Germ Warfare

The checklist that accompanies the codeReady planning kit helped me determine the specific needs of my family. A few boxes of diapers, for example, are a must-have for my brood, while extra supplies of blood-pressure medication might be a concern for older neighbors down the street. Because my kids are fever-prone and a quick trip to Walgreen’s may not be an option in an emergency, I need to make sure I’ve got a fresh supply of Advil. The pet store may be as inaccessible as the pharmacy, which is why I need to stock a week’s worth—fourteen cups—of kibble for our dog. Yes, calculating our needs like that makes me feel as though I’m playing a cameo role in one of those depressing post-apocalyptic disaster movies.

“People think,‘Oh, no, I don’t want to be one of those basement people,’ ” says McClure. But, she adds, taking stock—and stocking up—could prove an enormous help during an emergency. Instead of my usual “just-in-time” fretting, a clear-headed plan and well-supplied cupboards could help cut down on the anxiety of caring for my family in a bad situation. It might even allow me to help friends and neighbors who are harder hit, by simply keeping out of the way.

“Our hope is that disaster preparedness becomes a kind of social norm, if you will,” McClure says. “That it means we’re ready to help each other in our communities if something unexpected happens.”

Thinking proactively about the dark side may have another bright side. “I believe [the threat of] pandemic flu has made people more aware of seasonal flu and that will only serve to help us,” McClure explains, noting that when we’re alert to the dangers we’re more likely to cover our mouth when we cough, get flu shots, and practice other infection-control measures. “I know that when someone in our family got sick, I used to think, ‘Oh, great, now we’re all going to get it,’ ” she says. “Now I say, ‘No. Let’s try washing our hands, let’s not share towels and glasses, let’s see if we can’t avoid everyone getting sick.’ ”

She’s definitely onto something. I notice that the more I think about what’s beyond my control, the more committed I become to what’s within it. I can’t do anything about the respirator shortage that made headlines two years ago, but I can keep my kids home from school when they’re sick. I can’t predict what the federal response to a pandemic will be, but I can wash my hands more often. In fact, a recent review in the British Medical Journal of more than fifty studies concluded that hand-washing and using germ barriers such as face masks may be more useful than drugs in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS.

My family is making other changes that don’t feel like emergency prevention, but probably are. My husband and I take turns supervising our boys’ tooth-brushing ritual and insist they use separate cups. On Dr. McClure’s recommendation, I bought my first bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Forty-four colds a year may have been the norm at our house, but with this new plan in place we might end up breathing a little easier.

Laura Billings is a St. Paul–based journalist and regular contributor to Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.