Pandemic: Why Your Warning System Is Everything

 If you’re sitting at home, and suddenly the power goes out, your car stops working and you can’t get any stations on your radio, then you can be fairly certain that one of three possible scenarios has just occurred:


  • Your region was just hit by an unusually massive X-class solar flare.
  • The U.S. was just hit by a high-altitude EMP device.
  • The U.S. has just been engaged in nuclear warfare.


All three scenarios listed, require three different courses of action and therein lies the problem. If suddenly this type of catastrophic event occurs, then you’ll be happy that you had a way to monitor radiation levels because option 3 would certainly be the most severe of them all.


Man in Gas Mask

So, how do you keep track of another highly likely crisis occurrence of the biological nature? How do you ascertain whether or not it was an attack or just an extremely contagious disease? What warning systems can you trust? Because we’ve seen time and time again …


Trusting the public is often like following a company of brainless beings off a cliff.


Why Public Perception Can Deceive You

It’s not the average Joe that we need to be worried about. If anything, the one quality that word-of-mouth has going for it … is the fact that it’s a decentralized source of information, and that can’t logistically support a single propagandized agenda.


However what your neighbor’s cousin’s ex-wife told you by word-of-mouth, might be completely and totally inaccurate and listening to it would be tantamount to betting your life on a rumor, which is a major gamble. Though you don’t necessarily have to gamble on word-of-mouth with this crisis.


One of the biggest differences between a pandemic and just about any other crisis, is the fact that society’s infrastructure is still left intact. That means you’ll still be able to flip on the radio or TV and receive news about what’s going on.


But there’s two fundamental problems with trusting in major news networks during a biological catastrophe.


Your Preparedness Depends on Information

Let’s think about what we would be able to assume if we began to hear news about a fast-spreading pandemic, which could have been the result of a biological attack …

  • First, we’d at least have an idea that we could be under attack, but we wouldn’t know from whom it had originated (considering that the news media itself could be compromising with the enemy to coerce the population).
  • Second, we wouldn’t know if the government is pushing a nefarious agenda in hopes of driving public fear. Although it wouldn’t be the first time a government has engaged in that type of behavior.
  • Third, if local and internet news sources are telling people to run to the hills, whereas the major news networks are telling people that everything is fine … then you can be fairly certain that either CNN hasn’t the foggiest as to what is happening … or the government is cutting its losses, because it has depleted its resources on combating the spreading disease.
  • Fourth, the news is giving accurate, helpful information, and assisting the government in keeping as many individuals out of harm’s way as possible. Though, after Hurricane Katrina, Waco, 9/11, and just about every other disaster that the U.S. government has attempted to handle … I think I’d rather trust my gut.

Either way, your preparedness depends on good information; if your information source hasn’t proven itself to be exactly credible over the years, then perhaps you need to count on a different source.


Your Information Depends on Good Sources

I’ve generally stopped trusting in the public’s ability to look after my family and me. That’s why I lean toward using a private sector, a third party service or I rely on my own knowledge and technical capabilities when I’m trying to access good information.


For instance, companies like DataTech911 would be a fantastic choice for two main reasons:

  • They’re centralized enough to provide consistent, accurate information.
  • Yet they aren’t a government agency which could have an agenda, or a tendency to be infested with complete and total incompetence.

Another great option would be to have an insider source within emergency medical services, a crisis-management arm of the government or even local police. If you were able to maintain contact with someone, or several people, who have eyes on the developing situation, then this would be a huge advantage.


Of course, there’s always the option of purchasing a police scanner but listening to reports about gas station robberies all day could get old quickly.


Alicia grew up in Alaska where she earned her hunter and wilderness safety license at age 13. She now works as a content coordinator for a tech company in Pennsylvania and blogs in her free time at Homey Improvements.

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