Although it might seem cynical to say that natural disasters and the fear of terrorism are good things for economy, when it comes to the emergency medical supplies industry, there’s no denying it. It wasn’t all that long ago that businesses catering to emergency needs hardly even extended their services to consumers. Emergency medical supplies were almost entirely a wholesale enterprise. These companies sold in bulk to hospitals, clinics, cruise ships and the like. Most supplies sold to the ordinary man on the street tended to be those things that the ordinary man on the street didn’t really need. Emergency medical supplies at the retail level were almost exclusively the domain of the adventurer who would be camping in the wilderness or climbing a mountain. How times have changed.

One of the boom businesses back then was the bomb shelter industry. Just as someone might knock on your door trying to sell you aluminum siding today, it wasn’t unusual for a door-to-door salesman to try to sell your grandparents a hiding place from a nuclear warhead. While it may seem silly today, is it really all the different from internet sites selling gas masks. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared. And certainly it doesn’t hurt to have as well stocked a collection of emergency medical supplies on hand as you can afford. But it also doesn’t hurt to step back and take a little time for reflection before purchasing supplies that you may be buying strictly out of an irrational fear. Americans are living under a looming shadow of a terrorist threat and that has—cynical or not—spurred thousands of people to start up companies that aim to quickly cash in on that fear. The truth is, however, that America faces far more dangerous threats than terrorism. If you really want to protect yourself by arming yourself with emergency medical supplies, then hold back on buying that gas mask until after you’ve bought some batteries for your fire alarm, or until after you’ve replaced your old lead pipes or upgraded your old PVC pipes. There are a lot of medical dangers facing you today. But just because you saw a TV report on somebody dying from Avian flu in China doesn’t mean you need to immediately go out and stock up on emergency medical supplies that will keep you safe from it.

Johnson & Johnson was founded more than 120 years ago on a revolutionary idea: Doctors and nurses should use sterile sutures, dressings and bandages to treat peoples’ wounds. Johnson & Johnson embraces research and science – bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and well-being of people. Employees of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world.

The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies comprises:

* The world’s premier consumer health company
* The world’s largest and most diverse medical devices and diagnostics company
* The world’s third-largest biologics company
* And the world’s sixth-largest pharmaceuticals company

Johnson & Johnson has more than 250 operating companies in 57 countries employing 120,200 people. Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide headquarters is in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.