Our Ask An Angel correspondent is Arlene Petersen, Certified Senior Advisor and Life Care Navigation Specialist in the area of senior home care.
Q. Can you give a few tips on preparing for an emergency?
A. There are many ways to prepare for an emergency. First and foremost, I suggest packing a emergency bag you can grab should you ever need to leave your home in a hurry.
I’ve talked about my simple 3-step emergency preparedness plan in the past, and I lean on these three simple thoughts. PREPARE, PACK, and STOCK. You can call your bag anything you want, but I often refer to it as my dash in a flash bag.
Think about the things you would need if you had to stay in a temporary location such as a hotel or shelter. What would be important for you to have to be fairly comfortable? This should include medication, basic medical information about yourself (drug allergies, medical history, etc.), contact information for your family & doctors, power of attorney information or living will, proof of insurance, and identification.
I recommend that this emergency bag also include change of clothing, pajamas, robe, slippers, small travel size toiletries, and toothbrush. This bag will now serve a dual purpose of assisting in a health emergency or sudden evacuation.
Include a few small canned goods, non-perishable foods, protein of some sort, and bottled water. Be sure to have at least 2 flashlights and plenty of spare batteries to use in case of a prolonged power outage. I also recommend battery operated candles for additional lighting.
Other items to include are: battery operated radio, blanket, plastic bags, matches, an extra house key, and an extra phone charger. Store this near an exit area of your home. If you use a cell phone, make sure your I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) contacts are programmed into your phone. Emergency personnel will look for these contacts.
That is a simple step of programming a close family member or friend in your cell phone contact list under the name of I.C.E. Pack your items in a back pack type bag so that it is easy to carry, leaving your hands free for other things.
Doing a little bit of work ahead of time may help you in any emergency or dash in a flash situation!
Have a question for our angel correspondent? You can send our angel an email to AskAnAngel@att.net or send your question via mail to Ask An Angel, 65 Woodbury St., South Elgin, IL 60177.
