Special Needs What Senior Caregivers Need To Do To Prepare For A Disaster

It is a challenge for Senior Citizens to move around on an average day, let alone during a disaster. However, with a little preparedness, and help from Caregivers, seniors can survive any disaster. Some disasters are unique to the climate of a specific area, and some are universal. Examples of disasters to prepare for are as follows:

Fires
Tornadoes and thunderstorms
Floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes
Toxic Spills
Snowstorms
Extreme heat waves (90 degrees)

Caregivers can help seniors prepare for the disasters that are likely to occur where they live. There are many steps to take when setting up an emergency preparedness plan. One step is to stay notified and informed. The national weather service is a great for caregivers and senior to use. Also, caregivers and seniors can tune into a local TV or radio station.

Caregivers can also cooperate with the door to door registry that alerts people of danger. For instance, a person could come to a seniors' house and warn of a pending flood. The caregiver can take action to help remove that person out of the home and to a safe environment. This environment should be far enough from the source of the disaster to offer safety.

Examples of places to go during a disaster are as follows:

A friend's relative's or children's house
Designated private or public emergency shelter
Homeless shelter
Hotel
Senior citizen retirement home
Any place that offers public emergency shelter

A caregiver can also help a senior citizen prepare a disaster survival kit. This kit can be stored in a bag, suitcase, box, or safe.

The kit should include the following items:

Food, water, medicine, and personal grooming items
Extra address and emergency contact book
Extra change of clothes, shoes, and winter gear
Blanket and pillow
Money and safe for valuable items
Important legal documents
Social Security Card, Drivers License Number,
Extra copy of a credit or debit card
Battery operated radio, and extra batteries
Calling card, or extra cell phone
Emergency medical supplies such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers.
First aid kit, and list of medications, and required doses

The list of items needed is not an exhaustive list. Caregivers should assist the senior in making sure that person everything necessary for survival in that emergency kit. Furthermore, a caregiver should know how to use all the equipment, including medical equipment, in the event of a disaster.

Also if it is a chemical emergency that affects the senior's home, the caregiver can help the senior do the following:

Close all windows, fans, heating, and cooling systems

Close the fireplace damper

Tape around doors, window ledges, vent, and any other air passage ways.

Encourage them to stay inside the home, and not to leave until it is safe to evacuate

When evacuating for any emergency, the caregiver will be most helpful using this procedure:

Know where the senior member has planned to stay in an emergency

Make sure that a transportation method is planned

During evacuation, take the main roads. The back roads may be dangerous, and one could easily get lost.

Make sure the senior's home is locked.

Help dress them in protective clothes, and sturdy shoes.

Notify friends, family, and children that the senior adult will be evacuating, and tell them where the senior will be staying.

If the caregiver has time, then the following can also be done before leaving the senior's home:

Shut off all water and electricity supplies

Inform others of where the senior being cared for is staying

Find safe places for any pets the senior might have. Not all public shelters allow pets other than working animals.

One other thing a caregiver can do to is to continually stay informed. New information is posted daily about how to better handle emergencies where seniors are involved. Also, if it is a new caregiver, that person should learn about the community that the senior lives in. Then, in the event of a disaster, the person would know where to take the senior

These tips and information from local emergency personnel will most likely help seniors survive even the worst disaster.

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