Emergency preparation is always important. We never truly know what is going to happen or when. If we’re not careful, events can catch us off guard, which puts our health and wellbeing at risk.
This is particularly important for caregiving, as the person you’re caring for will often be vulnerable in some way. For example, even healthy seniors tend to be less resilient than people who are younger and are often more susceptible to conditions like hypothermia and the flu.
Today, we’re going to talk about two areas that go beyond basic emergency prep.
They’re things that we often overlook but are particularly critical when it comes to seniors. They don’t just apply in severe emergencies either. Instead, they can be relevant in many different situations.
Having an Emergency Medication Supply
Seniors often take multiple medications every day. Some of these, like vitamin supplements, aren’t essential for short-term survival. So, missing a dose or two isn’t a big deal.
But, other medications are more critical.
Sometimes missing even one dose could make a senior sick and missing a few could put them in hospital. This makes it critical to have extra medication on hand, so that there is always enough – regardless of what happens.
After all, there are many situations where you may not be able to refill a script as soon as you would like to. For example:
- Your car breaks down and alternative transport options are limited
- You’re sick and cannot leave the house for a few days
- The pharmacy doesn’t have the medication that you need
- There is an insurance issue, where they will not pay for the medication when you need it
- You don’t have the funds until a payment is processed
- There is a natural disaster or another type of emergency
- The weather makes going out difficult, if not impossible
If you can have a supply of medication on hand, these issues don’t become such a big deal. Instead, you’re able to simply refill the script when it is possible.
Building a Supply of Medicine
Thankfully, getting backup medication isn’t as tough as it seems – and you don’t need an extra script to get it.
In most cases, insurance will allow you to refill medication every 25 days or so (rather than monthly). If you do this regularly, you can slowly build up an extra supply. After a few months, you should have enough for any emergency.
Storing the Medication
Medication doesn’t have a long shelf life, so you need to make sure you regularly replace the backup with new pills.
It’s also important to keep any extra medication somewhere separate, so it doesn’t get mixed up. This is also useful in case anything happens to the regular medication.
What Happens When Power Goes Out?
The other area to consider is the loss of power. Power cuts aren’t that unusual, especially if there is a storm. In some cases, you might just lose power for an hour or two.
But, you could easily lose it for a day, if not more.
It’s important to seriously think about what would happen if you were to lose power and where the issues would be.
Fall Hazards
One key area relates to falls. There are various steps that you can take to protect against falls, including making sure rugs are firmly secured and avoiding any loose cords.
Keeping areas well-lit is another important aspect. If you lose power, that lighting is lost. This could be a serious problem at night.
To make matters worse, the power outage might occur during an emergency. When that happens, you may need to move quickly. As a result, you need alternative ways to keep the environment safe and well-lit.
- The simplest approach is a flashlight, which is great for short power outages and getting around. Make sure you have multiple flashlights around the home in easy to find locations.
- Head lamps are useful too, especially as they allow people to have their hands free. This may be particularly relevant for seniors, making it easier for them to move around the house without assistance.
- There are also many LED lights. These tend to run off batteries and LEDs use very little power. As such, they can light the environment well.
- There are various solar lamps that you can use indoors, as well as outdoor ones. These charge from sunlight, so they’ll work when the power is out (as long as they’re charged). You can even bring in solar lamps from the garden if needed.
You can also turn to candles. However, I’d suggest these as a last resort. Candles look lovely, but they are easily knocked over. They can also create unpredictable shadows. Whenever possible, you want something that is more reliable, especially for getting around the house.
There are various longer-term solutions, including some listed on Urban Survival Site.
Having a few options set up helps to make sure you’re fine regardless of what happens.
Medical Equipment and Related Tools
You should also think about what else needs power regularly.
One example is an oxygen machine. This is a challenge that I faced as a caregiver, as my mother-in-law used an oxygen machine that ran off electricity. She did have a backup tank that was pressurized and could provide oxygen for up to 48 hours.
The problem was, we’d never used that and didn’t even know how to. What’s more, she’d had that tank for a long time. We’d never tested it or checked that it was still working fine.
So, when we had a power cut, we found that it didn’t work, at all. All she was left with was the portable tanks, which each contained a few hours of oxygen.
The power cut lasted more than a day and we had immense difficulty getting someone on the phone to come out, due to location issues and debates about which company was responsible for the tank.
Long story short, we got a replacement tank and everything was fine. But, it was a terrifying ordeal that could have been entirely avoided.
There are many other things that may rely on power, even intermittently. This includes any device that may need charging. It also includes items like heaters and electric blankets.
Once you figure out what relies on power – start to think about emergency alternatives. What could you do in the case of a power outage? What are your options? Figuring these out now helps ensure that everyone is safe in the long-run.
You can also check out our list of caregiving tools and services. This post includes various places where you can find senior and caregiving-related products. Some of these could help make the home safer during an emergency, or simply make life easier overall.
Leave a Reply