Wellness eJournal™

In the Year 2000, we will be challenged in many ways: physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. As we have seen in previous articles, these challenges can effect our health. Our goal then, is to establish the maximum health state possible for ourselves and our loved ones, which is a state of wellness. In addition, we want you to be prepared for the many health conditions that occur in your family.

In our Wellness eJournal, re-read our entire four-part series, Wellness Components, by Pat Pine, Jennifer Workman, Philip Incao, Tom Goode, Arlene Green, Ronda Del Boccio and the Complementary Healing eGuide.

From this Wellness article, one of the four components is Nutrition. To maintain your wellness throughout this increasingly stressful period, you will need to be prepared in as many aspects of your life as possible, including your Nutritional needs. Therefore, we are making other recommendations for Y2K preparations in the latter part of this article.

Our Operating Paradigm

Early in the year 2000, the medical community may be crippled and then the conventional medication stream may dry up for a while. This has been verified by careful Internet and telephone research, and reports such as the latest, bi-partisan US Senate "100 Day Report" Healthcare Sector Report, specifically pp 37-39, and the latest report on Healthcare by a Washington non-profit, Center for Y2K and Society. In the Senate Report, Senator Dodd said, "Y2K-related failures could prevent life-saving devices from working, choke the supply chain of medical products, and cripple the financing of the healthcare industry." An earlier Senate Report said that 80% of conventional medications come from overseas, mostly from poorly Y2K-prepared countries. Even though the drug industry has made reasonable preparations, it will suffer from the problems that many industries will suffer: supplier failures. The Center for Y2K and Society reported that in addition to the US Senate, the President's Y2K Council and the US General Accounting Office (GAO) all agree that the healthcare industry has serious Y2K-related problems.

This soon-to-be urgent need can be satisfied by complementary healthcare methods, if implemented immediately.

Also, a paradigm that needs to be shifted for most of us is the duration of Y2K problems. The media, industry, governments and most citizens are focused on January 1st, the weekend and in rare instances, the first week. It is important to think of disruptions throughout the first three to six months of 2000. As you have seen from reports in this eLetter, delivery of many foreign goods will be a problem. In addition, US goods that are assembled in Asia will be delayed.

This will all be compounded by oil delivery – due to inadequate industry preparation or foreign maneuvering – that will effect shipping, manufacturing, electricity production and heating around the world. The problem was well described in World Oil in April 1998, which estimated that 70% of the systems in oil production would be left unremediated by January 1, causing shutdowns, and other major problems. This is supported, to a reasonable degree, by the US Senate "100 Day Report" Utilities Sector Report, specifically pp 26-27, showing the probability of oil import disruptions to be approximately: 24% high, 14% medium, and 28% unknown. Assuming that the unknown is an overall medium probability and that the remaining foreign and US suppliers are low probabilities, and that imports account for 55% of our consumption, we estimate a 40% chance of Y2K disruption of our oil supplies. This will be dramatic and have a major ripple effect throughout the world and oil's biggest user, the US.

So think in terms of strong self-sufficiency throughout at least the first half of 2000, for healthcare, food and the other essentials in your life. After a flurry of events, outages and shortages in the first week, we will see major shortages and disruptions in later January and continuing on for a while. We start this article with First Aid – which you can extend to most other aspects of your healthcare – then we round out preparation suggestions in other essential areas.

It's not too late to complete the preparation suggestions we are making.
Unfortunately for most, but fortunately for you, people are mistakenly ignoring prudent preparations leaving the products you need on store shelves.

First Aid Kit

For your general healthcare, we suggest that you include and do the following.

Print out and select remedies from the following Wellness eJournal articles, which constitute a large part of the eJournal:

Purchase some pure bleach to wash out water and food containers, as well as implement Parcells' Oxygen Soak and Water Purification, from Live Better Longer via Well Being Journal. You will be able to keep your foods longer, as well as easily purify drinking water (use 4 drops of bleach per gallon then air out in the sunshine or other natural light source). NOTE: We are researching Clorox's new PLUS bleach to see if it is safe for this procedure.

• First Aid Manual – The Natural Health First-Aid Guide is excellent, but out of print. Check your library and used bookstores.
• Bandages – Self-adhesive (regular and specialty, such as butterfly), pads, gauze, tape, elastic
• Tools – scissors, tweezers, sharp knife, dental pick, eyewash cup, needles and thread, small flashlight, multi-purpose pocket knife
• Assorted sizes of safety pins
• Small mirror
• Thermometer
• Matches
• Distilled Water
• Medicine droppers – for bleach and medicinals
• Hot/cold pack – for microwave or freezer
• Cleansing agent/soap
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Latex gloves (2 pairs)
• Regular or garden gloves
• Small chemical hand warmers
• Chemical light stick – saves holding a flashlight
• Paint mask – protects against noxious fumes while you help someone
• Blanket – "space" and regular
• Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant
• Hand towels – paper or cloth
• Moistened towelettes
• Cotton balls
• Tissues
• Antiseptic –alcohol, colloidal silver
• Tongue blades – can be used as splints
• Heavy string
• Syrup of Ipecac (use to induce vomiting)
• Activated charcoal (use for poisoning as advised by the First Aid Manual)
• Pain Relievers, such as Willow Bark
• Anti-diarrhea remedy
• Antacid
• Laxative
• Individual prescription drugs
• Special needs, such as insect bite and snake bite kits
• Dental and denture care
• Contact lenses supplies
• Extra eye glasses
• Sunscreen
• Copy of health insurance cards

• Possible Kit Containers, such as a duffel bag, trash can or storage bin
• Water
• Food
• First Aid Kit – limited version of ours above
• Sanitation
• Clothing and Bedding
• Special Items
• Entertainment
• Games and books
• Important Family Documents

• Take out a small portion of the water, squeeze the container and reseal – leaves room for expansion
• Store only dried food in your vehicles and, for some variety, a 1-2 cans of food per person in your portable, home kit

• Books, from your favorite bookstore:
  • Health Handbook, by Louise Tenney, MH (1994, Woodland Books, ISBN 0-913923-88-5, very handy pocket book, 262 pp, $7.95)
  • New Choices in Natural Healing, by Prevention Magazine (1995, Rodale Press, ISBN 87596-364-1, paperback, 700 pp, $18.95 and Pocket Books, ISBN 0-553-57690-9, handy pocket book, 800 pp, $6.95)
  • The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book, by Carla Emery (1994, Sasquatch Books; ISBN: 0912365951, voluminous paperback, 864 pp, $27.95)
  • Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook, by James Talmage Stevens (1997, ISBN: 1882723252, well-respected paperback, 240 pp, $22.95)
• Crank/Solar Radio/Flashlight – $15-$35.
• Warm Sleeping Bag – wide range depending on how cold your area can become. Remember that inexpensive "space blankets" ($1.50 – $2.50) can supplement your sleeping bag and bed.
• Other camping and auto gear – there are many displays in outdoors and department stores with products for $10-$30.

Preparation, like insurance, is something we do, just in case and hope we never need to use. The Y2K Computer Bug will create interruptions and emergencies in many, many areas throughout 2000. We hope they will be minor everywhere, and non-existent where we and our loved ones live. But we can be neither useful to others nor to ourselves if we are scrounging for resources in the event of any emergency, Y2K or otherwise. So "Use what your Store, and Store what you Use," "Be Prepared, NOT Scared" and "Prepare for the Worst, and Hope for the Best"

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