PREPARING FOR THE UNEXPECTED
By Golda Turner
Though we all hope and pray that our already complicated lives should not be overturned by disasters or other emergency situations, recent events like Hurricane Sandy should serve as a wake up call for all of us.
While both natural and man made disasters can cause untold misery to many across the world, the special needs population is more severely affected than most. By definition, someone with physical, medical, mental, or behavioral issues has more complicated needs than the general population, and any severe disruption to their lives can easily become life-threatening.
There are many important lessons to be learned from the recent upheaval that will help us protect our loved ones in event of any future untoward events.
Can EMS Find Your House?
Place stickers with the phone number of your local Hatzolah on all phones in your house, and program it into your cell phones. In an emergency, the number may slip your mind.
When calling Police or Hatzolah, talk slowly and clearly, and explain your problem. Make sure to give your address. Give a call back number. DO NOT HANG UP until the dispatcher tells you to.
Police, Hatzolah, or other emergency providers cannot help you if they are unable to identify your house. Valuable time is often lost searching for addresses. Whether you own or rent your home, invest in large, brightly colored numbers to place near your front door. If your door is not easily visible, paint large numbers in contrasting colors on your mailbox or garbage cans—anything that can be easily seen from the street.
If there are a number of entrances or apartments, try to have someone wait outside for EMS, to show them the way.
Keep Medical Records
Much has been said over the years about the benefits of keeping your own set of medical records. This includes such things as lists of medications, tests, surgeries or other procedures, names and phone numbers of doctors, and other pieces of important information.
These lists can be kept either in a notebook, folder, or saved electronically on a CD, USB, or online service. It should be kept in an easily accessible place where you can find it quickly to take along in any type of emergency.
A copy of the most important information should also be given to your emergency contact, and updated every few months (see sidebar). In an emergency, they may need to provide that information to EMS.
Please remember that when dealing with a child, only the parent or legal guardian can make medical decisions. Your emergency contact has no legal standing unless you write and sign a permission slip enabling them to take your place until you can be reached.
Why is keeping records so important? Under normal circumstances, having organized information makes it easier to discuss things when you go from one doctor to the next. In a real emergency, IT CAN SAVE YOUR LOVED ONE’S LIFE!!
During the recent disaster, many people were forced to evacuate their homes. The smart ones prepared everything they would need for a few days—including medical records, medications and medical supplies--and left early. Others were forced out by the rising waters, and made it out literally with the shirts on their backs. Just try to remember the names and dosages of all of your missing medications under such circumstances! Try finding a strange pharmacy to give you just a few pills with no prescription!
Hurricane Sandy did not only destroy the contents of people’s homes. It also destroyed clinics, doctor’s offices, and pharmacies, with all of their records. It even affected the electronic medical records at NYU Hospital. Hundreds of patients were transferred to other facilities without any medical records—no patient history, no copy of medications, no copies of tests—NOTHING!! You can imagine the results!
KEEPING MEDICAL RECORDS—AND GIVING SOMEONE A BACKUP COPY—SAVES LIVES!
Personal and Medical Identification
In an emergency situation, families can easily become separated from their loved ones. Young children, the elderly, and the mentally infirm are especially at risk. If you have a family member with medical or mental issues, it is doubly important to make sure that they can be easily identified.
Simple steps like placing printed name labels with a name and phone number in all clothing can help more easily identify missing people, especially those with communication issues.
Have young children practice saying their name, address and phone number. Teach them to look for “another mommy with children who can help find their Mommy” if they ever get lost.
Today there are GPS tracking systems available that can be worn as a piece of jewelry or even in a shoe by a person with Autism, Alzheimer’s, or any other diagnosis that makes them tend to wander. These systems make it easier to locate these people when they go missing.
People of any age with medical issues should also have on their person something identifying their diagnosis, allergies, and other pertinent information. This can be in the form of a special card in a wallet or purse—though the best protection is an ID bracelet or necklace with the medical symbol and information engraved on it. This would be most easily noticed by the EMS or other first responders.
There are a number of companies that sell this type of medical ID jewelry. Simple ones have a “locket” style space to put in a paper with your information. Some companies engrave the information on the jewelry itself. Others engrave an ID number, and EMS can call to retrieve medical information from the company’s operators.
Power Outages
Many people with special needs rely on electricity not only for light and warmth, but for refrigeration for spoilable medications and for charging medical equipment like pumps, ventilators, suctions machines, hospital beds, electric wheelchairs, communication devices and other necessities of their daily lives. Power outages, as annoying as they are, therefore affect them more adversely than the general population.
Many utility companies have a registry for people with special medical needs who use life-sustaining equipment such as feeding pumps and ventilators. Being on this list will not keep you from experiencing outages, but you will get called when an outage is expected or work is being done in your area to give you time to better prepare. They will check up on you periodically during an outage to see if you need assistance. You may also have some priority for other services.
If you live in an area prone to power outages and have a family member with medical needs, you might consider purchasing a good quality generator to use during power outages. Though some organizations like Chaveirim have a few that they lend out, there is no guarantee that you will be able to receive one whenever needed.
A generator is an expensive investment, but it is well worth the money. Though even a good generator can not power your entire house, it can provide enough electric lines for some light and your needed machinery. It can also be hooked up by a competent electrician to your heating system’s thermostat so that your gas or oil furnace can work. In some cases, the electrician can even hook it up directly to your fuse box to power a few lines.
Since generators come in various sizes, call your equipment’s manufacturers to find out your total power requirements before purchasing a generator.
And most importantly, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s care instructions in order to keep your generator in good working order. A generator that won’t start when you need it won’t help in an emergency!
Make A Contingency Plan
Most disasters don’t give you much advance warning. Fire, storms, earthquakes, and other occurrences do not always advertise where and when they will hit.
Make sure that your medical records and medications are kept where you can quickly grab them on your way out of the house.
Talk to your family often about fire safety. Teach children about STOP, DROP, AND ROLL as a means of putting out a fire on clothing. By having frequent home fire drills, they will know what to do in an emergency without panicking. Practice getting out of alternate exists so they will automatically leave the house rather than hide in a closet or under a bed. Talk about where to meet after escaping, so that everyone can be accounted for.
Just as it is important to prepare for a storm by stocking water and food, It is good to have an emergency plan of where to go if necessary. People with disabilities often have needs such as accessibility, medical equipment, or other issues which must be taken into consideration. Keeping in touch with other families dealing with the same issues as you can be especially helpful if you are ever displaced. They may be able to host you or at least share with you some of the equipment and supplies that you need.
Have a “Go-Kit”
You are the one who knows the individual’s situation best. Prepare a waterproof emergency Go-Kit, which should contain the abridged medical records, three days worth of all medications, and your most needed spare supplies like hearing aid batteries, drip bags, diabetic supplies, colostomy supplies, etc that you may not be able to easily find elsewhere. Keep it in an easy to reach place where you can grab and go in case of emergency.
This Go-Kit should be checked and all medications replaced every six months.
Insurance Coverage
We all know that your home or auto insurance is supposed to cover loses to your home or car. However, few people take the time to read through their policies to understand what is really covered.
Homeowners insurance will usually cover damage to your house by fire, accident, and other such occurrences, excluding flooding and other specified occurrances. It is made to protect losses to the building itself, and most of the contents of your apartment. If you have added on a lift or handicapped ramp to your home, it will normally not be covered unless you have notified the insurance company and adjusted your policy to reflect the “custom addition”.
With both homeowners and tenant’s insurance, valuable items such as jewelry may not be covered. Expensive items such as electric wheelchairs, medical equipment, lifts, etc. may also not be covered. Speak to your insurance company about adding on these items to your policy so that they will be covered in case of loss.
Similarly, auto insurance will cover damage to or loss of your vehicle. However, standard policies will not pay for replacing a raised roof, a lift, hand controls, or other special additions to your vehicle. Contact your insurance company to have them add on these “custom additions” to your policy.
There is also an insurance policy called “umbrella insurance” that will help in cases of catastrophic events. Once your primary insurance coverage runs out—whether it’s your homeowner’s insurance, car insurance, or other insurance—your personal umbrella policy kicks in, providing additional coverage up to the limits of the policy. Umbrella insurance also covers many situations that typically aren’t covered by other liability policies.
Flood damage is usually not covered by homeowners insurance. It is necessary to purchase a separate policy for flood insurance. If you live in a flood risk area, purchase enough insurance to cover major damage. And remember, flood insurance will not cover the contents of your basement. Do not keep important valuables there.
As a general rule, when purchasing insurance coverage for your home, it does pay to buy more than you actually think that you will need. In case of severe damage such as seen during Hurricane Sandy, people often find that the repair and replacement costs greatly exceed the limits of their policies. Some people lost their homes completely. Many of those whose homes were still salvageable found that they had to completely gut their waterlogged homes and replace all their belongings. Review your policy every few years to see if the limits should be changed.
Take the time to make pictures or videos of each room in your house, as well as of the expensive items that you have insured. Leave a second copy of these pictures by someone in a different location. In case of loss, these pictures will help you more effectively present your case to the insurance company.
And most importantly, there is the Heavenly insurance coverage. Remember to have your Mezuzos and Tefillin checked twice in seven years by a competent sofer. Check them more frequently if they may be adversely affected by weather conditions in your area. It does make a difference!
Where Can I Learn More?
There are a number of publications that you can request which discuss emergency preparedness for the disabled.
From FEMA, 800-480-2520, www.fema.gov:
- FEMA 475 Preparing For Disaster
- FEMA 476 Preparing For Disaster For People With Disabilities and Other Special Needs
- FEMA 154 Emergency Preparedness Checklist
From National Organization on Disability, 646-505-1191, www.nod.org/emergency:
- Disaster Readiness Tips For People With Mobility Disabilities
- Disaster Readiness Tips For Owners of Pets or Service Animals
From US Department of Homeland Security Ready Campaign, 800-BE-READY, www.ready.gov:
- Preparing Makes Sense. Get Ready Now
- Older Americans
- Disabilities and Special Needs
There are also online courses on emergency planning for people with disabilities offered by the University of Kansas Research and Training Center on Independent Living, 785-864-4095, www.train.org.
Course # 1026720 is entitled “Planning For Disaster Related and Functional Needs of People With Disabilities”.
Course # 1026403 is entitled “Planning For Disaster Related Risk and Functional Needs of People With Disabilities”.