Safety To-Do #9 – Prepare for Medical Needs in case of Emergency

A few weeks ago, your safety task was to purchase a weather radio so that you will have valuable, extra time to evacuate in the event of heavy winter storms, tornadoes, terrorist attacks and the like.  Most of us will never hear the radio’s alert sound, but what if one of those events actually does occur?  Will you be prepared?  What if you or someone in your family requires medical equipment and medications to stay alive?  Will they be able to get them during or after an evacuation or shelter-in-place warning has been issued?

This week’s safety to-do comes at the advice of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regarding how to prepare for an emergency such as a natural disaster if you have special medical needs.
FEMA recommends the following:

• Make prior arrangements with your physician or check with your oxygen supplier about emergency plans for those on respirators or other electric-powered medical equipment. Be sure to have electrical backup for any medical equipment. [If you choose to use a portable generator, make sure you understand the risks and know how to use the generator safely.]

• Maintain a two-week supply of medications, both prescription and non-prescription.

• Have copies of your medical records readily available.

• Have copies of prescriptions for medical equipment, supplies and medications on hand readily available.

• Keep extra contact lenses and supplies, extra eyeglasses and extra batteries for hearing aids.

• Make plans now to have accessible transportation in case of evacuation.

• Shelters may be limited in accommodations to meet some of the needs of those with disabilities. Prepare ahead of time to ensure that you will have what you need.

• Include your service animals and pets in your plans.

Your safety to-do for this week is to review the above list and, if applicable to you or a loved one, make sure that the necessary preparations have been made.  Once the radio alert sounds, it will likely be too late to begin this process; prepare now.