Medical Masks

In a Pandemic, it is critical to understand that different masks have far different levels of effectiveness, and that home made cloth masks are the worst.

During the COVID Pandemic, New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new signature look is a western-style bandana pulled up over his mouth and nose. No doubt he’s well-intentioned. But that kind of face-covering is only a hair better than no covering at all. Science shows it’s a mere 2 percent to 3 percent effective. It’s misleading.

N95 masks, which are molded and fit tight to the face, filter out 95 percent of viral particles, even the smallest ones. These masks offer the best protection, but when in short supply, public officials want them reserved for health care workers on the front lines, so they recommend the public NOT wear them.  Again, it’s misleading.

Surgical masks, the kind you see commonly worn in hospitals and dentists’ offices, are flat and held to the face with elastic. They’re made from a nonwoven material, polypropylene, that is a somewhat effective filter. They protect the wearer from about 56 percent of viral droplets emitted by an infected person nearby, according to research in the British Medical Journal.

Do NOT reuse the mask and avoid touching the outside of the mask, because it’s likely contaminated after use.

If you have to resort to homemade barriers, keep in mind that the more layers of cloth, the better the protection. Four layers likely block out 13 percent of viral droplets, compared with the 2 percent blocked with a single layer, according to a study in Aerosol and Air Quality Research.

Getting everyone to mask up helps to protect the uninfected, and keeps the unknowingly infected from spreading the virus.

 

What’s was the root problem during the COVID Pandemic? Year after year after year, through three presidencies, federal health bureaucrats ignored warnings about inadequate supplies of masks and other equipment in the event of a pandemic. Ten federal reports sounded the alarm, even as the nation witnessed SARS, MERS, avian flu and swine flu that circled the globe. In 2009, during the swine flu outbreak, the federal Strategic National Stockpile dispersed 85 million N95 masks, as well as other protective masks. The masks were never replaced afterward.

Remember our Pandemic Lessons Learned:  You cannot depend on the government and must take responsibility for the safety and security of you and your family.

For the complete story see:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-masks-what-works-rules-shortage-betsy-mccaughey

For more information:

Blog Table of Contents

Introducing Prepping to Skeptics 

Pandemic
Prepper Sanitizer

Lessons Learned

Preparing Skeptical Loved Ones
Scenario 1: Pandemic 

Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time 

List of Top 10 Lists 

Top 10 Prepper Websites 

Top 10 Posts

Preparing Skeptical Loved Ones

How do you help loved ones who won't prepare for themselves?

Prepper Supplies

Try again. After the Coronavirus (COVID) Pandemic, they are more likely to listen to you now. 

In our Post:  Introducing Prepping to Skeptics, we laid out some good ideas that I'd like to expand on here based on recent events.

Check on these skeptical loved ones periodically during a minor crisis. Demonstrate tactfully how preparing has you ahead of the curve, by helping them a little, but don't make their life too easy or let them think they can always depend on you for everything.  Refuse to provide too much.  For example, provide a few rolls of toilet paper along with a few reusable wash rags.  When their toilet paper runs out, they will have to rough it a bit and use the wash rags.

After the crisis is over, send them a few more supplies, that they are more likely to appreciate now, where as before they may have resented it and thought you were an ignorant fool for prepping.  They don't think that now!  After a Pandemic scare for example, give them some Masks, Hand Sanitizer, Disinfectant wipes, and offer some suggestions on a few other inexpensive things they should consider buying and having handy like a gallon of Bleach.  After any event, you can send them a can or pail of dried beans & rice or other long shelf-life foods.

In the spring, give them a few packages of seeds and suggest they buy a good garden hoe and plant a few vegetables in their flower beds.  A Budget Garden is a good investment that can turn $2 worth of seeds into $200 worth of food.

In the fall, or at Christmas, give them a portable gas cook stove, with two propane bottles, and suggest that they buy a few more bottles.

You have their attention; now is your chance to convert them to being a Prepper.  Just don't go too fast, and back off if they push back.  Come bearing gifts, and its hard for them to get mad at you.

When they are ready, introduce them to our Beginner Prepper List post and help them develop a more comprehensive Prepper Plan that will allow them to advance one step at a time.

Good luck!

For more information:

Blog Table of Contents

Introducing Prepping to Skeptics 

Pandemic
Prepper Sanitizer

Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time 

List of Top 10 Lists 

Top 10 Prepper Websites 

Top 10 Posts
 
Or click on a label below for similar topics.

Scenario 1: Pandemic

Pandemics that kill a million or more people globally, historically have a 1% chance of occurring every year, but with increased globalization and travel, this is increasing sharply.

While 1% might seem to be a low probability, the severity is high and the cost to be prepared is low.  Most police officers never fire their gun in the line of duty, but still choose to wear a bullet proof vest for this very reason.  The chance of having your home burn down is 0.125% (pandemic risk is 8X), but we still pay a lot of money for insurance.  Why not give this some thought and invest a few hundred dollars for our Beginners List to be better prepared?

Through out history, mother nature has used disease to control Over Population of a species.  Don't wait until it is too late.

Questions:

1. How might it happen
2. What would you hope to have to be prepared
3. What steps should you take now
4. What steps should you take if it happened

 

Answers:

How might it happen?
With a majority of US medicines foreign made, it would be easy to introduce a slow acting toxin, or biological weapon grade viral infection in the US, possibly through a mandatory vaccine. which can carry risk. Such a virus would be highly contagious, highly fatal, have a long incubation time and be slow acting so a carrier could infect many others before they even knew they had it.  It might also target a specific ethnic or even political group like elderly conservative voters. The attacking country would likely have a vaccine that would protect their people, unless it accidentally escaped, and possibly sell the vaccine at high prices to the rest of the world.

What would you hope to have to be prepared?

From recent Pandemics, we know:

1. Hand Sanitizer, Chlorine Bleach, Disinfectant wipes, N95 Masks, and yes, even toilet paper were in very short supply, with long lines to get in to stores with empty shelves.
2. The highest population density cities were hit the hardest 

So we need certain supplies and a remote retreat we can stay at for long periods, with security against looters who may seek to steal our supplies in a dark period of history. 


What steps should you take now?

1. Start with our Beginner Prepper List and build from there. It has many links (blue text) to more details.
2. Understand the Rule of 3, and develop a  Step by Step Prepper Plan. to meet your needs.

What steps should you take if it happened?

1. Proactive steps from preparing ahead are always the best; again let the Rule of 3 guide you.
2. Know the RED Flag warnings, that it is time to get to a safe place.
3. Here is our SHTF Day One Plan.
4. If you will be stuck in the City visit these links:

Sustainable City Survival
Modern Home Security
Communications
Neighborhood Watch 

      5. If you will will be in the Country, visit these links:

Bug Out Warning
Country Home Security Plan
Random Security
Neighborhood Watch

     6. Last but not least, study and learn.  Knowledge is FREE, so read up.

The 2020 COVID virus scare was minor compared historical pandemics, yet worse than the Common Flu but as a possible biological weapon from China, the risk was high, and you can see what the results were.  Imagine if millions of Americans died, and critical workers like grocery store, health care and police were dying at alarming rates and then started staying at hope to protect their families.  We would be facing massive Riots and Looting with gangs going door to door robbing the supplies of the weak & unarmed. Only a strong group would have a good chance of withstanding the mass of starving hoards that were scavenging for food.

Don't wait to prepare, Start NOW.

For more information:

Blog Table of Contents
Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time 

List of Top 10 Lists 

Top 10 Prepper Websites 

Top 10 Posts
Pandemic
Prepper Sanitizer

Or click on a label below for similar topics.