This Has Been A Test!

This has been a test of the emergency broadcast system..... Most if not all Americans have heard this on the radio or on the TV. Our current pandemic (COVID-19) should be considered a test by preppers. With a death/lethal rate of 3.6% it has not been a "deadly" virus as far as what is out there and possible. What if this had been a strain of ebola or small poxs, that got into the worlds transportation stream? What if the virus had a lethality rate closer to 50% or even 70%? Especially if it was as contagious as a corona virus and would infect up to 80% of all people that it came into contact with.

Would people have been prepared to truly isolate themselves for that? What about yourself?

Personally, I had information about CORVID-19 being in China and that people were dying, but I had also heard that most fatalities were old or the infirm. I still made a choice to travel at that time and got infected for my efforts.

This time I paid the price, but it wasn't a high cost. I did learn from this event though. Both of my daughters caught it also (from Mom and Dad).

So I've asked myself,.... Was I "Prepared" for a real pandemic. If this had been a genetically engineered strain of ebola how would my decision making matrix have changed? Could I have gotten everyone home before travel restrictions were enforced by the government. Would my group have had the internal fortitude to of left there jobs and homes and made there way here.

Information allowed me to make my decisions this time but that has made me realize my matrix is vulnerable. My vulnerability is it's information and electronic communications. These days, this can be easily interrupted by governments. The information I was getting out of China proved this to me.

My questions are these:

1. Were you ready for a life altering pandemic?
2. What had you done right?
3. What had you done wrong?
4. What will you do to make corrections in your preps?
5. How would you deal with your country losing 45 to 60% of it's population. Expand that to the planet.


Dale

 

bump

 

First "GREAT" post........Thanks.

1. Were you ready for a life altering pandemic?
YES.......VERY MUCH SO.

2. What had you done right?
MOVED to WILDERNESS ALASKA.....WITH LITTLE to NO HUMAN CONTACT.

3. What had you done wrong?
DID NOT HAVE any COLD or FLU MEDS. (because I have not been sick in 36 years).
DID NOT KNOW HOW to DISINFECT MAIL or PACKAGES.

4. What will you do to make corrections in your preps?
DONE.......FIXED.

5. How would you deal with your country losing 45 to 60% of it's population. Expand that to the planet
DON'T HONESTLY KNOW, but I THINK it WOULD be FATAL for ME.

 

If you think that lethalty rate of 3.6% is bad, around here the lethally rate is already over 10% with the majority of the fatality are those within 30 - 50 years old

 

1. No
2. My normal daily routine
3. Few things within the last 10 months
4. Need more money
5. I cross that bridge IF I ever get there

 

I’ll echo Sourdough and say great post as well. I think we aren’t done with this as we deal with the financial and supply chain issues. This could become more real than what we are seeing now.

1. Were you ready for a life altering pandemic?

Yes, I probably reached sufficient preparedness about 2 years ago. I’m not in optimal preparedness for energy self sufficiency, but for most other aspects, we were ready. Readiness is a frame of mind, and I was mentally ready for this. I’m fit and able bodied. P

2. What had you done right?

Financially: I moved more than half of my investments into cash equivalents, some metals, and some municipal bonds between the end of Dec to the end of January. Well timed.

Preps: I had all the PPE, disinfectants, medical supplies, food stuff, etc to withstand the pandemic. My burn rate on some was faster than expected.

Location: I am pretty isolated and can bunker down for a long period of time. I really only have one neighbor within a couple miles, and am among only 300 individuals living along an isolated hundred mile long road.

3. What had you done wrong?

My burn rate for disinfectant wipes was faster than I thought. I had a good supply of disinfectant solution, which I ended up making to slow the burn rate of the very convenient wipes. Assuming I get the opportunity to restock the wipes, I will triple my par.

Financially, I am kicking myself in the butt for not moving all of my investments into cash equivalents back in January.

I honestly discounted the threat until about the middle of January thinking this was going to be like some of the other viruses over the last couple decades that started scary but pestered out quickly. This was a huge mistake and influenced me from not moving all out of stocks in January.

4. What will you do to make corrections in your preps?

When this is all done, I will need to readjusted my preps. Also, I gotta get my place capable of being 100% energy independent by the end of summer.

5. How would you deal with your country losing 45 to 60% of it's population.

I would survive the best I can.

Expand that to the planet.

same here.

 

1. Were you ready for a life altering pandemic?
2. What had you done right?
3. What had you done wrong?
4. What will you do to make corrections in your preps?
5. How would you deal with your country losing 45 to 60% of it's population. Expand that to the planet.

1. yes i was ready to a good degree...
2. have enough supplies for a 6-7 month shutdown for 2
3. not enough masks or gloves or TP
4. more gloves masks and TP
5. unsure i guess just bugin as best i can...it would be a nightmare for sure

 

1. No. We were not ready. I don't think anybody could truthfully say they were ready. We have never seen anything like this in our lifetime.
2. Our supplies were good, including N95 masks. We had plenty of food and TP. We have not touched long term supplies.
3. We really didn't do anything wrong, but maintenance meds were a reason somebody (me) had to leave the house. That is definitely a vulnerability.
4. Increase the amount of cleaning supplies we store. We now have a way to get meds on line and delivered via mail. Look for other ways to shop on line, and minimalize human contact.
5. Losing family would be the hardest thing, I have family 1500 miles away in both directions. How do you save them? With that type of mortality rate you wonder what would happen to the economy? I am still working, and I am not, and probably never will be prepared for financial collapse.

 

Good afternoon Dale,

Yes, indeed, this pandemic/house arrest event is a good to perfect Prepper test/exercise.

My initial thoughts considered something like an Ebola strain entering the transport system and also thinking about addressing biowarfare.

The US national population is surely "written off"; definitely not prepared. I was/still am prepared to isolate myself but not set up to handle infected mosquitoes. To use a double negative: no unknowns showed up even to this hour. I tried to set up a medical clinic in a trailer here but pharma and other aspects eg a blood chemistry lab requires a state "certificate of necessity" and my medic associates told me what's going on.

I do volunteer work with dentists and doctors and use their organizations emails as one of my I&Ws - Indicators and Warnings. When they cancelled events, I had accurate info on the socio-political environment.....at least it's accurate for my level of use.

My matrix is sturdy. It is sturdy because it incorporates and accepts several major variables that cannot be prepared for. I must live with flooded and blocked small rural roads and the pending hurricane season. For example, there are horses kept around this area. A stranded horse means mosquitoes with disease. A blocked road means possibility/probability of forest fire.

Re questions;

1. Yes, ready.

2. and 3. Have been ready and preparedness continues.

4. The only major correction I would consider - not a definite statement; I developed fevers but OK respiration so might have a COVID infection - would have been a visit to daughter, son in law and 2 grandchildren in D.C. Was thinking in depth of the WWII stories of never seeing children/grandchildren again. Over the years I've met people who were actually participants in these WWII stories.

If the US loses half of its population, I'd realistically be activated to a military assignment or one of the Federal emergency management orgs like Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, USAID, Office of Emergency Transportation, USDOT or a Dept of Homeland Security billet. Would give Madam Prag an extra survival vest with some good survival materials.

I would not have direct concerns if the planet loses half its population.

I love the picture !

 

* As prepared as I could have been I had PPE and CBRNe equipment in place.
* What did I do right? Good hygiene, adopting social distancing and self isolation when it became necessary.
*What I did wrong? Poor situational awareness allowed me to pick up the virus before it became mainstream news in the UK during an event at work.
*What would I change? A better watch on international developments to keep track of possible pandemics and help avoid high risk situations in future.
*how would I react if 60% of the worlds population died?....that depends on who dies.

 

That is great..........

 

Ditto on the great post.

I think that whether this was a real situation or if it was one that was created either by the liberal media or maybe the world governments it has been a good thing in a lot of ways. For those of us here that are older and like me and far from new to this it has been a rather interesting dry run with very little true danger. For the rest of the world in the oh so civilized nations it has been a sever wake up call for millions.

1. Were you ready for a life altering pandemic?
2. What had you done right?
3. What had you done wrong?
4. What will you do to make corrections in your preps?
5. How would you deal with your country losing 45 to 60% of it's population. Expand that to the planet.

!. YES and have been for 30 years
2. We are where I wanted to be and have everything that we need to survive and thrive.
3. I got OLD!
4. Nothing except continue to watch and be ready.
5. I think that OVER 60%, maybe over 80%, of the people in the world are a waste of air and are leaches that add nothing to the world of value. In the more civilized areas that may be even higher. In the USA we breed stupidity and laziness as a national product now. We PAY people that are stupid and lazy to stay home and make as many more of their kind as possible while penalizing those that work and try to support their families.

The sad thing is that I KNOW that as soon as this passes we will return to encouraging and producing stupid lazy people. The current version of Democracy is the idea that many stupid people make better decisions than a few well trained and educated people. That is why both parties are so careful to assist in the breeding program. How stupid do you need to be to hear the same promises year after year for decades, then they do NONE of the things that they promised, and yet fall for it again every election year??? I think that we are there...

 

There was some pandemic that infected me at conception. Satan sprays his diarrhea out upon the Earth. Shiva's dance becomes frenetic around the innocent.

"You seem blessed."

"Who are you?!"

 

The pandemic is called mortality. That diarrhea that is put upon the planet is called Humanity. He who is blessed is he who still has hope...

 

Seems like my wife and I end up being around people who have endured stacks of misfortune. When I read the comments of folk on this website, I learn that folk here have been through a bit too much hell in life. Such makes for solid resources on how to get through this or that, overcoming hurdles. Many members here have advanced degrees from the University of Life, including post doctoral work, done fellowships in "Oh holy sh##, what are we gonna do now?!".

When first turning a piece of metal into a knife blade, one must first forge it in fire, then grind it into shape. Don't any of you tell God I said this -- don't snitch to Him that I've come to realize this. I'll keep your secrets.
.

 

re: #5
> Holy crap that was cold! Yet, I do agree. I know that here in N.America, a culling of urban parasites would mightily improve the advancement of civilization.
> There is a good 45-60% of any population who are hopelessly daft or unforgivably evil. The mere presence of these "people" in society has the same effect on human progress as does the pouring BBs into a vehicle's transmission.
> Were we to set about to effect such a pleasant apocalypse ourselves, we would really have to think this one out, for Doug Adams warned us about getting rid of people who sanitize telephones.
.

 

I am sort of like that Jose Wales character that Clint Eastwood played on the movie " The outlaw Jose Wales " . I don't think the war is over . I don't look at this virus and economic collapse being over just because a politician says it is . Failures in someone's survival plan is good to look at , as preppers may be still able to adapt and overcome what is yet to come .

 

You're damn right it isn't over yet, as soon as your lockdown is lifted there will be asymptomatic carriers who are convinced they're disease free, setting off to see their elderly, over weight, diabetic or immune deficient family just to check they're ok...it's going to be carnage 2 to 3 weeks later.
This thing is going to be around for some time to come, there isn't a vaccine or cure for it, if you develop symptoms you either get better or you die. There is no point listening to politicians who are only interested in one side of the equasion (the economy) Any politician who talks about sticking a bright UV light up their ass or injecting disinfectant while on camera has obviously not got a handle on the situation.

 

This thing is not a death sentence. I'm 56 and a diabetic (pill controlled) and my wife is 60 and asthmatic, and we both had it back in February (caught it in Hawaii Int. Airport). Yes, it sucked and I hurt like someone was beating me to death for 3 days but I've had flues and pneumonia that made me way sicker than this. The high fever was concerning (104 F was my highest) but controllable with Tylenol. It is highly contagious. Both of my adult daughters caught it from us and it was either before we were symptomatic and the other was a week after we thought we were over it. All of us had similar symptoms but they also varied. Two of us had very high fever and only mild chest congestion and headache and the other two had bad chest congestion and less of a fever. A wide variety of symptoms.

Dale

 

Agreed it isn't necessarily a death sentence, all I had was a cough and a headache, not even a fever.....but that doesn't mean that if I had passed it on to someone else they wouldn't die.

 

Good morning all,

At some block on the calendar, the COVID-19 will end as an international danger.

The globe will not be disease-free.

Time to pet the mosquitoes.

 

Actually getting it makes it real alright, then when you see morons protesting outside the metropolitan police HQ in London having a group hug it really makes me angry...30 people attended it. Should they pass it on to the average 2.4 people they have statistically killed someone, at least one maybe more..that sounds over dramatic but it's true....sometimes I would swear that most people have shit for brains.