fear monger.

2) Fueling mass panic and perpetuating false notions will only create more polarization, cause additional problems and help the virus and the Russians who want to tear our democracy down.

3) You cant protect yourself from it with TP, bullets, etc.

4) Don't be a hypocrite and complain about high drug prices and then try to create and/or cash in on shortages caused by the situation.

5) Know that you and everyone around you might be infected and take reasonable precautions.

6) It might be reasonable to assume you are infected if someone in your house or that you have been close to has tested positive.

7) Don't believe everything you read on social media. So you don't have to believe a word I have said. But maybe you should check with professional sources in the medical field.

[dry net]

17 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Basic preparation for emergency situations is a rational process and this situation shouldn't be the mechanism for starting to think about it. You can't count on the government at any level to cover your butt if the crap hits the fan.

But you can count on state government to beg for money!

[Sk8man]

2 hours ago, Kingfisher06 said:

Crock of crap letter.

Worried you'll cancel weddings, graduations, and family reunions while ensuring the reader the spread is nowhere near over. The cognitive dissonance in this rambling is astounding. If you are running around scared as a grown man-waiting in a 100 yard line before Costco opens to shove your 4 sq ft shopping cart with 7 sq ft of toilet paper, then yes, be scared of your own stupidity. Being prepared is a community service. It allows one to be calm, check in on the elderly, and have control. Preemptive closures of schools is the first priority-that flattens the infection rate curve allowing hospitals staff/infrastructure to treat the very ill and keep themselves from being overwhelmed. The people who are worried about the Olympics and school lunches not being divided out are the ones lacking compassion and facts. He should call Italy's Medical Chief for an opinion-never mind, he died from it.   

 

I thought for once I was in agreement with you at least regarding prepping. Your response to that letter makes little sense, but hospitals and medical personnel will be severely overwhelmed as they were already dealing with high levels of flu etc. The closing of schools is a highly complicated multi-dimensional problem because of the need for supervision at home, and for many especially in poor urban or rural areas the children's meals are provided in the schools.   Not everyone in our society is able to afford, purchase or stock up on necessities of life or perhaps feed their children at home. The specific creation of shortages of appropriate masks for medical personnel through hoarding or in some cases stealing from supplies severely adds to the problem.

 

People react to stress in very different ways and some not with reason or calmness looking at data or facts. A lot of this is a high anxiety or panic reaction to things on top of a valid problem that in all probability will get worse before getting better.Viruses, epidemics, and pandemics have acted that way in the past and this situation is probably no different. I think that was the main thrust of that letter not someone begging about holding events.

 

This situation however should be  a "wake up call" to the US in particular, in terms of allowing the Chinese to manufacture the majority of our medications just - from a national security standpoint alone. It also points up the need to personally prepare to the degree possible for these sorts of situations ahead of time because other things even more pervasive can occur such as a shutting down of the electric grid for example.

Being prepared as much as possible is a personal and community responsibility and it shouldn't have taken this situation to have initiated it. Unfortunately we as a society are pretty much reactionary rather than proactive and it has been just a matter of time before it came home to bite us in the butt.

 

Hopefully when this situation attenuates folks will have a little fire under their butts to prevent the panic response next time. .....but I doubt it....something called "human nature" I guess. This current situation does point up the federal government's incompetence, and lack of preparedness for a large scale emergency situation, (also witness the previous hurricanes too). Bureaucrasies are the last vestiges of society to change so don't look for solutions anytime soon. Ultimately it is up to us to prepare, help others, cooperate, and not be part of the problem, and do what we can to minimize adverse effects in our immediate area of control.

 

I have been expecting something like this for the past ten years and have prepared along the way for it. I didn't have to empty any store shelves, store up on water and necessities because I already have done so gradually in anticipation and expectation of just such an event (or worse). Hopefully it will be a learning event for most people and folks will realize that preparedness of (various types) significantly reduces anxiety and panic.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Sk8man

[muskiedreams]

Non-humans like this make the problem worse.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/17-700-bottles-hand-sanitizer-155735689.html

[Kingfisher06]

1 hour ago, Sk8man said:

 

I thought for once I was in agreement with you at least regarding prepping. Your response to that letter makes little sense, but hospitals and medical personnel will be severely overwhelmed as they were already dealing with high levels of flu etc. The closing of schools is a highly complicated multi-dimensional problem because of the need for supervision at home, and for many especially in poor urban or rural areas the children's meals are provided in the schools.   Not everyone in our society is able to afford, purchase or stock up on necessities of life or perhaps feed their children at home. The specific creation of shortages of appropriate masks for medical personnel through hoarding or in some cases stealing from supplies severely adds to the problem.

 

People react to stress in very different ways and some not with reason or calmness looking at data or facts. A lot of this is a high anxiety or panic reaction to things on top of a valid problem that in all probability will get worse before getting better.Viruses, epidemics, and pandemics have acted that way in the past and this situation is probably no different. I think that was the main thrust of that letter not someone begging about holding events.

 

This situation however should be  a "wake up call" to the US in particular, in terms of allowing the Chinese to manufacture the majority of our medications just - from a national security standpoint alone. It also points up the need to personally prepare to the degree possible for these sorts of situations ahead of time because other things even more pervasive can occur such as a shutting down of the electric grid for example.

Being prepared as much as possible is a personal and community responsibility and it shouldn't have taken this situation to have initiated it. Unfortunately we as a society are pretty much reactionary rather than proactive and it has been just a matter of time before it came home to bite us in the butt.

 

Hopefully when this situation attenuates folks will have a little fire under their butts to prevent the panic response next time. .....but I doubt it....something called "human nature" I guess. This current situation does point up the federal government's incompetence, and lack of preparedness for a large scale emergency situation, (also witness the previous hurricanes too). Bureaucrasies are the last vestiges of society to change so don't look for solutions anytime soon. Ultimately it is up to us to prepare, help others, cooperate, and not be part of the problem, and do what we can to minimize adverse effects in our immediate area of control.

 

I have been expecting something like this for the past ten years and have prepared along the way for it. I didn't have to empty any store shelves, store up on water and necessities because I already have done so gradually in anticipation and expectation of just such an event (or worse). Hopefully it will be a learning event for most people and folks will realize that preparedness of (various types) significantly reduces anxiety and panic.

The response made perfect sense. He contradicted himself. Social distancing is important. He's alluding to the idea of panic leading to the dismissal of weddings and family gatherings as a fear based irrational response. That's stupid. Its perfectly rational to suspend gatherings. 

 

History tells us preemptive closures (especially schools, (hint) flu season begins when school starts and ends when school lets out) are the #1 thing you can do to prevent a 'hockey stick' infection rate graph pattern from forming thus overwhelming your hospital infrastructure, regardless of what state they are currently in. The only goal here is to flatten the curve. In 1918 San Fran closed everything during the onset of the second wave while the country became devastated by the flu. They went unscathed until they became complacent and the third wave hit them. Mind you, they were a major port of entry and even the ramifications of ceasing all economic activity, which has far more implications than folks not being able to go to work -that was still the right decision. Keeping schools open will increase case fatality rates PERIOD. Closing schools is only complicated when you become emotional and believe the community will let children starve because the cafeteria is closed at school. It is a FACT that children are largely asymptomatic and have the highest viral loads with this virus. Jefferson County just suspended all schools (without a case in the county) because they are listening to professionals and not emotional advocates like your self or DeBlasio.    

 

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Kingfisher06

[whaler1]

Curious to see if we run into any issues flying out of Miami Tuesday. Worst case I guess we rent a car and drive home.



Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Kingfisher06]

You can fit more toilet paper in a trunk than a carry-on.

[Sk8man]

I believe that perhaps  we may be misunderstanding each other. I agree with  your last post but I did not interpret the article the same way you  did.I saw what he was saying as a caution regarding snap judgment to isolate based on unclear development of situations based on emotional reaction rather than data based decisions. It was an appeal to reason over emotion, high anxiety or panic reactions without clear data to base it on and I agree with that. The current trajectory of this situation does demand that we closely monitor, isolate where possible, and use common sense about being in crowd situations etc. The school closings are more complex than that and it isn't just some "sappy" emotional connection to feeding children it is a very real set of complicated circumstances requiring good judgement at the locus of the school. For example it may be very premature for a school in the hills of Montana to close up at this point when there isn't a clear and present threat at this point in the particular area.

Edited March 14, 2020 by Sk8man

[Frogger]

Curious to see if we run into any issues flying out of Miami Tuesday. Worst case I guess we rent a car and drive home.



Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

I’d be guessing but I’m thinking you’ll be able to spread out where ever you would like to sit. Safe travels. Bring some warm weather with ya !


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[whaler1]

Lol that would be awesome!


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[Kingfisher06]

13 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

I believe that perhaps  we may be misunderstanding each other. I agree with  your last post but I did not interpret the article the same way you  did.I saw what he was saying as a caution regarding snap judgment to isolate based on unclear development of situations based on emotional reaction rather than data based decisions. It was an appeal to reason over emotion, high anxiety or panic reactions without clear data to base it on and I agree with that. The current trajectory of this situation does demand that we closely monitor, isolate where possible, and use common sense about being in crowd situations etc. The school closings are more complex than that and it isn't just some "sappy" emotional connection to feeding children it is a very real set of complicated circumstances requiring good judgement at the locus of the school. For example it may be very premature for a school in the hills of Montana to close up at this point when there isn't a clear and present threat at this point in the particular area.

It honestly reads like a guy who has a retirement portfolio loaded to the gills with equities and was hoping to retire next year. Not a infectious disease Doctor smack dab in a major city with the onset of a novel virus, with no treatments, and zero understanding of what life is like after recovery.  

 

 

[HB2]

It looks like panic & fear  has taken hold of some . 

It has become apparent to me that

To many people in this country fly by the seat of their pants day by day . They are not prepared for a bad situation that may arise . And seemingly feel that the gov will be their to bail them out .

 

This should serve as a wake up call to them ( but it probably won't ) that they should prepare themselves for the unknown that may occur that would disrupt their lives  . 

[HB2]

And also 

 

Cuomo made a speech the other day . I can't stand him or his policies but he did a great job with it . Chuck and Nancy showed some good leadership in congress . Trump and Pence have done good work also . Everyone working together  for once . Doing what we sent them there for . It took this . 

 

It's funny how every few years something comes up that forces us to work together to solve a big problem and stop bickering . 

 

I still say it's being overblown .