Your Next Emergency: Are You Ready?
Many Carers have faced it before: you're having a routine day, supper's on the cooker perhaps, or you're enjoying a rare quiet moment with the newspaper. Then, a single moment changes everything, and you find yourself facing down another emergency, or arranging another trip to the hospital. When such a thing happens, the last thing you and your family need is more stress: here's how to head off problems ahead of time, so that when you're facing a crisis you can concentrate on the person you're caring for.
1. LEARN WHAT TO LOOK FOR
If you care for a heart patient, you must know the signs of impending heart attack and stroke. If the person you care for takes medications, you need to know possible side affects and allergic reactions. The best source of preparation is your GP, who can give you information and good advice; look into your local library as well for books on the illness or disability you're managing. Recognising early warning symptoms and understanding what's happening not only helps you and your patient stay calm, but you can help the ambulance crew or A&E staff to provide the best possible care.
2. DON'T WAIT.
Never postpone or fail to call emergency services because you feel "it may pass", or are unsure about symptoms, etc. Someone's life could be lost. It is infinitely better to send for an ambulance and later discover the one you love isn't in danger, than to phone too late.
3. TEACH YOUR KIDS
If anyone lost consciousness at home, would your kids know what to do? Teach them how to dial emergency services if someone in the house is ill or injured. Practice! We've all been through fire drills, because they work. Use a play phone to practice what your kids should do in an emergency.
4. BE PREPARED.
It's ok to keep your husband waiting in the car when you're going for a weekend drive. It's not ok when he's waiting in the back of an ambulance, and you're dashing about the house looking for keys, cash, important phone numbers, etc. If you have a baby at home, keep the changing bag packed and ready to go at a moment's notice, re-packing it whenever you return from a trip, instead of before you leave. If you have small children, keep a small bag packed with non-perishable snacks, juice boxes, a few sticker books or small quiet toys to occupy time in an emergency waiting room. Make the snacks as sugar-free as possible, to avoid any scenes with tired-but-hyper children later. For someone prone to emergency hospital visits, such as a heart or cancer patient, keep a small weekend bag under the bed with a set of pyjamas, change of clothes, clean underwear and basic toiletries packed and ready.
5. KNOW YOUR NUMBERS.
Until the day my husband was driven away in an ambulance with suspected meningitis, his supervisor's telephone number was stored in his mobile phone, but not in mine. Now it's in both. Be sure you have copies of all important telephone numbers for both of you, in each other's mobiles, and/or a printed copy in each other's wallets: it will save time and stress later.
6. KNOW YOUR HOSPITAL.
Expectant parents are always told to make at least one "dry run" to the hospital so that when the time comes, they can go straight to where they need to go, and the route will be familiar, reducing stress on everyone involved. The truth is, anyone could suddenly need the hospital, at any time... you might have to go next week, for reasons you can't foresee. So, this week, drive to your local hospital and find out where to park, where to go in an emergency, what to bring with you, what their policies are, and take a walk around inside, familiarising yourself with what you'd need to know : where the toilets are, when the canteen's open, etc. Even if you've been there before, remember that occasionally hospitals update and renovate -- stay on top. The less stress you and your children face if one of you is ill, the better, and finding your way through an unfamiliar hospital isn't fun when you're sick or worried. This is especially important for families of autistic children: their lack of fear leaves them prone to accidents, but because they don't handle unfamiliar situations very well, a hospital visit can be a terrifying experience. A few visits ahead of time, on a calmer day, will make all the difference.
7. HAVE A MOBILE PHONE READY.
Ready means have one, know how to operate it, keep important phone numbers in it (close family, work, doctors), and keep it charged even when you think you won't need it. While hospitals will have pay phones available and staff will always help you when necessary, being able to keep in constant touch with family is a big comfort. Although you may not be able to use the phone inside the hospital (some medical equipment is affected by their use), it's good to have en route and outside, and will keep your important numbers at hand even if you're using the payphone.
8. LEARN YOUR FAMILY'S MEDICAL HISTORIES.
Write them down if you have to. Include any past or chronic illnesses such as diabetes, the details of any prescriptions, the causes of illness and death of immediate family (parents and siblings), allergies to medications, and any previous surgeries. When a family member is unconscious, they can't answer these questions themselves: you might be doing it.
9. HAVE A BACK-UP
Make sure that someone you trust, whether a family member, neighbour or close friend, has a key to your house and won't mind stopping by for you to feed pets, turn off lights, unplug appliances, etc. if you can't return as quickly as you'd hoped.
10. SPARE SOME CHANGE
Always have a cache of coins with you: nobody likes standing helplessly in front of a payphone or parking meter without it. In a hospital, it's also handy for some snacks or a newspaper in the shop, or a cup of tea in the canteen for when the wait becomes interminable.
11. THE "E" DOES NOT STAND FOR "ENOUGH".
That's my husband's assertion, but he's wrong on this one. Fill the fuel tank of your car, and keep it above a third of a tank at all times. It's not only better for the engine, you'll never have to worry about emergency midnight runs. Imagine someone you love lying in pain, or in danger, in the car's back seat, while you pump fuel. Or worse, run out of it.
12. AND WHEN THE WORST HAPPENS...
Talk to your family today about becoming organ donors, because that time will come for us all. Simply carrying a donor card or making the decision isn't enough: it's your family who will need to know. While it's a difficult subject for some of us to think about, it's a matter of life or death for desperately ill people, right now, in hospitals across the world. If you donate your organs, you will be loved by a crowd of people you've never met yet, and their families, and remembered with gratitude for the rest of their lives.
Funeral arrangements are equally difficult to discuss, but if someone in your family is terminally ill or elderly, let them talk about it if they're ready, or help them make arrangements with a solicitor to make or update a will. Many families have split permanently over the contents of a will or the lack of one, so good preparation is the best legacy you can leave them.
Looking back up this list, it may seem like a lot to remember, but most of it is simply common sense. Unfortunately, common sense is the first thing to decamp when panic sets in, and in a crisis it's an enormous comfort to be able to focus on the important things and let these details take care of themselves... because you'd set them up already. I hope you never need a single one of these pointers, but if you do, an emergency is much easier to face when you're prepared.
Do you have a tip for Carers that you could share? Or have you read a good book on caring you could tell us about? Your personal stories, information, reviews and tips would make great articles to share with your fellow carers. You can send something by e-mail, by post, or give it to Susan at the next monthly meeting. Submissions welcome from everyone.
