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One of the first things I usually
suggest to older clients when I visit them for an assessment is
a stunningly simple safety device.
Place your medical information - name and contact
information for the doctor, and both a list of current
medications and medical conditions in a clear bag. Mark it with
a red cross and tape it to the outside of the refrigerator. In a
medical emergency no one has to search for important medical
information.
Lifesaving
Information
On Every 'Fridge
If you've poked around this website, you know that I strongly
recommend ...advocate... push for...insist - by any name
you want to call it - that you have medical information for the
people you care about handy.
But what if emergency personnel need to help your loved one
right now and you aren't there? They don't have time to look
through purses and wallets for I.D. and emergency contact
information, and in some communities they aren't permitted to.
They don't know what medical problems your loved one might have.
By the time someone in an emergency room gets around to calling
you, assuming they know you exist, critical time can be lost.
If one of your parents is caregiver for the other, would your
less able parent be able to give critical information to
emergency personnel if the caregiving parent were taken ill?
One solution is a Life List on the refrigerator in every
home where medical history and medication information would be
critical to emergency care. Combine it with a small alert sign
on the front door.
Make
One For Each Member of the Family
I've put together
a
Life List Kit
that you can use to make as many sets as you and your family
might need.
Complete the information form as soon as you can, and tape your
small plastic bag to the refrigerator. Put your alert sign on
the front door.
Like any insurance, you hope you never need it. Unlike most
insurance, it costs you absolutely nothing but a few minutes of
your time, a bag, and some tape to make potentially lifesaving
information immediately available to emergency personnel who
might urgently need it to help you or someone you love.
Make this one of
your achievable resolutions today -
grab
a Life List kit. Get one up on the refrigerator in every
home where emergency personnel might one day need vital
information.
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