Wal-Mart's Pandemic Survival Brochure

Wal-Mart's warns of deadly bird flu pandemic.

I saw this large display at my local Wal-Mart on Saturday. The table contained fire extinguishers, first aid kits, crackers, canned food and smoke detectors. They also had two very interesting brochures for the public. The first brochure was a disaster prep guide for people with disabilities and it suggested that the physically disabled make pre-arrangements at a local shelter. The second basically warned that we are in for a bird flu pandemic and that you should be prepared with at least three days worth of survival supplies.

Now the funny thing was that I was on my way to the check out with a cart containing 32 pounds of Brown Rice, 42 pounds of Small Elbow Macaroni, 26 pounds of Large Lima Beans and 26 pound of Black Beans. It was their entire stock of Brown Rice, Large Lima Beans and most of the Black Beans, I had stripped the shelfs, there was some elbow macaroni left. When I saw the brochure on my way to the checkout with its three day stockpile suggestion I just started laughing out loud.

Here are some highlights from the pandemic warning brochure:

* More than half of all Americans are not prepared for emergencies.

* Most say they do not think a public health crisis is likely, but our country has experienced three pandemic flu outbreaks in the last century. The 1918 pandemic killed 675,000 people in the U.S. alone.

* Pandemics are unpredictable. And as history has shown us, another pandemic is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

* The more familiar seasonal flu causes nearly 1,000 hospitalizations in Colorado each year.

* Staying healthy is one of the most important ways to be prepared for a public health emergency.

* Preventing respiratory illnesses like colds and flu is relatively simple:

- Wash your hands
- Cover your coughs and sneezes
- Get a seasonal flu vaccination every year

* During a disease outbreak such as pandemic flu, it could become important to stay home and avoid large groups of people where germs could spread.

* If you are prepared to stay home to wait out a pandemic, you will be prepared for almost anything.

Now you know thing are going to get bad if the government is teaming up with Wal-Mart to hand out disaster preparation guides. I have always had a feeling that Wal-Mart has been given the exclusive post disaster relief and citizen documentation roll. They have the supply and inventory control mechanisms already in place, you are used to waiting in line there so no shock to the system and with their camera and data infrastructure you can quickly be documented and tagged as you check out.

Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart