Flapping for Iodide

Panic

Toddler flaps his arms unproductively when he's panicking, usually over having to wait.  Most of it is cute and hilarious, even when he's screaming.  Once in a while, his flapping arms poke me in the eye, scratch my cheek, strike a nerve, and it hurts.

Most panic stories are laughable.  They create a short-lived obsession; we flap our arms.  Sometimes, eye gouging results.

The Real Fallout
A friend of ours, living in California, (Husband's former Assistant Japanese Language Teacher) posted this status: "My doctor client said their hospital wanted to send iodine pills to Japan for the people who got exposed to radiation but all were sold out even in Kansas! Hey, News media here wants to freak us out. Please calm down! There are many people who need it in Japan!!!!"

I don't know if I could say it any better.  But here's more perspective:  "People [in N.A.] are needlessly panicking, Japan is 5,000 miles away"

In other words, people anywhere in Japan are a lot closer to potential radiation exposure right now than any other location in the world.  The ridiculousness and selfishness of stocking up on these pills that you may never ever need increases exponentially by the number of miles between us and those in need of them.  Ridiculous to the 5,000th power 

Prepare
I understand the desire to prepare, but the truth is, we don't know if or when something in North America will have problems, but we do know Japan is having problems.  

Rare?
Iodide is not at all rare; there will be a huge overstock a year or two from now, as soon as production goes up and panic goes down, but the thing is, those in Japan in general need them right now, not in a year or two.  If you don't want, or can't give any away, at the least, don't buy until the price-gouging, stops.  That way, the Red-Cross and other groups hopefully have direct supplier contacts they can receive from that will remain inexpensive.  It's also nicer to know all our donations will help buy a bottle or two of iodine to help those from the Fukushima area, rather than just one pill.

End note: The group I would contact would be World Vision they seem to be big enough without being TOO big and having a ton of red tape (sometimes groups make giving non-money difficult (for good reasons!) but I think most groups would take these pills).