 | Carla Shepherd owns the Right at Home franchise in Wichita. Right At HOme is a licensed Home Health Agency providing In-Home Care for individuals needing assistance to remain in their home. Carla is a former manager with Via Christi Health Services with over 20 years of health care experience. Also a Member of the National Privacy Duty Association. You can visit Carla at Right at Home, located at 7438 W. 21st St, Suite 123 in West Wichita. Call (316) 721- 6001, e-mail cjshep@ rah.kscoxmail.com or visit the website at www.rightathome.net/wichita |
Senior Living
2005-05-01 09:03:00
Severe weather plan guidelines to help seniors?
QUESTION: Are there any guidelines for a severe weather emergency plan to help seniors?
ANSWER: Having a plan is critical to keeping senior citizens safe when severe weather strikes, whether you live down the block or across the country. Senior citizens and our other aging relatives need to be a priority during severe weather. Seniors must take the proper steps to stay safe, before severe weather creates a dangerous situation. For families, knowing a beloved senior is out of harm's way can lessen a stressful situation.The best way to ensure seniors are cared for during severe weather is to plan ahead. The American Red Cross suggests preparing an emergency kit in the event of severe weather. The kit should include: bandages; antibacterial ointment; a few bottles of water; a flashlight with extra batteries; a battery-powered radio with extra batteries; and a blanket, to cover one's head in the event of flying debris. When a severe weather watch or warning is issued - or when a natural disaster strikes - senior citizens should receive a call from a family member, friend or neighbor, alerting them to the current weather conditions.For families with several children, it is often helpful to establish a calling tree to prevent all children from calling Mom or Dad at the same time. In the event that a weather-related injury sends a loved one to the hospital, it's important to keep vital information on the individual- such as date of birth, social security number, home address, phone number, vehicle make, model and license number- in the event medical personnel need this information. It's also a good idea for families to continually check in with elderly relatives throughout periods of severe weather. Unless they are watching TV or listening to the radio, they may not know about the threat. The more time they have to plan for severe weather, the safer they'll be.For adult children or other caregivers who live a long distance from a senior citizen, it's vital to have contact information for those individuals close at hand. It also is important for senior citizens to have contact information for their family members. For adult children who live far away from their parents, it can be helpful to locate someone in the area who can check on senior citizens during severe weather. It's also important to establish safe places the senior can find shelter if they are forced to leave their homes.Hopefully your family never needs to utilize emergency plans and information. However, a severe weather situation is not the time to search for this information.
