James Wesley Rawles is a former Army Intelligence officer who runs the popular disaster and emergency preparation website SurvivalBlog.com.
As an expert who has spent over a decades advising people on how to plan for a wide array of crises - including pandemics - we wanted to sit down asap with Jim to learn his practical recommendations for defending your home and family from the coronavirus threat.
In this interview, Jim and I get into the nitty-gritty of the "how to's", including:
- Masks/Gloves/Eye Protection/other PPE: What kind to get? How often can you use them? Tips for disinfecting? What options are there when supplies run out?- Surfaces: What cleaners/sanitizers are best? How to disinfect? How to deal with package deliveries?- Disinfection: How to re-enter your home without contaminating it?- Food & Water: What supplies to have in case of quarantine/store closures/prolonged utilities outages?- Home Care: Which supplies - like nebulizers and oxygen concentrators - will be useful in helping sick family members cope?- Community support: How to help prepare your neighbors in advance of an outage in your area? How to support each other during a community quarantine?
You'll want to listen to this podcast soon, as many of the resources Jim recommends are fast disappearing from retail shelves. It's nearly too late to acquire certain PPE (like N95 masks) and Jim identifies which supplies are most in danger of disappearing next (he strongly urges getting bulk food supplies asap before the run on those begins in earnest)