For seniors and families, these less obvious emergency preparedness tips can preserve safety and memories
Each year, our staff completes either an emergency preparedness drill, or we respond to an actual emergency. We mostly practice for fires or earthquakes, and we seem to have a real fire emergency at least every few years. These are not-so-obvious tips based on what we’ve personally experienced as home care providers, and what we’ve learned.
In terms of fire, we’ve faced evacuation orders for medically fragile clients, including the issues of adequate transportation, medications and supplies, pet safety and employee safety. Those experiences have taught us some basic tips that may not be obvious at first.
Emergency Preparedness Tip #1 – Scan, Scan, Scan
There is no reason to be worried about your most precious memories or most important paperwork in the middle of an emergency evacuation. It’s best to scan those items to the cloud and create digital copies ahead of time.
After the 2007 Witch Creek Fire led to the largest evacuation in San Diego County history, I remember grabbing as many photo albums and boxes of photos as I could. Once the danger passed, I organized all the photos into themes or years and then scanned them all. It’s easy to store those photos in the Google Cloud, or Drop Box or another photo app. I also scanned birth certificates, insurance policies, wills and trusts, favorite videos, and saved them both to the cloud and also to a physical zip drive.
For seniors this may seem like a daunting task, but a care manager can assist in identifying what’s important and also can assist with locating and managing a scanning service, along with notifying other family members how to access these memories and documents.
Emergency Preparedness Tip #2 – Know Where to Go
Each time we sign up a new client for homecare or home health services, our RN or Care Manager will create a written emergency plan. One copy stays with the agency, the other copy stays in the home. This way, when an emergency occurs, the caregiver and client know what to grab and where to go. Some clients identify a particular hotel chain where they have points, or a family member’s house far enough to be outside the potential emergency zone.
While shelters may be open during an emergency, there are some clients who might find a shelter extremely disorienting. During a previous evacuation, we had a husband and wife who both had dementia, and the wife would experience tremendous stress in loud and busy places. We evacuated those clients to a hotel room, notified the family, and stayed with the clients for three days until they could be allowed back into their home. We didn’t need to call the family during the emergency for their thoughts on how to react, as we already had the plan in place and simply activated it.
Emergency Preparedness Tip #3 – Don’t Run on Fumes
Imagine having a major earthquake or power disruption, think of all the services that won’t be available. One service often overlooked is the gas station. We have a rule at our agency that company cars should never be allowed to have less than a quarter tank of gas. I personally don’t drive around with less than a half tank.
We learned this tip during one of our earthquake drills as part of the Great American Shakeout. The theme was an earthquake that disrupted all travel between Los Angeles and San Diego, and led to power disruptions. As we pretended the earthquake was real, we realized having gas in the tank would be a basic step to at least providing some mode of transportation. It’s important to be as independent as possible for as long as possible in a major emergency event.
Emergency Preparedness Tip #4 – Don’t Delay
Time is limited in an emergency, but anyone who has worked in homecare or home health knows that seniors with mobility issues are not easy to move quickly. Panic or stress may make the process even more confusing for a homebound person. So make sure to take action at the first sign of major trouble.
If someone vulnerable is refusing to leave, get emergency services involved right away. If someone needs specialty transport, such as an ambulance or medical van to evacuate, consider a pre-emptive evacuation even before an actual evacuation order.
Emergency Preparedness Tip #5 – Stay Informed and Ready
Most cities, states, utility companies and even private apps have alerts now of emergencies in the local area. Download and sign up for alerts to get early warning of emergency threats. Make a plan for your own family and discuss it, maybe annually, or maybe during the change in daylight savings time.
Keep an updated medication profile for medically fragile family members and keep at least a month’s worth of medications filled, don’t let them get down to the last few pills. Have some extra water and food available, including anything you can eat without cooking.
Change the batteries in flashlights and test them at least twice a year, and consider purchasing a solar phone charger, because no one wants to be without a working phone if that can be avoided.
I hope this gives some insight into topics that are less obvious.
Alert San Diego
Here are the four steps that Ready San Diego recommends as a practical response to emergency preparedness.
Create your own Personal Disaster Plan (available in 12 languages)
Register your cell phones for emergency alerts.
Download the SD Emergency Mobile App, now with Earthquake Early Warning
Make an Evacuation Go-Kit and Shelter-in-Place Stay Kit.
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About the author:
Lauren Reynolds is a former news reporter/anchor for 10News in San Diego where she earned 11 Emmy Awards for journalism. In 2010, she retired from news reporting and opened her own homecare/home health agency, At Home Nursing Care. Learn more here.