I have a feeling this is the default thinking for many folks, and will almost certainly contribute to a lot of the panic, chaos and FUD if it happens; few make preparations when they want and expect the worst to hit directly. I'm not questioning you personally ki4buc (hey, you visit here - so I assume you're better off than most!), but what happens if such a person weren't a target, but close enough to feel the aftereffects of either a man made or natural disasters?

There's a whole lot bad that can be said about those forgone days, but I do wish that all communities kept up at least a semblance of preparedness when it comes to facilities, food and water, etc. instead of just medical (which rarely is driven by the community itself).

The real problem during catastrophic failure of civilization is not the initial devastation, but the throngs of survivors with little to no preparation after the fact. This, in turn, leads to a usurpation, or at least the attempt, of the supplies and facilities of the prepared via mob violence, theft, or even martial law. It's relatively cheap to setup and maintain supplies and encourage individuals to do the same. But that's not sexy and it's hard to sell that on the news like a pandemic, eh?

We don't have to look far for examples in our own back yard. At least we seem to have improved our medical emergency responsiveness, but many on the inside will tell you of the fragility of the system. And really, outside of the red cross, we have FEMA - a laughing stock to most and a horrible scourge to many. ;-) If they are going to spend my tax money, I just wish they would do it effectively.

I was flabbergasted when I recently heard the medical professionals on TV stating that one of the best things people can do to help with the swine flu is to be prepared... have day-care lined up, have food and medical supplies stocked up in case you need to bunker down for a week or two. I would love to see more of that clear-headed thinking on TV. Who's for PSAs encouraging people to store months worth of food and water, visit sites such as this and the government run ones for lists and recommendations?