Preparing for Pandemic Influenza

Get Healthy/Stay Healthy

• Be healthy. Eat nutritious foods, stay active, and avoid tobacco to help your immune system.
• Practice good hygiene. Wash hands often with soap and water, cover your sneeze/cough, do not share utensils or drinks, throw tissues away immediately after use, etc.
• Get a seasonal flu shot. This will not protect against pandemic influenza, but it will keep you healthier during flu season.

Be Smart

• Stay home if you feel sick or have a fever. This protects others from getting sick.
• Keep children home if they feel sick, vomit or have a fever.
• Clean hands often with soap and water or hand-sanitizer. Be sure to wash up when returning home, before touching your eyes or face, before food preparation, after using the bathroom, after caring for an ill family member, and after blowing your nose, or covering your cough/sneeze.
• Protect your home. Clean surfaces and things touched by sick people, isolate ill family members to one room or behind a curtain, and cover coughs and sneezes.
• Follow safety instructions from the health department and other authorities

Be Ready

• Prepare a household emergency plan. Practice your plan with your family/friends/neighbors. For more information, call 612-673-2301 or visit www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/emergency
• Stock prescription medications. Keep an extra supply of your prescriptions each month or refill your prescriptions as soon as possible.
• Learn and practice simple medical care. Know how to check pulse, temperature and breathing rates, and how to identify and prevent dehydration. Ask your doctor or nurse for help with these skills. Keeping hydrated is a very important treatment for the flu and can save lives. See recipe on back for rehydration solution.
• Get copies of important documents. Documents such as a deed or mortgage, will, proof of address, insurance, vaccinations, Social Security, health care directives, school records, power of attorney, etc., may be helpful during an emergency.
• Collect containers to store water if needed. Use clean glass or plastic pop or water containers (they should not have had chemicals in them). Have containers ready to store several gallons of water per person, plus extra for pets and cleaning, in case the City water supply is interrupted during a pandemic.
• Have some cash available. Banks or cash machines may not always be working
• Prepare supplies.

Prepare a Flu Survival Kit:

• First Aid Handbook and general First Aid kit
• Household bleach (not scented, color safe or with added cleaners), boil water or add 1/8 tsp bleach/gallon, for drinking, if instructed by health department; add 1 tbsp bleach/gallon water for cleaning solution.
• Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) -100 tablets/person
• Acetaminophen (Tylenol) -100 tablets/person
• Notebook - to record pulse, temperature
• Caffeinated tea
• Thermometers - at least two
• Tissues - Kleenex/Puffs
• Table salt (for recipe below)- 1 box
• Sugar (for recipe below) - 5 lb per person

Drink Recipe for 1 Gallon Rehydration Solution:
1 gallon clean water (4 quarts or 16 cups)
3/4 cup sugar (12 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon table salt

For 1 quart recipe, use 1 quart water, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 tsp salt.

To help prevent dehydration in people sick with flu, encourage adults to drink 2-3 quarts, small children 1 quart per day.

Store easy-to-fix food for an extended stay at home

Examples of Food Items to Store (rotate to maintain freshness!)

• Canned meats, vegetables, fruits, fish (tuna) and soups
• Powdered milk
• Peanut butter
• Pudding
• Protein/fruit bars
• Dried beans, rice, pasta
• Dried Fruit
• Multi-vitamins
• Baked beans
• Refried beans
• Spaghetti sauce
• Food(s) for special diets
• Dry cereal/granola
• Canned juices
• Cooking oil, salt, sugar
• Crackers
• Baby food - canned/jars/formula
• Don’t forget the can openers! (at least 2 non-electric)

In addition:

• Stock hand soap and waterless hand sanitizer (alcohol-based)
• Have a battery-operated or crank radio, flashlights, and batteries – in case you lose electrical power
• Prepare the family pet – have a pet emergency kit with food, medicine, supplies (leashes, carrier, litter box) and a picture of you with your pet; have current I.D. tags on the animal(s), if applicable. If evacuating, take your pet(s) with you. In case public shelters for people do not accept animals, have a back-up plan.

Provided by: Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support (information in this handout compiled from: Center for Disease Control; “Preparing for the Coming Influenza Pandemic” by Grattan Woodson, M.D.; the World Health Organization (WHO); and Minnesota Department of Health)