Family emergency preparedness

Elderly relatives, and anyone who cannot simply walk out

10 of 12 lessons

Almost all preparedness advice quietly assumes a healthy adult who can carry a bag down four flights of stairs. Plan for the people in your household for whom that is not true.

Write down what they actually need. Medicines and doses. Equipment: glasses, hearing aids and their batteries, a walking frame, a wheelchair, a stoma or catheter supply, incontinence products. Anything that needs mains electricity — an oxygen concentrator, a nebuliser, a hoist — and what happens to it in a power cut.

Ask now what the local arrangement is. Many countries and municipalities keep a register of residents who would need assistance to evacuate, and many people who qualify have never heard of it. Your country's civil-protection authority is the place to ask.

Two people, not one. Anybody who cannot leave unaided needs two people who know they exist and where they live — because one of them will be somewhere else.

A day's supply of everything essential in a bag by their door, packed by somebody who knows what they use.

Deafness and blindness change the plan. A siren is not a warning to somebody who cannot hear it, and a written notice is not a warning to somebody who cannot read it. Agree who is responsible for telling them, by knocking.

UPA educational materials are intended for general preparedness and educational purposes. In an emergency, always follow current instructions from local authorities and emergency services. Country-specific procedures may differ.

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