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Building a Separate Attachment for Quarantine Purposes

If someone in your family becomes ill, it may be necessary to put them into quarantine. Of course, you want to take care of your loved ones, but you also want to minimize infecting people who are not ill.

If you have a recreational vehicle, a pool house, garage apartment, detached garage, or guest cottage, you’ll have an easy time converting it into a quarantine area. You’ll start by cleaning out the area to make room for people who are ill and sealing off any exits and windows with plastic sheeting and duct tape.

You’ll also want to create a sign for the outside of the door that lets everyone know this area is for quarantine. This will keep unsuspecting people from becoming accidentally exposed to the illness you’re trying to contain.

Next, you need to create a sanitation station just outside the quarantine room so that you can put on protective supplies, dispose of used supplies, and wash your hands. This will help minimize exposure for people who are coming in and out to help those who are ill.

If you don’t have a shelter already in place, you do have other options. One thing you can do is set up a tent outside of your home. This should be near enough that you can get to it easily, but not directly attached to the house. For example, ten feet away in the backyard is a perfect spot.

For a tent, you’ll need to do your best to seal off areas, but know that you won’t be able to completely seal it effectively. The idea, though, is that you have created a separate area. In the case of most illnesses, very close contact is needed to transmit disease.

Regardless of the structure that you use, you need to make sure that you have equipment available for communication. The simplest system is a set of walkie talkies that allow you to communicate without being in the same room.

If those in quarantine are well enough to take care of their needs for food and sanitation, you’ll want to provide plenty of supplies in the quarantine area for them. If not, you’ll need to create a system to deliver what’s needed while wearing protective clothing and avoiding exposure.

Once you know that a pandemic is possible, begin to prepare these areas. Once someone is already sick, it might be too late to get everything set up. If you’re already prepared, you can take care of anyone who is infected immediately and minimize exposure to others.

Buying Your Own Protective Gear for Pandemics

When a zombie ebola pandemic breaks out, it’s important that you have protective gear on hand. Once the emergency happens, it will be very difficult to get what you actually need – so it’s crucial that you’re prepared ahead of time.

There are many different items that can help protect you, depending on the type of illness that’s spreading. In the case of a pandemic that would require this type of equipment, you’ll most likely be looking at a virus that has become airborne – but something like Ebola can be highly infectious in close quarters, and even sweat left on a doorknob can infect you!

Eye Protection

One way that disease is spread is through contact with the eyes. The eyes don’t offer the same protection that the rest of your skin does. If you come in contact with a virus and then touch your eyes, the virus can be delivered directly to your bloodstream.

Some masks also offer eye protection, but if you don’t have that type of mask, you at least want to have goggles. It’s also important to develop the habit of washing your hands before touching your eyes at any time.

Gloves

Gloves are essential for allowing you to touch people and surfaces that might be covered in virus. You’ll want to purchase multiple sizes of non-latex gloves because latex is a common skin allergy. Even if you’re not currently allergic to latex, it’s important to note that a latex allergy can develop at any time.

N95 Masks

Masks can help cover your mouth and nose to avoid infection. But it’s important that you get a mask that’s actually rated to prevent viruses from passing. Viruses are very small and a simple surgical mask isn’t enough for protection.

You’ll want to purchase N95 masks that are rated to keep viruses out. Most of these masks are not reusable, so you’ll need to have a large supply on hand in various sizes for the members of your family.

Biohazard Suits

The most expensive (but important) thing you can purchase is a biohazard suit. This is a suit that protects you from head to toe when you’re going into an area that’s heavily affected by a pandemic. These suits are reusable, but must be sanitized properly before taking them off.

You’ll only need one suit per member of your family, but you need to make sure it fits properly. It’s a good idea to go through your supply every year and evaluate to see if you need to purchase additional sizes.

Booties

Booties are disposable covers for your shoes that help you to prevent tracking in disease on your feet. They’re usually one size fits all, so you can purchase several boxes of one size for your home.

Disinfecting Supplies to Stock Up on for Pandemics

When a pandemic occurs and you fear for your family’s health and safety, it might be too late to get the supplies you need. Think about those times when a bad storm is headed your way and the store sells out of essentials.

With a pandemic, it will be difficult to get the most important things you need, so you need to stock up on them ahead of time and be prepared. Let’s take a look at the most important things you’ll need to keep onhand.

Bleach is an inexpensive solution for cleaning and it kills germs better than just about anything else. You can use it to sanitize surfaces by diluting it with water. You can also use it to clean soiled linens to disinfect them if someone in your own home is affected by illness.

Bleach can also be used for water purification when needed. Because you dilute bleach for every use, you don’t need to have huge amounts on hand. But having two or three gallons per person in your household is a good idea.

Bleach needs to be stored in a temperature controlled environment away from very high heat or temperatures below freezing. In the proper conditions, it has a shelf life of about one year, so make sure that you rotate it and replace it when necessary.

Gloves are essential safety equipment to allow you to touch surfaces and infected people without worrying about infection. It’s best to purchase non-latex gloves so that anyone can use them regardless of skin allergies.

Make sure that you have gloves in a variety of sizes. Remember that gloves can only be used one time, so you want to have a good amount. A good number to aim for is 4 boxes of latex gloves per household.

One of the best things you can use to clean your home is plain old soap and water. You don’t need to have antibacterial soap since it only causes bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics and doesn’t do anything special for viruses.

Brands such as Dawn and Ivory or Castile soap are all good for storage. Make sure to add extra when you find these items on sale.

If you’re running low on cleaning supplies, you can also get natural disinfection by using sunlight. Items exposed to direct sunlight for at least six hours will be disinfected.

Hanging items on a clothesline or placing them on the ground where they get direct sunlight for at least six hours are great alternatives to help you conserve your disinfecting supplies.