Wellness 03 Nov. 2021

The Importance of Emergency Preparedness for the Old People

Emergency Preparedness

Many of our older loved ones have specific challenges to their health, mobility, and more, and in an uncertain post-pandemic world where, for example, there are increasingly frequent unusual weather events, it makes more sense than ever to prepare to keep them safe should there be any emergencies.

Emergencies can really vary and being prepared for these to care best for your loved ones is essential. Obviously, it is almost impossible to predict certain emergencies and when they may happen, meaning a prepared approach works the best.

Kinds of Emergency Events

As we mentioned, the number of emergency events that could arise can almost be infinite. From evacuating homes to sudden hospital stays. Preparing for the best hope will help your loved ones in the best way forward. The kinds of emergency events that need to be prepared for include:

  • The need to evacuate/leave the home/place of residence due to a serious weather event e.g., storm or flooding, fire, police instructions, gas, or water leak.
  • The sudden need for a hospital stays.
  • Emergencies which could affect you; food shortages, fuel shortages, and others.

Challenges for Older Loved Ones

The types of challenges that our loved ones may face include health and mobility problems, hearing and vision problems, or cognitive impairment. This means that they may be less able to understand the situation or take action to maintain their own safety in the event of the kind of emergency that e.g., requires them to move to a place of shelter at short notice.

In an emergency situation older loved ones could encounter other challenges to their wellbeing (physical and emotional), comfort, and safety. For example, there may be no access to any support services that they would usually receive e.g., help from carers/caregivers/home help, in-home health care, or meal delivery services.

Emergency Preparedness Tips

With these points in mind, it is important to consider making preparations to ensure that, in the event of an emergency, older loved ones at kept as safe and comfortable as possible. Emergency preparedness tips include:

  • Create a plan. This could include planning for different emergency scenarios and should be updated regularly to take account of any significant changes.
  • Save any relevant contact and emergency numbers clearly labeled in your phone contacts. Also, keep a paper copy just in case. Also, save a record of any addresses of friends/family members where you may be able to go temporarily.
  • Maintain your vehicle and make sure it is always legally roadworthy, has enough fuel/gas to enable you to quickly transfer to safety.
  • Create an emergency supply kit that could be stored in your vehicle. This could include coats, blankets and pillows, clothing, water, a first aid kit, a flashlight, basic non-perishable food items, cups and cutlery, any batteries, and necessary chargers.
  • Makeup and keep handy emergency supply kits for the vital medication (clearly labeled) with an accompanying list of each medication, the doses and what each is for, toiletries, and local emergency information in advance. Your older loved one may already have a medical ID bracelet that would also need to be taken with them.

Support Networks

Something often overlooked with helping older loved ones is if you (the caregiver) are busy, ill yourself, or also in an emergency and cannot help the loved one. This is important as in emergencies it is important to act fast and calm and having someone else, or a network of others to support your elderly loved one can really help calm the situation for both yourself and you’re elderly loved one.

Ensuring everyone knows supplies, medications, medical devices, and rough plans is a good way to all be prepared if an emergency were to arise.

Even Basic Preparation Is Better Than No Preparation

Many of our older loved ones rely upon us and other services to keep them safe and healthy. Simply putting at least some basic plans in place could make a vital difference in the event of an emergency. However, the better the preparation, the better the chances of a good outcome, and taking some simple steps today will show how much you care and could even make the difference between life and death.

Overall

Therefore, it really is essential to prepare for the worst as this is much better than no preparation at all. With such a variety of emergencies that can take place, at any given time, preparedness is essential to assist your older loved ones and reduce the risk of them worrying and getting worse, or even making the emergency worse than it is.