SHTF, the FLU, Contingencies

I went for a early morning run last week, it was a bit chilly and windy but it wouldn’t have been the first time the weather didn’t cooperate with my plans.  The rest of the day went well although in the evening I felt a bit sore and went to bed early.  The next morning the symptoms started to set in and I was in bed for a “nap” by noon, just to shake it off before going out to run some errands.  I would be in bed for almost another 48 hours straight.  Body aches, pounding headaches, fever,  sweating as if I were in a sauna (but still under blankets and shivering).  I lost 6 lbs in 2 days and it wasn’t because I was working out, probably because I sweat it all out.  I had to change clothes a few times and my wife had to wash our sheets, it looked like someone dumped a bucket of water on me while I was laying in bed.

All told I was down for 3 days and took 2 more to fully recover.  I can’t tell you the type and amount of pills I took because there were quite a few which ranged from standard OTC to prescription stuff.  I just know my wife brought them to me and I took them (she’s a nurse btw) and they did make things a bit more tolerable.  Essentially I was useless though, I had no strength in my body whatsoever and just wanted to sleep to make it go away.

Fortunately we live in a time and place where taking some time off from work isn’t that big of a deal.  I’m not exactly needed anywhere so it was possible for me to lay in bed for days with a wet rag on my forehead feeling sorry for myself.  I had access to plenty of meds and if things got worse could have made the 5 minute trip to the ER for more treatment.  However if SHTF was going down things could have been much worse.  What’s trending right now, maybe the riots in Baltimore.  What if there were gangs of thugs roaming the streets bent on violence and burning things down?  What if access to proper medications was not possible?  I suppose I would have just had to suck it up and drive on but anyone who has been as sick as I was knows that’s tall order.

Here’s the lesson: don’t be the possessor of all knowledge and all things prepping.  If you go down does your wife / family / children know where things are, how to operate them, plans and backup plans.  Any one of us can go down for one reason or another and how well the operation keeps moving without us will be a testament to how much time we put into preparing.  I’m confident in my wife and daughter’s abilities to carry out many of our tasks should they find themselves in a bind without me.  I know this because we didn’t just discuss the tasks, I explained them and they executed them (and continue to on occasion as refresher training).  We all like to think we are tough and capable of pushing through in adverse situations but if the flu gets you like it got me, even shuffling to the bathroom can almost be a bridge too far.