Are you caring for your elderly loved one? If so, one of the things you should do is make sure there is a system in place for emergencies. Making your elderly loved one an emergency checklist is one of the ways you can do this. By having this checklist ready, you could help to save your loved one’s life.

Include Personal Information

The top of the emergency checklist should have all of your loved one’s personal information. This includes their birthdate, health insurance information, and Social Security number. Make copies of all this and put it someplace safe.

Medical Providers

In the emergency checklist, you should also write down all of your elderly loved one’s medical providers. You should include their eye doctor, dentist, nephrologist, cardiologist, pulmonologist, general practitioner, and any other medical providers they might have. You should include the addresses, names, and phone numbers for all of these medical providers. This way, if your loved one’s caregivers are taking care of them and something happens, they will know who to call.

Allergies and Health Concerns

Another thing that you should include in the emergency checklist for your elderly loved one is their allergies or any other health concerns. For example, do they have allergies to foods or medications? Do they have diabetes or another disease that others might need to know about? Do they have a pacemaker? These are things that should be included in the emergency checklist, so they can receive the proper medical treatment, when necessary.

Medications

The medications that your elderly loved one is taking should be included in this checklist, as well. Any prescription medications they are taking should be written down. You should also write down any over-the-counter medications or supplements they are taking. It is imperative to include everything they are taking, so if they are given any other medications, there aren’t any interactions.

Advance Directive

Does your elderly loved one have an advance directive? If they do, you should make sure this is included in their emergency checklist. If there is a medical emergency, you want to make sure they can get the treatment they need, without having to jump through any red tape.

These are the things that should make it into an emergency checklist for your elderly loved one. You should make sure that everything is kept in one place, a safe place. However, you should also make sure that their caregivers or any other important people in their life know where the checklist is at, in case anything happens.

Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/features/older-adult-emergency/index.html
https://acl.gov/programs/emergency-preparedness

If you or an aging loved one is considering caregivers in Loudoun, VA, please contact the caring staff at Assisting Hands today. (703) 982-0050.