Alton's Pandemic Preparedness Guide: Dealing with Emerging and Current Viral Threats

In the Alton’s Pandemic Preparedness Guide, Dr. Joseph Alton, a Medical Doctor and Amy Alton, a Nurse-Practitioner, tell you what strategies will give you the best chance of keeping your family safe during infectious disease outbreaks. The Altons have been researching and writing about this subject for over 10 years.

They discuss all you need to know about home care of the sick patient, face masks (what you need and how to reuse them) and personal protection equipment gear (how to put on and take them off safely), prevention measures called non-pharmaceutical intervention, including hand hygiene and social distancing, and even boosting your immune system to give you the best chance of preventing severe illness. You’ll learn all about various viral threats, but especially the pandemic diseases, and basics about what viruses are, the origins of viral research, the history of viral pandemics, and more.

The Altons discuss, in plain English, how viruses cause respiratory diseases like pneumonia and how they cause severe consequences. They talk you through the basics of immunity, mutations, and the different viral types. Pandemics cause the existing medical infrastructure to be stretched to the limit; even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization realize that the family caregiver, along with personal protection equipment and an effective sick room may help mild cases of viral infections more than overcrowded and understaffed hospitals.

This book is meant to help you defend against viral diseases that have been, are, and will be threats against your family and community.

Alton’s Pandemic Preparedness Guide is written by well-known medical preparedness advocates Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP, authors of the 2017 Book Excellence Award 1st place winner in medicine, “The Survival Medicine Handbook: …When Help is Not on the Way” and the 2020 Book Excellence Award 1st place winner in medicine “Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease, The Layman’s Guide…”. The pandemic of 2020 caused a great deal of damage, both physical and economical to just about every nation in the world. Hundreds of thousands were affected in many ways: sickness, death, financial ruin, disruption of the chain of supply, and much more.

You’ll also find out about how the 2020 pandemic went from being almost unknown to the general public before 2020 to one worldwide issue for humankind. Lessons have taught us harsh lessons, and it’s clear that we are still in the initial stages of the war against all viral infectious diseases.

If your concern is how to prepare for outbreaks of viral disease, Alton’s Pandemic Preparedness is the book you’ll want in your library.

Dr. and Ms. Alton are both certified Advanced Wilderness Expedition Providers (AWEP) and the founders of an award-winning survival medicine and first aid educational website at Doom and Bloom. Joseph Alton MD, FACOG, FACS practiced as a board-certified Obstetrician and Pelvic Surgeon for close to 25 years before retiring to devote his efforts to preparing families medically for disaster scenarios. A Life Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and retired Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a contributor to many well-known preparedness, survival, and homesteading magazines, and a member of Mensa. Amy Alton ARNP, CNM is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner and a Certified Nurse-Midwife. She has had years of experience working in large teaching institutions. She is the designer of a popular line of hand packed, high quality first aid and trauma kits. Their mission is dedicated to keep you and your family safe and healthy.

*Also available on Amazon, if you prefer, (this is our Amazon Affiliate link, we get a small fee if you buy there through this link, at no cost to you): https://amzn.to/2yiXCzr

Table of Contents

THE PROBLEM WITH STATISTICS.....................................................................104

WHEN COVID-19 IS CONTAGIOUS: INCUBATION PERIODS.................108

QUARANTINE: CIVIL LIBERTIES VS. PUBLIC HEALTH.............................. 111

TREATING CORONAVIRUS INFECTION.........................................................113

114 Clinical Trials

PREVENTING CORONAVIRUS INFECTION................................................... 117

119 Containment Vs. Mitigation

121 Flattening The Curve

NON-PHARMACEUTICAL INTERVENTIONS (NPIS)...................................122

123 Personal NPIs

124 Social NPIs

125 Who Benefits Most By Social Distancing?

126 CDC Recommendations For Caregivers

131 Boosting Your Immune System

CORONAVIRUS AND PETS.................................................................................. 141

142 Coronavirus In Dogs

144 Coronavirus In Cats

SECTION 6: The Effective Sick Room................................ 147

SICK ROOM BASICS...............................................................................................148

150 Disinfectants and Contact Times

153 Does washing clothes kill viruses like coronavirus?

HOME CARE FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS..........................................................154

155 Who Is Eligible For Home Care?

157 Home Care Guidelines

161 Managing Contacts

162 Helpful Tips For Home Care

164 Ending Home Care

165 Respiratory Hygiene

PERSONAL PROTECTION GEAR........................................................................166

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO WEAR IN PANDEMIC SETTINGS.....................167

167 Reusable mask with disposable filters

MORE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FACE MASKS..................................172

176 Can You Reuse Masks: What The CDC Says

177 Surgical N95 respirators

185 A Chinese Study on Disinfecting Used Masks

SAFELY PUTTING ON AND REMOVING PERSONAL PROTECTION GEAR........................................................................188

191 The Dressing Station

DONNING YOUR OUTFIT.....................................................................................192

DOFFING YOUR OUTFIT.......................................................................................202

THE AUTHORITIES SAY NOT TO BUY MASKS. SHOULD YOU?.............214

OTHER USEFUL ITEMS...........................................................................................217

219 Oral Rehydration Solution

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT COVID-19......... 221

A POLICY THAT SAVES LIVES......................................... 231

GLOSSARY.................................................................... 235

NOTES.......................................................................... 251