Mitigating the threat of Ebola or other pandemic in UK.

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:20 am

I am sufficiently concerned of the risk of an Ebola epidemic to start to make some proper preparations.

Obviously food and water stocks are important and this is already taken care of, but need some bolstering so that in a worst case scenario I could live off my stocks comfortably for 6-8 weeks without leaving my property. Also fuel is taken care of.

I am interested in what sensible preps need to be made in terms of face masks, disinfectants, gloves, etc. links to ebay for specific products etc. would be useful.

Can we list some sensible supplies in this thread in order to help us all and our friends and loved ones, should this get as bad as feared?

Mean Mr Mustard · Post by **Mean Mr Mustard** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:36 pm

A well informed friend advises:

beer is good because it’s easy to make and the low levels of alcohol are sufficient to make it safer, biologically, than water to drink when the water supply is suspect.

Surely one ebola thread will do..... for now?

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:04 pm

Great - have added beer cans - which can be bought cheaply in bulk - to my list

This thread is all about preparations MMM, the other thread is about News on Ebola - I think it is right to have 2 threads.

tpals · Post by **tpals** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:26 pm

So, in a worst case scenario where someone in your home is infected and has to be cared for (hospitals full) what supplies would be needed? How long does it remain contagious?

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:14 pm

A small plastic fish pond could be used at your gate to disinfect a person, a garden centre incinerator next to it for their clothes and a waterproof box for other possessions. Cheap tent in the garden, stocked with plenty of water and re-hydrate sachets plus ready-to-eat food, a small gas stove and cooking equipment. After 20 days you can let them inside the house and prep the tent for any other visitors.

Inside the house, disposable paper overalls, filter masks and face shields, in case you have to administer aid.

Lots of disinfectant.

Post by **adam2** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:16 pm

I would suggest large stocks of latex gloves or similar, to reduce the risks in touching infected persons or articles.
Face masks, and goggles or preferably a full face visor to protect against splashes of body fluids from an infected person coughing etc.

Surgical or isolation gowns reduce the risks to those caring, these need to be either disposable (burn the used ones) or re-usable cotton (sterilise by prolonged boiling) 10 reusable garments or 100 disposables might be a reasonable supply.

The patient will likely soil clothing and bedding, have plenty of replacements either disposable or boilable.
White cotton sheets and cotton blankets can be sterilised by prolonged boiling.
Household mattresses cant be cleaned, much less sterilised, and should be burnt after the patient either recovers or dies. Consider a spare kept wrapped up until after the emergency.
The bed ridden patient should wear either a hospital type gown or cheap cotton nightwear that can be sterilised by prolonged boiling. Have plenty of spares, 20 might be a reasonable minimum.
Plenty of cheap hand and bath towels, white so that they can be seen to be clean, sterilise after each use by prolonged boiling.

ANY clothing or bedding etc that cant be boiled thoroughly should be destroyed by fire if it may be infected.

Ebola kills partly be dehydration, a very substantial stock of oral re-hydration salts should be kept, 100 packs is not excessive.

Also useful
A garden type incinerator for the safe and effective burning of infectious waste, and some fire wood and diesel fuel or paraffin to assist in making a hot fire.
A large metal container in which laundry may be boiled over a fire or gas ring.
A water container with an outlet tap, to contain strongly chlorinated water for hand washing etc.
Plenty of chlorine bleach and laundry detergent.

As well as the above Ebola specific preps, remember that shops may be empty and utility service interrupted, therefore review general doomer preps including-
Emergency lighting
Food stocks.
General first aid supplies.
Drinking water and water treatment supplies.
Toilet paper and other cleaning and hygiene supplies.
Off grid cooking and heating arrangements.
Fuel for vehicles, lanterns, stoves etc.
Other useful tools supplies and consumables.

These more general doom preps need not be discussed in detail in this thread as there are numerous existing threads to which comments, enquiries and suggestions may be added.

fuzzy · Post by **fuzzy** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:49 pm

It might be useful to know what kills ebola. Obviously bleach, but what about other disinfectants? You won't have a house and clothes for long if you spray bleach everywhere. Bleach in an operating theatre is suprisingly dilute so that it does not corrode metal, and is mopped between every case. The bleach is very fresh and presumably is a guaranteed concentration so that you can safely dilute it and rely on it. It would be worth knowing about:

Iodine solution, TCP, Permanganate, Peroxide, Chloroxylenol

any info gratefully received

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:19 pm

fuzzy wrote:It might be useful to know what kills ebola. Obviously bleach, but what about other disinfectants? You won't have a house and clothes for long if you spray bleach everywhere. Bleach in an operating theatre is suprisingly dilute so that it does not corrode metal, and is mopped between every case. The bleach is very fresh and presumably is a guaranteed concentration so that you can safely dilute it and rely on it. It would be worth knowing about:

Iodine solution, TCP, Permanganate, Peroxide, Chloroxylenol

any info gratefully received

What about vinegar, baking soda, washing soda, etc? Easy to get hold of in reasonable quantities but any good in this case?

Post by **adam2** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 11:01 pm

For disinfection generally, I would prefer chlorine solution/bleach.
This is cheap, readily available, easy to use, and known to be effective against all common viruses and other disease causing organisms.

If life is at stake, damage to clothes and furnishings is just one of those things.

Chlorine tablets are readily available, the smaller ones are mainly for lightly chlorinating drinking water.
Larger tablets are available for sterilising water tanks, swimming pools and hot tubs. These are ideal for making stronger chlorine solutions for hand washing or sterilising equipment, laundry etc.
It would be prudent to keep a stock of small tablets, large tablets, and of chlorine test papers by means of which the chlorine concentration may be estimated.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:21 am

And while we're on the look out for diseases, if we get a hot summer next year keep an eye out for malarial mosquitoes because they're moving rapidly northwards with the warming climate.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 7:12 am

Farm suppliers sell useful disinfectants, usually used in pressure washers to clean cowsheds / pigpens. I bought some surplus stock at £1 or so for 2.5 litre bottles.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:21 am

Er, before everyone starts spraying bleach and the disinfectants that kill the 99% of harmless household germs, think about the holistic view of our immune response systems that develops through challenges.

jonny2mad · Post by **jonny2mad** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:10 am

Hmm I have british army NBC clothing I think with a s10 gasmask thats still I think the standard british army gasmask, although you have newer fm12 and ct12 masks .

Basically I wouldnt try treating any one with ebola or any other pandemic type disease I would just cut myself off from the rest of the world .

So concentrate on food storage and water storage and dont wander about just hermit

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 4:58 pm

jonny2mad wrote:.... I would just cut myself off from the rest of the world.

To me that seems to be the safest and surest option.

The question then becomes, how long do you need to do that for? To which I struggle to get any meaningful answer..... any thoughts anybody?

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 5:12 pm

Crude estimate,

With a doubling time of about 1 month, and, say, 100 index cases before the infection is made public, then everybody would have been infected in the UK after about 14 months. That's a long time to sit it out.

Not practical, in my opinion. Either it is kept out or we all take our chances sooner or later. The only reason to delay is to wait for the chance of rapid distribution of a vacine