Household basics

Simple solutions work best

The good news is that you don’t always need fancy medicines to beat influenza. There are simple, everyday things we can all do to keep ourselves safe and limit its spread, but we have to prepare for these things now.

Plan to stay at home

If you get sick, or if health authorities ask us to limit the amount of time we spend away from home to slow the spread of the virus, you may need to stay at home for a few weeks. So, you should make sure you have enough food, water and basic household and medical supplies on hand.

Don’t forget about your usual medications – talk with your family practice team about ensuring you have everything you need before a pandemic hits.

Stocking up on food is very important even though it can seem a daunting and expensive task. Some people buy just one or two extra food items every time they go shopping. By putting these aside in a special place you will very soon have a useful emergency supplies kit.

Your emergency kit should also contain basic medical supplies like paracetamol and plasters. If you cut yourself or catch a cold during a pandemic you will need to be able to look after yourself at home. Help will be available for general medical emergencies but self care will be more important than usual at this time.

Get to know your neighbours

When pandemic influenza reaches New Zealand, we need to do all we can to look after friends and family and others who may need support, especially if they get sick.

During the 1918 pandemic, communities that had strong support networks fared the best.

Now is the time to start thinking about things you and your neighbours can do to help one another in the event of a pandemic.

A telephone support network is a great way to stay in touch and make sure people are OK or getting the support they need. While we will all want to stay away from crowds, both to protect ourselves and limit the spread of influenza, taking care of one another will become very important because so few of our usual social services will be available.

Keep informed

If you are at home for a long time it can be easy to lose track of what is happening in the rest of the community. During a pandemic it will be important to keep up to date so you know what is going on and what you need to do.

You can do this by listening to the radio and keeping in contact with friends and family. Having a battery powered radio (as well as spare batteries) in your emergency supplies kit is a good idea.