Local Red Cross Chapter advises stocking up for flu outbreak

The Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross, serving disaster preparation and response needs of eastern and northern Maine, is responding to recent World Health Organization and Maine Center for Disease Control announcements regarding the current outbreak of 2009 A H1N1 swine flu with increased efforts to help Mainers avoid spreading the illness and prepare for any flu-related emergency. The Chapter urges good respiratory hygiene and stocking up for two weeks of possible isolation.     WHO has increased its global pandemic alert to phase 5, indicating widespread human-to-human transmission. Gov. John Baldacci has declared a civil emergency “to allow the state to better respond to the emerging threat posed by” the flu that has sickened seven Mainers. The state will spend more than $2 million in federal stimulus money to buy 500,000 antiviral medicine doses to treat Mainers.
According to Gretchen O’Grady, the Pine Tree Chapter’s emergency services director, Mainers should be prepared to respond to 2009 A H1N1 flu as for other emergencies. “This flu, commonly known as swine flu, is a respiratory infection like other strains of influenza,” O’Grady said. “The best thing families and individuals can do right now is maintain proper hygiene. Wash your hands regularly. Cough into your sleeve or a tissue rather than into your hands. Stay home and away from work or school if you or your family members are sick.”
In view of the flu’s continuing growth in Maine and recommendations to keep infected children out of school for at least seven days, the Pine Tree Chapter now also recommends stocking two weeks’ of supplies at home to reduce the need to go out if the outbreak becomes more widespread and authorities temporarily close schools or businesses. The Red Cross recommends having a 14-day supply of food, household necessities such as laundry detergent or soap and toilet paper, and a gallon jug of water per person per day stored in clean plastic containers. Be sure to have infant formula, food for special nutritional needs, essential medicines and medical items and pet food.
Plan for what you will do if you have to stay at home for a period of time. Talk with your family members and loved ones about how you will care for each other if you get sick. Talk with your employer to find out plans to keep the business open if key workers cannot get to work. Ask your child’s school or day care provider if they have plans to encourage sick children to stay home to reduce the spread of flu. Make sure you know how to get information about any pandemic through local radio, television, the Internet, or other sources.
While Mainers can take steps to prevent the spread of this illness, people who develop flu-like symptoms should contact their health care provider, who can determine the best course of treatment. Those symptoms include quick onset of high fever, body aches, extreme tiredness, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, vomiting or diarrhea.
Questions about public health or the status of 2009 A H1N1 swine flu in Maine can be answered by calling the Maine CDC at 1-888-257-0990.  Up-to-the-minute updates on the swine flu can be found at www.cdc.gov.
The Pine Tree Chapter continues to work with state and county agencies and to prepare for possible increases in the flu outbreak. The local Red Cross will continue to help Mainers affected by local disasters such as house fires, provide Armed Forces Emergency communication services and maintain the Red Cross Safe and Well Registry to keep family members informed about the location and status of Mainers affected by the flu.
The Red Cross in Maine recommends you take this opportunity to prepare your family for any disaster by putting together a preparedness kit, making a plan, and being informed. For more tips on how to prepare yourself,  your family and community for this and other potential emergencies, go to www.pinetree.redcross.org or call O’Grady, or Shannon Cox, executive director at your local Pine Tree Chapter Red Cross office Caribou at 207 493-4620.