Forum: Pandemic Flu Awareness Week III

Continued from here

Nightowl � at 12:23

I am going to urge everyone on this thread to go to the above link and pull the list of members who attented the pandemic meeting. That was just the conference.

Consider that this non-profit organization has 2,000 members from around the world. It represents the Who�s Who of the grantmaking foundations and giving organizations in the World.

They are getting involved in pandemic planning and can make a difference, especially for those living in poverty. Please read the pandemic preparation material that these folks are reading.

And we are afraid to get in step with them?????????

anon_22 � at 13:12

I agree with Nightowl in that the 3 day message is in conflict with the message we are trying to put out, that this is serious threat. I think it�s time to go out and actively discredit any official agency that is recommending that, as being insincere or clueless.

Just my 2C

crfullmoon � at 13:28

Not just Get Aware - Go Prepare

Too wordy to add �Preparedness� this year?;

Pandemic Flu Preparedness Week, or,

Pandemic Flu Awareness & Preparedness Week

(No fun being a year or two ahead of the audience, who may not have a year or two ahead of them to consider paying attention�)

Keep at it; most of the public needs to be more prepared for everything, anyway.

(Recopying my last post, it was cut off)

Nightowl, thanks for bringing your abundant energy and skills to this thread! Just wanted to say that I agree with all your comments and ideas. I do agree with your and Annon_22��s comments about the 3 day message for preps. Do any of us want the newcomers to read that and think �eI don�ft have to worry, I already have 3 days worth in my kitchen.�f We have all discerned from hours of research reading here and elsewhere that we will need months of preps. New folks reading this site may not have the time to do that in light of recent events in the world. That virus is marching on and I think that it is time for us to do the same.

anon-22

I think it�s time to go out and actively discredit any official agency that is recommending that

Absolutly not. we need to work with them, not discredit them. But if pandemicflu.gov, the reference point, is 2 weeks, we can simply start there.

This is for newcomers. Assume we are the ones that would be discredited if there’s a discrepancy between us and credible sources. But it’s actually very comforting that there are so many sites now that go beyond two weeks. That’s why on this one item (lenght of time) i don’t want to get too self-referential. ;-)

So, post those links! 5 good ones will do.

links are to any site that has more than 4 weeks. we have nebraska, oskosh, webster, and if someone can find the transcript or vide of osterholm…

well, what about dis-agreeing with the idea of 3 days?

No do not disagree but offer reasons why more is needed. To some people 3 days is alot. to others 6 months not enough. If the gov says 2 weeks, start there. suggest that the event will last longer and the disruptions to the gloabal JIT may impact supplies in your area for longer - even when the wave passes your area. Let them come to their own conclusion that more is needed.

The references are great… can they be assembled into their own writing? - most people will not access links. I’d like to hand the paper out along with WHO graphs of age attacks and monthly growth of infections. - Its pretty eye opening.

Dr. Robert Webster “I personally believe it will happen and make personal preparations,” said Webster, who has stored a three-month supply of food and water at his home in case of an outbreak.”

Dr. Michael Osterholm “Osterholm, a member of the Health and Human Services Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness, says to have bottled water on hand and non-perishable food. Have a family plan. There may be mandatory and/or voluntary closings of national, state, and even local borders. Be prepared for public panic. �Imagine,� he said, �a 12–18 month global blizzard.�

Oprah Winfrey Show

Dr. Osterholm says to: Stock your cabinets with enough canned goods to last four to five weeks. Stockpile your prescription drugs, if possible. Speak with city officials to make sure your community has enough chlorine on hand to purify the water, in case shipments stop coming. Many cities only keep enough chlorine on hand to last five to seven days.

Goju, I sadly realize that there are probably many people in this world who will not be able to save more then 3 days worth of food and water and my heart goes out to them. Letting anyone think that 3 days will be enough for them to weather this pandemic when it happens is IMHO providing them with an avenue of false hope. Many people have either not been inspired to start prepping based on current messages, or they have prepped for the 2 weeks. Either way they may find themselves and those they love without enough food to SIP. This may be a great tragedy in the making. I do agree that if Dem wants us to start from the 2 week message then that is what we will need to do. We must however raise are eloquent voices to get past this 2 week message and conteract it powerfully in some of the ways you described above. Meanwhile, I hope we all look for quotes that justify a much longer prep time.

I don’t know why we are so worried when Oprah Winfrey is blaring her stuff (Osterholm) to however many views on TV (I’ll find out) and on her website. I would like to see a source represented that is both a woman and African-American. :-)

I think we should get with the program here, or we will be lagging behind like the government in my view.

Do you want to bring people along, or just show them that you’re right? ;−0

The oprah link is the go-to one. What we can do is put all the quotes on a single page that links from PFAW page (it’s a wiki and lends itself. As an example, there’s a page] that Monotreme helped put together quoting many experts about the likelihood of a pandmeic.

The Slate article about avian flu has overwhelmed the Flu Wiki server today. That’s another project…

Wow, I’ve come late to the party….

When you look at the paragraph in question, you see we really aren’t giving the 3 days much play (no link for instance). We are saying “some say 3 days, BUT 2 weeks or more is recommended by etc.

So, I don’t see a problem with dropping the 3 days and starting with the 2 weeks.

I do agree with Dem that this is too many links for the PFAW page and that we should make a new one and link to it.

It’s a good discussion. We can get there from here.

The Slate article, here, http://tinyurl.com/htkw5 in case you have not read it, is an excellent article from a published author. He recommends prepping for several months. I also like his writing style. He really sounds if he is speaking directly to the reader. I think we could use some of this kind of writing as well as links to personalize our points as well.

Nightowl, I know you always want to bring people along. : )

Just to get it on this new thread, the PFAW 2006 page is Here

I’d go for “drop awareness, put preparedness instead”. A year has passed.

Science Teacher � at 17:37

I do, too. ;-)

Awareness comes before preparedness.

Pan Flu Prep Week, then?

Hmm… new people don’t know wwhat panflu or prep is.

The thought of knowing there are people worldwide that cannot prepare is why I think we have to keep raising the prep bar. It is my view if the public doesn’t hear seriousness big time then there is no pressure on TPTB to do anything or even on the public to think about what is going to happen to low income people. I have stated this view before and that is why I think the Council on Foundations said two to three months on their resource page so their members will take it seriously. Please consider using the Council resource page in our message.

It’s when we talk about big preps that we all start feeling bad for low income people, and the posts reflect that. As we should. So think about that. Do we feel all sad when we talk about 3 day preps? Not as much because we think people might be able to do that. But we have to think critically here, because we want people to feel bad enough to take action. Not pat themselves on the back for saying prep a day (and then you go hungry), prep three and on the fourth go hungry. We all need to feel bad because we know even two weeks isn’t going to cut it in a severe pandemic. But hey, we didn’t alarm anyone or put too much pressure on poor people and those who could have made a difference. No, we will just see the hungry people when the 3-day supply runs out. Or after two weeks. (I am so glad you all dropped the 3-Day deal.)

For people living in poverty, the best thing we can do is say we need to prep to the wazoo so everyone working with low income groups will get a grip here and start asking the public and local communities to help overcome this situation. Two weeks hardly really worries anyone, unless you’re the one with no resources. Two weeks, and the government just doesn’t have to be accountable.

I want my local community to go Whoa, we need three months? What about our low income citizens? Gee, maybe we better start a massive food drive and help get the whole community prepared. Think how Katrina could have been different if information of that catastrophe that the scientists warned of beforehand had really permeated the low income neighborhoods lying in the below sea-level areas.

I just can’t get my community to take this thing seriously with the low prep message. Gee, it doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Oprah Winfrey understands this. She’s not out patronizing low income people with a three-day prep or even a two-week prep.

Our own president has a home on over 1,000 acres in Texas - complete with swimming pool, lake, 25,OOO gallon cistern, well, geothermal heating and cooling {yes folks, off grid), passive solar. You name it. And I get told to prep for two weeks? Give me a break.

I am just a single mother who is terrified for my child (yes, we are a family). I don’t have Bush’s resources for crying out loud, but I have a brain. I don’t want to be patronized. Neither do people living in poverty. Give them a fighting chance. They have brains. If they can get information, most will use it. Think civil rights movement, think Ghandi, think women’s rights. Think Caesar Chavez and the farmworkers’ movement. Think Prep Now.

Oprah Winfrey’s show has 30 million views a week. Thirty million! She is one brilliant woman. And you can count on it that she has a lot of viewers who live in poverty. So does she invite the Red Cross, Secretary Leavitt, Fema, etc. with their low key messages because poor people can’t prep or we don’t want to alarm people? Heck no, she invites Dr. Michael Osterholm. And then puts all the scary stuff up on her website to boot. End of Rant.

Ok, Lauralou, you can fire me now.

Nightowl � at 19:27

You light up some thing in my brains. I think prep drive should start with the soup kitchen i.e. bottom-up, not top-down

Every city got some activists, volunteers, people with good hearts. If they realize what this pandemic threat really is, then they will make a lot of noise out there e.g. start thanksgiving food drive earlier, asking for donation of non-perishables etc. If they start prepping, it will get the attention of people with more resources i.e. the donors.

ANON-YYZ � at 19:46

Nightowl � at 19:27

If you pull off such an event, the emergency responders like firemen, ambulance, police people will also notice, so will community newspapers - more useful than the Wall Street Journal. Then may be Food TV on how to cook preps.

Yes, Anon-YYZ! And you are right, they have to realize it and see the full weight of our problem, in my view.

Dem at 17:04 - not nice. I just have a different view than you do. But I can bow out of here easily if I am going to be zinged. Debate my message. I am comforatable with that. Tell my why you are comfortable with 3 Days?

ScienceTeacher, thank you for your kind comments. I really appreciate it. Your comment at 16:47 was said way better than any of my rants. I agree completely. I am going to read the article you posted now. Thanks again.

October 9th is Canadian Thanksgiving.

Jumping in late in the evening but like the ideas above. Here’s mmy 2 cents: 1. Don’t discredit 3 day sites…just don’t promote them. 2. Indicated that most well-informed recommend 2 weeks as a minimum; 6–8 weeks ideal because of length of wave (tie it to the wave so there’s a reason that goes with it) 3. Love the idea of simply posting strong quotes attributable to credible individuals then link where possible. 4. LOVE the idea of encouraging grass-roots effort to create stockpile for underpriviledged for pan flu (but really need to think that through because of the tactical requirements that would impair a successful launch) 5. Still think we should stick with name Pandemic Flu Awareness Week (because most everyone I run into has heard of it, but have no idea whatsoever what it’s really about. People must first be AWARE before they can PREPARE. 6. Think that the MESSAGE fo Pan Flu Awareness Week is to PREPARE.

That’s all from my end! I am very encouraged by all of the enthusiasm that has surfaced as a result of this thread. Is there any given person who is taking the PFAW page across the finish line with specific details, or are we waiting for more people to contribute?

Ranchgirl - at 20:49 - I agree 100 percent with everything you said! And it is nice to ‘see’ you.

ScienceTeacher - I had not seen the Slate article until you posted it here. Thank you. I really like it. And I like the way everything is documented. Has a really nice flow to it and just says it all. Ranchgirl raised the issue of updating pages when she launched PFAW, and I feel this is getting started here in a way. The Opinion page could use some good recent quotes for one thing.

Erh, I don’t know whether other colleges have similar dates, but my daughter’s has fall break on Oct 6–15.

ANON-YYZ, Is there a thread for this type of discussion? I would like to continue it. If not, would you be interested in starting one?

My daughter is the director of a homeless shelter in the city closest to where I live. I have asked her to give me an assessment of the awareness level of major funders that contribute to the shelter to keep them up and running. I know alot of the funding comes from churches. If any of you belong to a church group could you let us know if they have plans to ramp up contributions for a pandemic? Maybe this should be a new thread. Anon xyz?

I agree with dropping any mention of 3 days for prepping. They only people who recommend this don’t think panflu is anything to worry about. NYC’s plan says three days and their Health Commissioner has publicly stated that he thinks a pandemic is unlikely. OTOH, the press release should be strictly positive, because we are trying to convince people to see things our way. So, my suggestion is to drop the 3 days language and say something like this:

“No-one knows for sure how long is long enough to prepare to shelter-in-place, but many authoritative sources say at least 2 weeks will be necessary. Other, equally authoritative sources, suggest that 6 weeks or more will be required. This is because typical flu outbreaks last 6–8 weeks in individual cities. Everyone will have to decide for themselves how much preparation is right for them, but the longer they are prepared to shelter-in-place, the less likely they will have to risk exposure to a potentially very deadly virus.”

Not too eloquent, but you get the idea.

Nightowl � at 21:20

Sorry I was really late into this thread, and kinda intruded. What should we call this new thread? Pandemic food drive?

Since you turned on the light bulb, would you please copy anything useful over to the new thread. Thank you.

You guys are way out ahead on this…so just a small suggestion…you could put that three days in perspective with the Katrina experience which would still be very fresh in a lot of minds. It shouldn’t be too hard to illicit an element of doubt regarding a parallel experience in any large city including NYC.

I just extensively reviewed the Philanthropy’s council meeting summary, action items, etc. and I think that group might well be the one to initiate such a food drive. Perhaps this new thread might be geared toward enlisting the participation of specific foundations (where fluwikians have a personal contact), rather than all of US trying to take this on. We are often good at coming up with great ideas and concepts but we have to be realistic about what we can actually accomplish within our group. I am beginning to see the picture more each time I wander around this website that we…as a community of sorts…seem to have the knowledge of what needs to happen. But rather than thinking we have to do it all ourselves, perhaps we should try to stay 3000 ft up, and look for entities, organizations or in this case, foundations, that we can educate, encourage and stimulate to take action on the intellectual concepts and ideas that we give birth to.

In the case of the Red Ribbon campaign…we might have been able to enlist a more commerical entity to take this on as a community service. Would Starkist add a red ribbon to their label for that month, and take on the task of creating a POP (point of purchase) sign with red ribbons dangling from the “take one” display as well as a tear-off that tells about the panflu preps? Obviously it’s too late to orchestrate such a campaign with only 6 weeks to go, but perhaps we could take a shot at it for say, January?

We need to think higher up folks. Would love to see a thread on matching up our fluwiki great ideas to companies and/or organization that would rise to the occasion to help implement them.

Nightowl � at 20:16

see

DemFromCT � at 17:50

and as I posted on the first thread in this series, we have to stop assuming we’re right and therefore becoming dogmatic about disagrements. We don’t know that 8 weeks is necessary, e.g. It makes sense, but the urgency about 8 vs 6 vs 4 weeks is not universally shared. And again, this is for new viewers. What we ‘know’ took weeks to months to integrate. We want to create shortcuts, but we also want to teach, not force the issue.

As to the ‘final’ on the news release and the PFAW page, what’s not done by the first week of october will get done.

Here’s the example I wanted to post re the quotes from credible sources about how long to prep food and water (it can be a model). A page like that could link from the PFAW page.

subject changefor 1 sec - i just now looked at Dr. Nabarros biz card - here is his website - i do not know if FW has it nor where it should go.

Mods could you put it in the fright place? Thanks.

www.influenza.undg.org

To do items:

• finish the press release, removing 3 days.
• finish the PFAW page
• build the quotes/references on how long to prep for. in doinf so, i’d suggest reviewing path forward’s comments here.
• contact blogs and send the logo. the request would be to do at least one story or link that day about PFAW or flu or something flu-related. It could be a link to the Slate article or to pandmeicflu.gov or Flu Wiki.

Dem -

We do disagree. What you see as dogmatic and ‘we don’t really know’ I see as a matter of life and death. I do not assume I am right. But I do know about 1918, 1957, and 1968. I know that 1918 was the worst. I am afraid we could even have a pandemic worse than that, whether it be H5N1 or some other virus. What if a wave lasts longer or reappears in three weeks?

I know that no harm will come from over-prepping if we have a mild pandemic. Just keep rotating the stockpile. I also know that to be underprepped may very well cause the death of my child. I worry about others as well through, obviously, my own lens. Forgive me if I am passionate about this.

Nightowl � at 22:52

Of course! No apology necessary. Again, I quote Path Forward:

�No one really knows, since this is the first time the general public has been urged to get ready for a disaster as unpredictable as a pandemic � a disaster of unknown timing and severity.

�The �best� minds are not of one mind about what to do. That�s a little scary, but it is the truth. They are giving us suggestions, but they are also telling us to decide for ourselves. We�re all in this together; no one has ever done this before.

�So when you hear different stockpiling recommendations � two weeks, eight weeks, a day or two of tuna fish under your bed � keep in mind that this is new for everyone.

�What most experts seem to agree about: �Do something rather than nothing; do more if you can, so you will be able to help others; learn enough to decide for yourself how much to do.�

DemFromCT � at 23:40

I would leave out the “day or two of tuna fish under your bed”. That recommendation was *not* helpful. I know of many people who decided *not* to prep after that statement by Secretary Leavitt. A case of attempted soothing that went terribly wrong. Let’s not remind people of it.

We certainly should indicate that we don’t know everything, but we should indicate that we do know some things, like, a flu outbreak is very unlikely to be less than 6 weeks long. If we are too wishy-washy, people will not do anything, imo. We need to strike a balance between being too strident and turning people off or being so soothing and touchy-feely that people decide to take no action.

In general, I would say that risk communicators have erred on the side of not being strong enough in their recommendations. The proof is the pitifally small number of people who have done any prepping whatsoever. Time to take a different tack, imo.

Okay- I just finished tweeking the press release. Unless somebody sees a really erroneous item, I think it’s ready to go. Dem - could you please look at it for accuracy (had to go into it numerous times to catch all the little grammar items) and got rid of the 3 days. Also changed the phrase about “at least 40% will not report to work” to 30% since it was positioned as an “at least” number. Check it out and let me know if it looks okay.

Dem, it’s helpful that you or whoever wants recollects the “unfinished tasks”, every now and then, for all of us to see.

I do the same with the links to where we’re working:

• Press Release
• Pandemic Flu Awareness Week 2006

Are there any other pages or tasks we should keep really visible? We need to be most effective, because my guess is we’re all multitasking between global, local, family, work, sleep, etc. (Yes, I am sleeping while I type. :-))

Two concerns:

• World-wide awareness.
• What are we suggesting people could do, specifically?

Perhaps we can suggest people translate the main message and put it in their websites? If so, what would be the 5 main pages to translate? This would show cooperation as it goes, because we’d be providing a collection point for translations and show how they grow (or not grow, yuk!).

Specifically, I think the main 5 pages would have to show, in some detail and appealing to different kinds of visual people (text, charts, stories, quotes, videos, etc):

• What a pandemic would look like (a series of more or less simultaneous outbreaks, each of them several weeks long, affecting many people with unpredictable severity and age-group specificity, and with apropriate concern-fear-panic affecting many more people all over the world).
• What makes us think we’re close to a pandemic, and what makes us think it might be really bad.
• Why even a mild pandemic (whatever we define as “mild”) might severely damage our food and energy networks, causing lots of collateral damage and affecting the poor, the unprepared, the mislocated (I’m thinking megacities and isolated hyperdependant places here).
• Why it only makes sense to prepare when there’s no pandemic.
• What to do, exactly, and in what time frame: collect information, talk with others, stock-pile, what else?
• How to talk about “uncertainty, yet preparedness” with others.

(Ok, that makes it six, not five. Whatever. :-/)

Thought you all might like to know that NBC Dateline is doing a docudrama on what the Pandemic may look like. It’s set to air this Sunday 9/17/06

interesting. Docudramas may have a bad name now, but interesting.

In general, I would say that risk communicators have erred on the side of not being strong enough in their recommendations. The proof is the pitifally small number of people who have done any prepping whatsoever. Time to take a different tack, imo.

Since polls clearly show folks not prepping (no changed attitudes) after katrina, even in the South, don’t go blaming the risk communicators. ;-)

Intertia is a powerful force.

some very good ideas today! lugon, those 5 or six themes could each have a page off of PFAW. So could the 1918 page we already have (it’s in the science category and on the links page).

Nightowl-

I also have young children and I understand the deep place where your passion comes from. I really do- and I’m thankful for it.

However, I also think that it is important for us to be as inclusive as possible of the range of ways people react to and process new information. A big part of our goal here is: to bring awareness to people who may have never heard about pandemics before.

They are not in the same place as us (yet). We have to respect that and try to bring them aboard. The issue with this is that everyone has a different threshold for what helps them to “get it”. So, we have to offer a range of “handholds” so that lots of people can find a way to hang on. Once you are on the mountain side, then you can try to climb it.

Everyone who gets on, in anyway they get there, is a victory for our kids, for us, and for our communities - and we can make that happen.

Monotreme-

The tuna fish part is actually not on the PFAW page. ;-)

Okay, back to business-

We have a box on the page that highlights some main links. So far, CIDRAP and the Trust for America’s Health are parked in there. We could do 4 or 5. Suggestions?

May I suggest this link?

Disease, Disaster, & Democracy: the public’s stake in health emergency planning

I just listened to the audio last night. There are 2 ‘tabletop’ exercises for 1) vaccine and 2) what if hospitals cannot take everyone in. That last one is especially powerful and credible.

I suggest if we link this, use the what if hospital cannot take everyone in as the link rather than Disease, Disaster & Democracy.

Some items off the top of my head. Not very well organized at the moment. Apologies as I am doing way too many things at the same time.

1. why and how healthcare systems may be overwhelmed
2. how globalization would intensify the effects of a pandemic, how problems in distant parts of the world can affect you sooner than you think
3. why is H5N1 so lethal, a short ‘dummies’ guide to ARDS and cytokine storm’
4. why are young people targetted and what impact might that have
5. some bits of ‘data’ (for the data types) showing how social distancing will mitigate some of the worst effects, especially ‘flattening the curve’ (explain that) - to show that therefore governments may choose to use these policies
6. (or instead of above) some measures that governments might take, or might spontaneously happen anyway whether or not it is the govt’s intention eg travel disruptions, school closures,
7. my ‘3 assumptions’ to guide prepping: 1) if you want to avoid infection, you need to be prepared to be completely self-sufficient for at least 6–8 weeks, 2) assume there will be no healthcare when you need it, 3) assume there will be intermittent breakdowns in essential services eg electricity, and maybe law and order.
8. my ‘how to prep systematically’ which I wrote up somewhere in one of the threads that I will find, the one where you make a Master List and then triage that, (if you know what I mean)
9. a current risk assessment, which also serves as another ‘connect the dot’ exercise for people to understand where we are and why it is important to prep NOW.

In response to the above discussion, I have a couple of thoughts:

First of all, I agree with Nightowl in not patronising people. If we make suggestions that they cannot do, at least they know what they need to aim for, and maybe come up with creative alternatives that none of us have thought about. I’d like to think that if I’m down in luck, others would talk to me in exactly the same way than if I had a million bucks.

Secondly, I think we don’t need to be too worried about newbies being overwhelmed or frightened or freaking out. Because if they understand enough to freak out, and stop reading PFAW, what they have learnt will be sitting in their minds the whole time, urging them to do something. The most important thing is to say it in a calm, reasonable, supportive manner, and to say maybe that “we have included many suggestions on these pages. We are, however, not suggesting that everyone needs to do all of them, or that if you can’t do them all you’re screwed (using different phrase, of course). In fact, almost everyone will find they have to make some decisions as to what to do and what to put off till later, depending on their circumstances and their local situation. We are just including as far ranging suggestions for preps as possible to cover these different circumstances.

anon_22, that’s a good link! Also, pandemicflu.gov should be listed.

anon_22 @11:01

…almost everyone will find they have to make some decisions as to what to do and what to put off till later, depending on their circumstances and their local situation.

Exactly!

Lauralou � at 08:59 However, I also think that it is important for us to be as inclusive as possible of the range of ways people react to and process new information. A big part of our goal here is: to bring awareness to people who may have never heard about pandemics before.

You guys are all doing such great work here. Kudos for taking the lead on this. I wish I were more available to help you all, and I may be at some future point. In the meantime, here’s an anecdote to mull as you consider your audience…

I was at my son’s soccer practice the other night shooting the bull with another mom. Come to find out she is a microbiologist. When I found this out I said, “So let me ask you then: Have you been paying any attention to what’s going on with H5N1?” She admitted she hadn’t really been paying attention.

We then proceed to have a discussion during which I fill her in (in the most innocuous way possible) about my concerns about H5N1, H2H, infrastructure instability, JIT, etc., reading her facial cues and body language to make sure I’m not overwhelming her and that she’s still interested. All good.

About 10 minutes into the conversation she says, “What I’m REALLY worried about is the next big flu.”

I didn’t understand. I thought that was what we were discussing, so I say, “What next ‘big flu’ do you mean?”

She says, “Well, you know, flus come in these waves every 100 years or so, these pandemic waves come along that are really bad.”

She had *no idea* that there was *any* connection between my concerns about H5N1 and her concerns about pandemic.

The phrase “connect the dots” pops up on a lot of threads here at the wiki.

I think a prime goal of the work you all are toiling over needs to be to “connect the dots” for visitors so that they can draw a correlation between H5N1, bird flu, avian flu, and pandemic flu news.

I also like Nightowl’s link to the Council of foundations: http://www.cof.org/Action/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3987&navItemNumber=4674/Council of foundations

I don’t think we should assume that newbies cannot process the information we are giving or that we will be too ‘harsh’ in presenting it.

The first time I learned about a pandemic I found this site. I clicked on Canada Sue’s novelette and began reading. Yes I felt concerned, even scared after reading it. I withdrew for awile, mulled it over and then came back to learn more.

I think we should provide a link to her scenerio. It does “connect the dots” and personalize the information. It makes all of the facts seem real.

That’s exactly what we did last year. we used Sandman and anard because it’s shorter than the superb novellette that Canada Sue wrote (which was the first piece added to Flu Wiki, by the way, with permission from the author).

Last year we said:

add to our tasks:

• updating the “tour”

reminder to us:

there’s lotsa stuff on the Main Page, and that’s what they’ll see when they come. We pass it by without seeing it.

read the PFAW page from last year and follow some of the links, or go to the main page and do the same. Try to look at it with fresh eyes (it’s hard!). ;-)

edited the page, added links and added a Q:

Q Won�t the government do this preparation for us?

The scope of a pandemic is beyond what the federal, state or local governments and health departments can cope with alone. If 30% of the work force is out sick, everything from hospitals to supermarkets (and possibly the internet) might not be functioning normally. Nor would �help� be available because the same thing would be happening in neighboring communities and states.

Edit away!!

bump

Perhaps we could phrase the bit about “federal, state or local govs” so that it is inclusive of countries with other levels? Perhaps provide a link to the list of country plans and then say that they are NOT enough at all because they are paper plans and deal with whatever they deal?

lugon,

I could be wrong about this, but I think most of the European plans assume that the government will do everything. I have seen no indication that European governments expect or even want their citizens to do any prepping at all. The sense I get is that they see a pandemic flu as a low risk, high impact event that is best handled by centralized planning. The de-centralized approach taken by the US is unusual.

This brings up the issue of cultural and political differences in preparations. I get the sense that the English-speaking world is more likely to suggest or at least tolerate individual prepping more than European countries. Most other countries do not pay any attention to the possibility of a pandemic flu at all. I’m not sure how to change this, but I think we need input from citizens of the countries we are trying to inform. A campaign aimed at Americans, or at least at the English-speaking world, may not be appropriate for France, for example.

So, we may need different PFAWs for different coutries. We will also need translators. Volunteers?

Monotreme � at 08:30 lugon,

I could be wrong about this, but I think most of the European plans assume that the government will do everything.

True.

This brings up the issue of cultural and political differences in preparations.

I have thought about this a lot, and I think it is not cultural at all. The biggest difference between America and other countries with regards to panflu is because Mike Leavitt persuaded/conned Bush into putting out that “let’s put cans of tuna under our bed” message.

The more I think about it, the more I think that was what made the biggest difference. Not because people are putting tuna under their beds, but because it legitimizes citizen participation, and makes it ok for officials and NGO’s to hold these meetings. The Federal government, by saying “you’re on your own”, (even though this has its own negative aspects), made everything else legitimate.

At the moment, the problem with Europe is the problem that I articulated in my Global Pandemic Awareness rant, that a clear message from the top is needed for everyone else to do stuff and not get slammed for scaremongering.

I’ve actually heard European officials say Oh the Americans are doing that cos of Katrina, as if the lessons of Katrina are idiosyncratic to Americans only! But I would suggest that Americans would behave in exactly the same way if Katrina had happened in Europe.

Shifting the focus from “the government will take care of us” to “OMG I need to do something” requires that ONE step from political leaders.

Then of course Leavitt went on his tour of every state. THAT was the second thing that he did right, to make sure local officials a) get it, and b) publicly got endorsement from the top. And the fact that he didn’t waste any time between ONE and TWO meant that he milked the Katrina effect for all it was worth.

So far, all kudos to Leavitt.

If that hadn’t happened, there are just as many Americans, officials as well as the public, who would pooh-pooh the idea. Imagine local government saying that to their community without that fall-back position, they would have been shouted down by everyone. The only reason why Bush was willing to give the nod to that was because Leavitt caught him at the aftermath of Katrina. If that didn’t happen, or if it was today, Bush would not have ok’ed it.

Unfortunately, Bush cannot be held as the model for the world, even though he did stumble into the right decision at the time.

Ok, so what about Europe, then?

Has ANY leader said anything? Can UK build on what US does?

???????????????????

Downloads for the Red ribbon campaign business size cards and ribbon design are now available here: ftp://www.singtomeohmuse.com

He has done a terrific job on these! Thanks DUDE!

ST

Need to shorten the file names for those of us not on Unix.

Windows chokes when you try to download them.

Says file does not exist.

when I try to log on to singtomeohmuse it asks me for a name and password??

anon_22 � at 09:33

Canada watches the same TV channels as the U.S., saw the ugly face of Katrina, lived through SARS, Quebec ice storm of 1998, Ontario Great Black Out of 2003, and yet the bureaucrats at Canada Public Health Agency puts ‘public relations’ ahead of every thing else and consistently suggests that the government has everything under control, so citizens don’t need to do anything.

History may record this as the misfortune of 2 minority governments in a row that caused this paralysis.

gharris, The login name is: wikimember

The pass word is wiki123

Dude, love the cards they look great. One question, On the back it directs them to the fluwiki2.com address. should we be directing them to fluwiki2.com or the main fluwiki.com? Just checking.

Dem, can you comment on the above? Tomo 14:23

For those interested in European pandemic plans (as well as other countries) check this link to European Influenza Survellience Scheme http://tinyurl.com/z6ajz

Hmmm, I did not catch that. It can be changed and reposted with whatever you folks want. Sorry, I have been away from the board for some time…we had guests visiting and something I have not done in years, a few days off! Grin. So, let me know about the card reference to fluwiki2.com etc. And thank you, I will tell my graphic designer that she did a good job…on her own time…in the evening…after working all day. Grin…have to blow her horn a little, she is not invlolved here at all. She did it as a favor to me.

www.fluwikie.com

Dude, great job acknowledged, of course - If I comment it’s because I like it a lot.

Science Teacher - I’ve looked at some of those plans, and maybe I fail to see it but I don’t see any mention of stock-piling or community preparedness. But there are many languages so it’s easy to miss things.

Lugon, I was hoping that maybe some of our international reader’s could comment on their own plans since so many of them are not in English. From the english ones I read the fact that there does not seem to be any message to promote individal stocking up of preps, is,I think, shocking. Would you want to start a new thread on this?

Lauralou, I was wondering if you would be able to restore the last edited version of the press release that you and annon-22 wrote so that we can take a look at it again? I tried to find it by looking on the history page but everything is so chopped up there with the edits. Thanks for your help! : )

Lauralou, I had the same problem, too, looking for the version you and anon_22 worked on.

It has been amazing following the iterations from Ranchgirl’s first draft (the hardest one I might add as she had to fly solo and everyone else gets to bounce off it) through to the latest version. I can see the continuing input of all the contributing editors and writers living on in each iteration as you all flow in and out. I just lost track on the tailend here as I follow them by number as opposed to by people since it is a collaborative effort.

{P.S. Thank you, Lauralou, for your comments and your points are well-taken.)

There are Spanish, French, Norwegian and Turkish versions of the FluWiki. I’m wondering if we could get some of the individuals involved in those efforts to translate PFAW, both linguistically and culturally, and create pages that could be linked to from relevant blogsites.

ANON-YYZ - I posted on Community Prep VI. You’ve got me thinking, too.

Science Teacher @18:08 and Nightowl @ 18:40

The press release looked to me like somehow the first paragraph had been edited off accidently. I put it back (and divided it into two for readability). Take a look and see if this seems right now.

Thank you, Lauralou. That was it. The press release is great, and looks as if it is nearly ready to go. The sentence with the 6 weeks implies that a pandemic may only last that long, but everything else looks really good to me. You all have done a really great job.

two new threads then:

• translate pfaw
• what’s covered by each country-plan - possibly a wikipage for that assessment

when they’re set up I (or anyone who does it first) will post the links here

out for at least one hour! ;)

Given the apparent lack of preparation and communication in my town, I have take certain steps to get my neighbors ready. To this end, I have written a 14 page document that I have entitled “Becoming Self-Sufficient for Six Months”. In this document I establish a basic understanding of the impending pandemic, then I address many of the potential consequences. Categorically, I discuss food, household supplies, water, disruptions of utilities and public services, and the challenge of emerging from a pandemic with diminished resources. Each section begins with a frank discussion, then is followed by bullet points that are meant as action items, cautionary statements, or straightforward advice.

Although this document was originally intended to provide my family with a way of organizing the information and wisdom you nice folks have shared here on the wikie, it has grown into something that is now worthy of sharing. So, that is what I’m doing locally. Systematically, I am taking paper copies of this document to my neighbors and I’m discussing the situation with them.

I’ll be the first to admit that my motives are not entirely altruistic. After all, these are responsible, tax paying adults who should be accountable for their own welfare; however, the better prepared my neighbors are to cope with a pandemic, the less they will require from me. Prior to this mission, I was the only prepper in my neighborhood. Today, out of the eight neighbors with whom I have shared this document, four have started prepping. That makes it a very worthwhile effort. As for the others, they have been alerted to the situation, they have been given a viable plan of action, and I will continue to urge them to prepare. Beyond that, well, let’s just say that they were given plenty of time to prepare, so if they find themselves uprepared, that was their choice.

How about the rest of you? I know that a certain amount of secrecy is essential in safeguarding your emergency provisions, but another way to safeguard them is to convince your neighbors to go out and get their own supplies. Surely, you do not want to be the only preppers on your block. Share your knowledge.

Dr Dave � at 07:15

You could post your document here on the fluwikie, over in the personal preparedness info so others might follow your example!

What you’re doing is essential to keeping peace in the neighborhood, especially if you live in close proximity to others.

I don’t think we’ll EVER explain to the average neighbor the importance of SIP, that’s a pretty overwhelming concept even for us, but if they have food, they’ll stay further away from us while we SIP!!

I’m so glad that you’re having results from your efforts, because everyone whom you influence will hopefully influence someone else!

lugon � at 07:11

this has been there, dormant, for a year. That was the idea of the section.

Dr Dave � at 07:15

send it to us at demfromct@earthlink.net and I’ll be happy to post it on Flu WIki.

dem, simpler to have a table with countries in rows, and columns with SIP, community involvement, and maybe other concepts - no?

and a thread to talk around the growingly populated table

just some fast-reading skills are needed

To DemFromCT,

I have sent my document, “Becoming Self-Sufficient for Six Months”, to you as a Word .doc file and as an Adobe .pdf file. Thanks very much for your offer to post it, and thanks to everyone on the wikie whose comments, observations, and advice contributed to the document.

For those of you who choose to download it and share it with frineds, relatives, and neighbors, I urge you to read it through first. Some of my comments may not reflect your philosophy, your outlook, or your interpretation of the events to come. Therefore feel free to adapt it to meet the needs of your community or your unique situation. Thanks.

Dr Dave, the readiness guides on Flu Wiki reflect different philosophies as well. We are a big tent, and no one really has all the answers. ;-)

note: not received yet.

Re communication, a colleague I blog with put up this story on a debunking he did about PETA attacking a basic science researcher.

Check the pic and the comments about MySpace and LiveJournal. I mention it re citizen communication.

Food for thought.

Interesting reading, Dem

Are there any bloggers from MySpace and Live joural reading this thread? If so, how about posting a link there to our PFAW page when it is finished?

Dem,

I have a couple link questions:

1. The “6 weeks” link which is to the Nebraska brochure, actually links to fluwikie2- is that okay?

2. The “Bird Flu and You..” from NDU link actually links to a page of posters. Are the posters the “quick guides”?

1. I have the nebraska guide on the wiki2 server. There’s actually a page from Nebraska that should be the actual link. It’s on the press release, ref 9:

http://www.hhss.ne.gov/pandemic/brochure.htm

I’ve corrected it.

2. yes.

Science Teacher � at 15:37

That’s exactly the question. One of us might need to sign up. ;-)

Summary to self:

• A pandemic is inevitable in the long run, and too likely in the next few months or years.
• First challenge is minimise transmission in order to slow things down. We know (theoretically) about washing hands and respiratory ettiquete, and we have (theoretically) simple masks; we need awareness, education and more. SIPing may work for some; for it to work for a larger number, there’s need for much increased awareness and preparedness.
• Second challenge is to keep essential services (including health-care where there is some) and supplies running. Not solved at all. Stocking up will help, as will planning (for disruption) at many levels (local being most important, but there are others).
• Both need the Awareness Week (or similarly oriented initiatives) to be successful.

Lugon,You are right on target. : )

Lauralou, thanks for posting the press release. I really like it.

Dem, who among us can talk teenage? We need the right lingo for myspace. : )

DemFromCT

I resent “Becoming Prepared for Six Months”.

Dr Dave � at 19:21 DemFromCT

I resent �Becoming Prepared for Six Months�.

Hi, I haven’t followed the past few days, and stumbled into this one post, and thought “what is he upset about?” Then I checked back and realized you meant “I sent it again”. LOL

LOL, I was wondering too!

re “resent” - same here! :-D

anyway - what are the countries advicing SIP and community preparedness outside US?

lugon � at 03:55

Check on Canada and especially NZ.

All English-speaking (at least partially) countries. Ricewiki mantained a list of translators - maybe we can tap unto that knowledge.

Can someone point me to the Press Release? I havent been able to find it. Thnx.

The press release is here. There is also a link from the PFAW 2006 page

Press Release Pandemic Flu Awareness Week 2006 I tried to copy them. If they don’t work go up this thread to Lugon at 4:25

I had a “wow” moment today while doing my Mama Lama service (our fond name for pack, haul/hold, drive). A magnetic PA ribbon for the car, complete with Pandemic Awareness bumper sticker underneath it and a big letters fluwikiedotcom bumper sticker next to that one.

Oops, meant to post on red ribbon thread, so feel free to delete above post on this thread.

If anyone has a comment on the magnetic ribbon, please do so on the Red Ribbon Campaign thread. I’ve already derailed the thread once, and I imagine Lauralou, et.al. would like to at least get the press release finished. Perhaps getting that done should be a priority for the moment, though everything else is important.

Dude posted today on the ribbon thread, his final version of card for the Ribbon Campaign. Corrections have been made and he has done a terrific job! It is now ready to download so please get started on making your ribbons and printing the cards. How to instructions can be found on the ribbon thread also along with ideas for where to distribute them. : )

ST

Ribbon Card is Here Red Ribbon Pandemic Awareness thread

Under our question: Won’t the government do this preparation for us?

Should we make some reference to vaccines and their availablity during the start of a pandemic?

Seems to me that this idea, “I’ll just get the flu shot” is a common spot for the misunderstanding that leads people to discount the possibility of a pandemic.

yes, good idea.

“Vaccines can not be counted on to protect us. Best estimates are that it will take a least six months from the start of a pandemic for a vaccine to be available, and even then, there likely will not be enough to go around,at least at first. “

wording to be played with.

I emailed my letter to Dr. Osterholm about the ribbon project and a link to the card picture. I will let you know if I hear back.

ST

We want to launch next week.

What? Are we ready? Documents and things?

that was me - lugon

they need to be close to ready next week… so we can send around the information that the Oct week is coming.

bump

We’ll be ready!

ok, someone please jot down the final to-do list, translations included! we may just need some place-holders for this … place-holders are fine, thanks!

We need a BIG picture (not a photo, but a map of the situation) for ourselves and for others. Some people like mindmaps, others speak of another story to be in …

bump

This is cross posted from this new thread

Two strands are coming together this week, rather accidentally but auspiciously, maybe.

I was in the Ethics workshop in DC these past 2 days. There were the usual suspects, you know, state, federal, scientists, some half-way clued-up, some not, and the usual range of insightful, extremely pertinent remarks (DA Henderson), pleas to look at the big picture, aka security of supply chain, global issues (Osterholm), and someone passionate who couldn�t keep her mouth shut (yours truly here).

Anyhow, it seemed we all agreed (I think) that it was a good idea to get the public informed and engaged, if only for the fact that the difficulties of pandemic mitigation and the hard choices that have to be made are beginning to filter into the minds of some of the officials, (and hopefully keeping them awake nights).

So. I thought we should take them at their word.

I know that among the audience there are some (number unknown) who are genuinely and actively exploring ways of engaging citizens, not just momentarily, but to build ongoing partnerships that will eventually provide the framework within which difficult choices and dilemmas such as triage can be discussed, and co-operative actions can be initiated.

I think it is a healthy thing. And I think we should help them.

The second strand is the launch of our Pandemic Flu Awareness Week 2006 campaign.

So I would like to suggest those of you who are doing any local publicity, to seek out your local officials and at least inform them of this campaign, and invite them to participate. Even if they are not going to be giving out cards like you, invite them to visit our site, start a conversation, stay in touch with them by email or whatever.

Be friendly. Be patient. Be helpful. Be aware that if they have any pandemic related responsibilities, they are now either going through or will soon be going through their first �adjustment reactions�. Be a resource, not a burden.

This idea of �citizen engagement� or �citizens as partners� is here to stay, out of necessity, IMHO. Even if your local official is not receptive at the moment, at some point in the near future (I hope) he will receive communications from �upstairs� telling him to do that. And if you�ve made the approach now, he might remember that you are someone whom he can count on to not freak out and might actually help him.

That is the point when you will be able to begin helping your community most effectively.

Please use this thread for ideas on how to enhance this bridge-building process.

Remember that come a pandemic, (almost) all solutions will be local. And �local� is where we need to bank our goodwill and creativity and energy.

Be a resource, not a burden.

Wonderful advice!

I would like to add a Q; tothe PFAW page and some links and pictures of the Ribbon and card. I need some help entering the following if anyone is available (sorry, haven’t mastered links or pictures yet!)

Q; How can I help raise my communitie’s Pandemic Influenza Awareness?

Please join our grassroots red ribbon campaign in your community by making and wearing red ribbons with the bright gold initials P and A on them. You can also choose a button or magnet design. Hand out the reference cards which provide websites for more information. Designs and instructions can be found here (link to ribbon thread) This is a good example of how fluwiki has collaboratively developed an idea to help raise community awareness.

Will you please join us in sharing this message with your community?

(Please feel free to edit)

oops,

Q community’s

I’ll put it on the page, ST.

The question and answer are there now, ST.

Just finished the first draft of an outline summary, which might be useful for new-comers and old-hands alike, maybe. If considered useful, we might refine it and fill it in with short sentences instead of keywords, and add links to apropriate places. This page might be translated to other languages.

The idea is that some people like to see the big picture first.

Is this a useful “big picture”? Jump in and edit if you like. Thanks!

Nightowl, thanks so much for your help. You are so great about popping up to help others!

Dem is looking for a ribbon picture to add like the one we used to have pasted on the top of this thread. The missing picture is no longer available I think. Does anyone have it saved somewhere?

lugon, I really liked your outline summary. Great idea to have something like that on hand as talking points for a speech or discussion. I like your idea of using words, facts, etc not links to fill in the information. It is always easier for me to talk from an outline. Thanks! Do you think maybe a new thread to get posters to build it up?

I made a red ribbon page and the card has the pic I was looking for.

Last year, lugon and others helped design our “tour”. Please take a look at tour level 1 aka what do i need to know? Does lugon’s new piece replace it?

Hello! I am SO SORRY … I cleaned out my photo bucket files and didn’t realize that it would delete graphics that were posted on here! Here is the red ribbon I had posted a while back:[IMG][/IMG]

Again, I’m sorry about that!