What Does Your Disaster Plan Look Like?

By Marlene Diaz | May 5, 2017 |

Emergencies and natural disasters are terrible enough, but if you and your elderly loved one are scrambling around, trying to figure out where to go and what to do, that’s even worse. Instead, set up a disaster plan.

Home Care Services Shoreline WA – What Does Your Disaster Plan Look Like?

Who Can Help You and Where Can You Go?

You and your elderly loved one need to know who you can contact if there’s an emergency and where you can go. There may be friends, relatives, or even her home care services providers who can help you and your loved one to evacuate. Try to establish a backup for your first and even second contacts so that you have access to as much help as possible.

You Need Your Loved One’s Medical Records

During an emergency evacuation, you’re very likely to need information about your loved one’s current and past health. Keep a folder with that information in your loved one’s go bag. Make sure that you update it regularly and keep contact information for her medical team with her medical information.

Put Together an Emergency Go Bag

A go bag, which is basically a backpack or duffel bag filled with emergency items, keeps everything together and enables you to only have to find that one bag. Load it up with extra medications for your loved one, changes of clothing, identification, and anything else that your loved one might need. You may also want to consider including a battery-operated radio, flashlight, batteries, water, and non-perishable food items.

Consider Signing up for a Safety Program

Many areas and companies have safety programs that you can register for with your loved one. Your loved one’s home alarm company, for example, may have a program that she can register with. These programs can perform a variety of functions, but one can be notifying relatives that your loved one evacuated safely.

Write it All Down

As you’re developing an evacuation plan for your elderly loved one, write it all down. You can then post that plan in a prominent location, such as on the refrigerator door, and include it with all of the information that your loved one’s other family members and home care services providers have access to. Should something happen when you’re not with your loved one, those people will know what to do for your loved one.

Periodically revisit your disaster plan to make sure that it still covers everything that it needs to cover for you and for your loved one.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Services in Shoreline WA, contact the caring staff at Hospitality Home Care today. Call us at (206) 966-6552.

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Marlene Diaz

Care Supervisor at Hospitality Home Care

Marlene brings to Hospitality Home Care's Care Supervisor Team an unprecedented level of passion for caring for others and a wealth of knowledge and understanding in the care services field. Marlene has worked in the healthcare field for more than 15 years in a variety of settings including, adult family home administration, home care HR supervising and working with specialty populations including dementia, mental health and developmental disabilities. Throughout this time Marlene has also maintained her caregiver credentials that she obtained as a teenager because, while her knowledge is best served helping to train caregivers and assist families to get the care they need, her heart is most fulfilled when she is providing care to others. When she is not in the office, you will most likely find Marlene caring for her family, or spending time with her friends.