Be honest, are any of you stock piling because of swine flu, and if so what?

[Bumperslucious]

I can't believe I am starting a swine flu thread! Anyway, just wondering if anyone is stockpiling, in fact I know some of you are.

Can you give me rational reasons as to why I should and what sort of stuff? My freezer isn't very good so were I to stock pile (hypothetically so to speak) what would be good items?

nhs advice is to have a good store of paracetamol etc and 2 weeks' food. i have bought a couple of sausages in jars, beans etc

it wouldnt take much for there to be a noticeable effect on supermarket shelves, e.g. no bread but we wont starve. i wouldn't rely on delivery services to keep running though as there would be fewer drivers and pickers plus increased demand.

anyway i like to have stocks in for general emergencies or sudden on a whim camping trips.

Why not call it what it is which is being prepared by having stuff in the house?

Calling it stockpiling makes it sound like you're getting ready for the end of the world!

I read the NHS info yesterday and saw I had no dc paracetomol left so I bought Ibuprofen and paracetomol for dd. So if she were to wake up middle of the night feeling awful, I would be sure to have something that might help. I was also concerned reading about the problems some people on MN had in getting tamiflu. I also don't know if you NEED tamiflu, no idea, but I wanted to be sure I had something and if not SF, it may be used for something else in time.

I think generally as a mother, it is a good idea to have a bit of extra food, drink stacked up in case you are ever to sick to go and get things and no one is around to help. It isn't like filling your cellar in case of a nuclear attack.

snap! squeaky

I started stockpiling when the swine flu thing first broke in Mexico months ago. dh was horrified at the amount I spent on tinned food, and that noone was actually allowed to eat it .
I bought:

Paracetamol
Bottled Water
OJ in cartons that can be kept out the garage
Tinned food including beans, soups, pies, casserole things, tinned carrotts etc
Toilet Roll
Disinfectant

Mad as you like, but reminded dh that when hes in the cul de sac being eaten by zombies and begging to be let in I shall look at him through the window whilst eating my cold fray bentos chicken pie grin]

I was thinking it might be a good idea just to have a general emergency box and add things like water, candles and matches and stuff. Just thinking, paper plates etc. might be a good idea in case the water goes off (not because of SF, just in general). Not such a stretch of the imagination when we were stuck with no water for 2 weeks after the floods when DD was 3 months old. There were no stocks of hand sanitiser in the shops here then.

no, but i wished we had. i've just had it, was too ill even to place an internet order. left it to DP and we ended up with £25 worth of gorgeous steak but no butter But you know what, he did more than i could have managed at the time so i was v grateful

February, 1973 - rota power cuts because of miners strike; me just home with newborn DD2; DD1 3yo. We lived in an all electric block of ten flats; 5 other babies/toddlers in the block. We were the ONLY family to have a means of boiling water during rota 4 hour power offs (a camping stove) + candles, torches with batteries, flasks and hot water bottles. Constant stream of neighbours asking for a panful of boiled water for the babies bottle (I was breast feeding!) or a cup of tea. All running up and down the stairs in the pitch dark carrying boiling water. I was so shocked that they had made no preparation whatsoever.

My parent's generation, who raised their babies in wartime, may not have had all the luxuries we deem necessary nowadays, but they would always have had a stock of food, medicine, powdered milk and an alternative source of heat and light. We have, over the years, had lengthy power cuts, been snowed in and all been ill at once, nothing too serious, but have been glad that we had our emergency stuff to hand.

The issue though is not whether we can individually get outside to get to the shops, or to our PCs to place an internet order. If enough people are off sick at once it will have a knock on effect on the transport system so it's possible that healthy people might not be able to get to work either and so supply chains may grind to a halt.

I am going to make sure we've got enough medicines, tissues, wipes and cleaning stuff, and freeze some extra milk and bread and get in some frozen veg and fruit. We grow a lot of our own veg and salad so will be fine on that score.

i remember having flu when my ds was 1. i was a single mum and fortunately moved into new house so well stocked. will never forget how hard that was, being sick while stirring beans. not the best situation! will stock up again tomorrow!

AB40N It is not the transport workers that are the big worry, it is the gas, electric and water workers. Imagine 25% of these workers are ill and there is a fault or overload somewhere, which happens all the time. Not enough workers to repair fault so system breaks down or has to be shut down for safety. No power = no shops open, no PCs, no freezers, NO TV! no water either if no power for pumps. So - emergency supplies should be mainly tins, powdered milk, bottled water, etc.

I've always had a bird flu cupboard. UHT milk, pasta, lentils, tins, extra meds (paracetemol, Tylenol, ventolin). Not that I'm worried about supply chains collapsing, but more that if we get it, we don't have to go out to the supermarket or have contact with a delivery driver and spread it.

Granny I completely agree. My point was essentially that it's the services we all rely on ceasing to work because of high sickness levels that will cause the problems, rather than the fact that I as an individual might feel too ill to get to the shops for a few days. It was late when I was posting and I didn't flesh out my point

we've stockpiled everthing, bunker has been dug in the back garden to house the overspill.

doors and windows are also taped up with gaffer tape. we won't be leaving the house till 2012 at the earliest.

After Lulumama's thread I bought paracetamol, calpol, tissues and dioralyte. Only one pack of each though.

I always have stocks of pasta, rice, lentils etc and stock in the freezer anyway (not much use if I can't cook it though I suppose!).

Personally I wouldn't get things like UHT milk or fray bentoes because the thought of eating them when well makes me gag so there is no way I'd be able to face them if I was ill.

we have been discussing at work for a way of keeping the company ticking over if a high proportion of the work force was sick at the same time.

its the things you take for granted - that the busses will be running, that the cash points will have cash in them, that the shops will deliver food (or that food will even get to the shop), that the gas and electricity will be working etc.

I think the government said a while ago that some of the first people to get the vaccine will be people who work in provisions (gas and electric workers etc) alone with those high risk people to try to keep infrastructure from breaking.

Dp is insisting I stockpile but not because of swinefle but because I don't drive and we live in the middle of nowhere. So I am buying a chest freezer to put in some food.

I do know someone that works in a local hospital and she keeps passing on scare stories about empty shelves in pharmacies so I did bung into my trolley some flu capsules and paracetamol. But only because we had none.