Caregiver’s Toolbox Ep. 28 “Disaster Preparedness for Seniors”
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Caregiver’s Toolbox Ep. 28 “Disaster Preparedness for Seniors”
Ryan McEniff:
Welcome to the Caregiver’s Toolbox, tools for everyday caregiving. On this podcast, we give education and information on topics related to senior healthcare. This podcast is brought to you by Minute Women Home Care, a home health agency located in Lexington, Massachusetts. My name’s Ryan McEniff, and let’s get into it. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Caregiver’s Toolbox, tools for everyday caregiving. We provide tips, education, and information regarding senior care topics. Last week, we had a new type of format where I read a story of something I found online. Give Janet a break here, we took a month or two off for the summer months, but we are back into it. Janet, what is going on?
Janet:
It is back to school. We get all kinds of things going. So, it’s my favorite time of year. So, here we go.
Ryan McEniff:
Perfect. So, today, we are talking about disaster preparedness for older adults and the elderly. And this is obviously time sensitive and timely, because being on the East Coast, a lot of family members have their senior parents that have retired down to Florida. And you have what happened in Houston. You had what’s going on in Florida right now. And additionally, out in California, you have forest fires and all sorts of nonsense that’s going to cause California to break off and float away.
Janet:
And Mexico had an earthquake like they haven’t seen in a 100 years. All in what, two weeks?
Ryan McEniff:
Two weeks. So, things are going well for the earth. So, with that, we’ll get right into it. Janet, you take the reins on this one. Let’s talk about the emotional component when it comes to these disasters.
Janet:
Well, I think when storms and national emergencies and things happen, it affects people different ways. I think that the younger generation, they’re all in contact with one another and they’re good to go, but where you have elderly people, they think back to the biggest storm they ever lived through. And some people, they get scared, they don’t know what to do, they don’t know how to prepare, and then there’s other people that get totally stubborn, and maybe they prepare and maybe they don’t. And I’m sure you had your concerns because you’re here in Massachusetts, your dad’s in Florida, and that was scheduled for ground zero. So, I’m sure you had some good conversations.
Ryan McEniff:
Yeah, they were interesting. I mean, he has hurricane shutters on his house. He just upgraded in the last year. So, it used to be ones that you had to screw in, now they’re ones that are permanently there, accordion style, you just put them out and then you screw one or two screws in, or somehow it latches on so that the windows are protected. But yeah, it certainly was a concern when you’re seeing the media saying it’s a storm of the century and everybody’s is going to be flying away like Dorothy from Kansas. But that’s part of the gig of living in Florida.
And he knows just as well as I know that if I needed to get down to Florida to avoid some disaster in Massachusetts or vice versa, can always happen. But he wanted to stay put, which nobody in the family thought was wise, but he got the last laugh, because at the last minute, the storm hit the West Coast instead of the East Coast.
Janet:
Well, I wonder sometimes would you be any less scared if he said, yes, I will evacuate, and he goes off to who knows where, or he’s driving up the highway by himself and you don’t know where he is. So, I think you get scared either way because you want the best for him, but he went on the stubborn side, I guess.
Ryan McEniff:
He did.
Janet:
I had more of the worry warts in my family. Of course, my family was here in Massachusetts, but they were worrying about the world, and they figured it would come up East Coast at some point. And I think they started talking about this storm, what, a week before it came. And any plans I made for the upcoming weekend was like, well, maybe you can’t go or what if it’s bad? And it’s the idea of almost digging yourself a hole of feeling like, what am I going to do? So, I think we have to be sensitive to that. And I think especially if there is anyone with dementia or memory issues, one of the things people have trouble with, with short term memory, is keeping track of space and time. So, they can see it on the news that it’s coming next week, but for them it could be coming in five minutes. So, we need to be sensitive to that.
Ryan McEniff:
Absolutely. And then you have the media that they’re trying to do their best with getting out information, but in the times where you have dozens of channels that have 24 hour cable, news network, you have the internet, and then you have your regular local news channels. All you heard about for the last month basically, was hearing about how bad Hurricane Harvey was going to be and then how bad it ended up being. I mean, before they could even talk about the recovery of Hurricane Harvey, we had another hurricane coming in that we heard about for a week and then we’ll hear about it for a week, and then we’ll talk about the recovery for both. So, you’re basically going to be hearing about a disaster for two disasters for probably the next two months or longer. I mean, I forget how long we heard about Katrina for, not that we shouldn’t hear about it, but it’s in the news, it’s top of mind all the time.
Janet:
The only thing on. In fact, I kind of chuckled this morning. I turned on the TV just to get the weather report to figure out how warm it was going to get, and unless you’re in Florida, there is no weather report. It was a little hard that way. And I think it’s hard too, because in some cases, it can just be overload. And then they have the risk of, there are people that think that the media’s hyping it up too much and it’s not going to be a big deal and they ignore it. Then there are people that are mad if it’s not as bad as the apocalypse, because that’s what they were to talking about doing. And again, I think it’s hard for people with any kind of a memory issue to keep track of what’s going on.
And they can’t always tell that this is happening down in Florida when they’re in Massachusetts. They could think that’s what they’re going to wake up to in their own backyard. So, I think we have to be sensitive to that. And I’ve also noticed, even in my own house, thanks to technology, we have reverse 911. So, you’re getting this message telling you what to do or what not to do, and there’ll be no parking after 6:00 at night. And again, depending upon the voice that leaves the message, it sounds like Armageddon. So, I think it’s hard sometimes to keep people informed, but have them stay calm about it.
Ryan McEniff:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I can think about myself in the last couple years. Time goes by so crazy, I don’t remember when it was. But remember when we had, and it’s completely unrelated to weather, but remember when we had the scare with the Ebola virus or there was some virus that… Maybe it was Ebola that three people got or a dozen people got. I don’t even think anybody died of it or maybe one or two people died. But I remember hearing about that nonstop and being like, what are the precautions going to be? And the CDC was trying to, not downplay it, but be like, listen, this is a isolated outbreak that this isn’t going to become a problem. But because of 24 hour news and the word Ebola, all of a sudden, everybody was starting to get very worried about the Ebola virus and things like that, when in actuality, as we clearly saw, it wasn’t a big deal for anyone outside of the people that actually got it.
Obviously, that was horrible, but it wasn’t like what year you think about, like the end of days movies where 50% of the world gets annihilated because of a disease. So, I kind of bought into it, I was like, “Oh my God, this is not good. We got to watch out. This is going to be a big one.” And then it ended up being a little bit overblown by the media. Yeah. I can understand where people can get very concerned and worried when every time you look at something you get worried.
Janet:
And I think too, things like storms and crisis, whatever, there’s great marketing potential. So, there are people that want to sell you all kinds of things. And it gets crazy and information seems to travel a lot faster than facts. So, you have to buy this, so you have to have that or whatever the case may be. And I think it’s a matter of taking a breath. And I think there are things that we’ve learned through the years. I think that there’s, what I’ve seen on the news is they learned a lot from Katrina in terms of being ready for what happened in Florida. And yet at the same time, it took a little curve. So, it changed things and some people went to one shelter, ended up being moved to another.
So, it’s not a perfect science. But one thing that I came across and I know we like to offer people resources to look into is there was a group of older people that were in upstate New York during an ice storm and they weren’t prepared. And they went two weeks with no power due to an ice storm. So, they all got together and they put together a package and they worked with the Red Cross and they came up with a resource called Disaster Preparedness for Seniors by Seniors. And you can get it on the website and it’s very easy to read.
And it breaks it down into three categories, which is to get a kit, meaning, what supplies do you need? Have a plan, what are you going to do? And be informed. And be informed is I think a really good thing in terms of avoiding some of the news media overload, but what’s important to your area. So, I think it’s a really useful tool. And I think for either older people to fill that out and keep it handy, or maybe it’s one of those things you sit around over a Sunday dinner and you talk about it with the family.
Ryan McEniff:
Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that’s always perplexed me with just human nature is why people procrastinate so much. You have these resources like this. And I guess I understand it because we’re in the business of home care, which as we know, nobody wants to really talk about home care and hospice until it’s on at their doorstep.
Janet:
On their doorstep. Exactly.
Ryan McEniff:
Unless you’re one of the people listening to this podcast that’s preparing and it’s so good for you. But I called my father up and I said, “Hey.” While you’re talking, I went on Amazon and I don’t know if they’re not selling it on Amazon because they sold out, and because you can buy them now for $146. But I think that’s marked up a little bit because of the past hurricanes, but there’s something called the waterBOB emergency drinking water storage. And what this thing is, it’s a huge plastic bag that fits the lining of your tub. And you can just hook it up to your nozzles, so that if a hurricane is coming in, you fill it up the day before you, you fill up a 100 gallons of your water in your tub and you have a 100 gallons of drinking water. And when I bought mine, it was like 30 bucks.
So, you see these pictures of people that go to Walmart that have sometimes 10 or 15 or 30 cases of water, and people are fighting over water. And for $30 on Amazon or wherever you find this thing, you can have a 100 gallons at any point in time that takes up no more room than a few books in your shelf, rather than having cases of water that you have to run out to. So, I mean, being a little bit proactive, like you said, with these different resources can not only save your life, but it can always make your life a lot easier.
Janet:
And save money. What do those bottles of water cost?
Ryan McEniff:
Exactly. And how much do they mark those up? Listen, when you’re in an emergency situation, you’re not looking to have caviar and lobster tails. I mean, you can get away with having some beans or having some hot dogs or whatever you leave in the cupboard. Even if they’re meal replacement bars, buying a few boxes of that, and then you have three or four days worth of food. Are you going to be sick of chocolate and peanut butter protein bars by the end of it? Yeah. But guess what? You’re not going to be hungry. So, those are the things that these resource are great, but you really need people to go out there, look at them, follow them. And for the most part, there are only a few things you need to do, and then you’re all set and you don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Janet:
And they really are common sense. It doesn’t have to be complicated things. And that’s why I used to always think that the dairy people and the bakeries might be in cahoots, because every time they talk about a snowstorm, somebody goes and buys nine gallons of milk and a whole bunch of bread. And then if they lose power, the milk spoils. But that’s like you say, the knee jerk reaction, they don’t want to prepare, but you don’t have to do that.
Ryan McEniff:
Yeah. And it sounded like my girlfriend who lived up in Southern New Hampshire, she knew during snowstorms that she needed a generator. Well, instead of waiting for the generator, the snowstorm to come, she went out in the summer when nobody needs a generator and bought one at a lower price than when the winter comes and those prices go up steadily. There’s a big difference in buying $30 item on Amazon for water and buying a $250 generator. I understand that. But just thinking ahead a little bit, since we’re in the business, people need to think ahead.
And this podcast is to educate people on thinking ahead a little bit for the different circumstances that could, and more than likely, will occur in your life. If you live in Florida, you probably need flood insurance if you want to live in Florida,. You probably should worry about where you’re going to get water if you live in an area that’s hurricane prone.
Janet:
Absolutely.
Ryan McEniff:
Now, granted, if 50 inches of water fall in your city, like it did in Houston, maybe it doesn’t matter at that point in time. But also, those are probably one of those once in a two or 300 year storms where it floods a complete city.
Janet:
Yep. Absolutely.
Ryan McEniff:
So, absolutely. What are the three steps that you would tell everybody to do with these kind of emergency and these disasters with older adults and the elderly?
Janet:
Well, the three things, first of all, to have a kit. And a kit can be as simple as having flashlights and batteries. If you have a battery operated radio, then you can listen to what’s going on. For most people, as they get older, they are taking some kind of medication. So, don’t let your medication get down to your last pill at any point, you should have some available. And if it’s because you’re going into cold weather, make sure you’ve got some blankets and things like that and food that is easy to open or prepare that doesn’t need refrigeration. Those are real basics.
They say candles and matches and all, but we have to think that there’s safety hazards to that. So, you’re better off with the flashlights. And there’s a lot of things that now the technology’s so good. There’s little tabletop ones that can light up the room practically. So, it’s having a kit. And anyone with any kind of medical condition, you should have that information in an envelope, you should’ve contact information, where you can reach family members, whatever else, doctor’s name, things like that. And have enough that if the power went out, could you hang in there for a week? And if there are things that are staples, they will carry you through the season and it’s not like they’re going to spoil.
The second thing is to make a plan. And that’s a matter of, you know your dad’s going to put those shutters up on his windows and he’s going to get his groceries and he’s going to settle in. That’s his plan. For someone else who may need assistance with their medication or they’re diabetic, their plan may be you got to go and get grandma or somebody and she’s got to go to somebody else’s house or you have to go there. So, you need a plan as to what you’re going to do. And when you make a plan, you need to plan for not just that one person, but oftentimes, elderly people have a dog or a cat and they need their kibble too, but you need to know what are you going to do with the pets.
And then the third part is just to be informed. And that is not just watching the national news to see what the weather bureau is saying, but a connection with your local people. In Florida, evacuations, I believe were determined by what zones you lived in or whatever. In this part of the country, it’s a matter of what station or police station, there’s a lot of information you can get without calling 911, and knowing what that is.
Ryan McEniff:
Excellent. Excellent. Well, hopefully people have found this to be informative. If you have any feedback, please reach out to us on twitter at @mwhomecare.com. Janet, thank you for your insight and your time on this. And with whatever hurricanes come forward with us since it’s cur hurricane season, and eventually will be fire season on California. Be prepared, stay safe, and we’ll see you on the next podcast next Tuesday.
Janet:
Very good.
Ryan McEniff:
Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you for listening to the Caregiver’s Toolbox Podcast, which is brought to you by Minute Women Home Care Services located in Lexington, Massachusetts. Call us at 1844-BEST-CARE if you have caregiving question or needs. For comments regarding the podcast, find us on Twitter. Our handle is @mwhomecare. Thanks again. And we look forward to hearing from you.