Disaster Preparedness, Recovery & Resilience – Older Adults and Family Caregivers

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH.

[00:00:08] This episode of the Caregiver Community is sponsored by Pace at Home. During this uncertain time, Pace at Home is enrolling participants who wish to continue to remain at home. Partnering with families, Pace at Home provides caring medical support for all of our program's participants.

[00:00:26] Visit us on our website or give us a call at 828-468-3980 to talk with a representative that can discuss with you the Pace at Home all-inclusive medical approach.

[00:00:41] Pace at Home is the champion for seniors wishing to remain in their community.

[00:00:45] Welcome to the Caregiver Community. This is a place where we talk about the joys and the challenges of caring for our aging parents and loved ones, as well as caring for ourselves.

[00:00:55] I am Frances Hall, founder and executive director of ACAP, Adult Children of Aging Parents.

[00:01:01] In the past 20 years, multiple types of disasters have hit the U.S., often devastating lives and communities.

[00:01:10] In this podcast, we are talking about how to prepare for a disaster and steps to take immediately afterwards, specifically as they relate to older adults and their caregivers.

[00:01:22] I am delighted to be joined by Karen Scallan.

[00:01:25] Karen has been training people in Louisiana on disaster preparedness since 2005.

[00:01:31] She not only survived Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, but also made sure her elderly parents, as well as her son, who has developmental disabilities, were okay.

[00:01:43] Subsequently, Karen founded Special Needs and Parent Support Services of Louisiana and is now a member of the Louisiana Emergency Management, Disability and Aging Coalition.

[00:01:56] Through her company and the coalition, Karen trains people on disaster preparedness and works with state and federal agencies to provide support for individuals after a disaster.

[00:02:08] Hi, Karen.

[00:02:10] Hi, Karen.

[00:02:10] Thank you so much for joining us today about this incredibly important, timely and sadly timeless topic.

[00:02:20] How are you today?

[00:02:22] I'm fine.

[00:02:22] Thank you.

[00:02:23] Thank you for having me today.

[00:02:25] Oh, truly my pleasure.

[00:02:28] empowering Tora am I my pleasure.

[00:02:29] Thank you for coming.

[00:02:29] Because, as you know, and maybe some of our listeners know, I live in Western North Carolina.

[00:02:36] We, along with people in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, recently experienced the devastation from Hurricane Amellene.

[00:02:47] Our Hurricane Katrina.

[00:02:49] Now, seeing how catastrophic a disaster can be to individuals and communities, Karen, let's talk about what caregivers can do to prepare for a disaster and at least the initial steps to take immediately after the storm.

[00:03:05] Because probably, although I would wish that we would never have this again, probably we will have other devastating, catastrophic situations.

[00:03:17] Yes.

[00:03:17] So let's kind of start at the beginning.

[00:03:20] You have lots of experience personally as well as professionally.

[00:03:26] What have you learned from your personal experience and your work?

[00:03:32] Like what are some of the lessons about preparing for disasters?

[00:03:38] Well, there are some definite lessons learned, not just from Katrina, but even Hurricane Ida a few years ago, which came directly over our home.

[00:03:48] We spent about six weeks away from home before we could actually get back.

[00:03:55] Some of the things that really stand out to me as being some of the most important things for us have been making sure we have a go bag.

[00:04:03] First of all, you don't want to, if at all possible, be in a rescue situation or even evacuation situation without certain things that you might need that are important to you or important to the individual medications and things like that.

[00:04:19] Having a paper map is very important.

[00:04:22] Having a paper map is very important because phone systems do go down.

[00:04:24] So if you're getting yourself out, you need to know alternative routes.

[00:04:28] Those routes, the main interstate highways get very crowded.

[00:04:32] You need to have a communication plan with multiple ways to get the phone numbers that you might need for neighbors and provider agencies and things like that.

[00:04:46] One of the biggest things that I feel is important is having redundancies built into your plan.

[00:04:54] You don't want to have only one way out.

[00:04:57] You don't want to have, you know, just one option for the things that you might need.

[00:05:03] You want to have a couple of phone numbers.

[00:05:05] You want to have all these different, you know, possibilities that you think about to make sure that you have what you need.

[00:05:12] And these disasters don't always happen in a bubble.

[00:05:16] It's not just the disaster.

[00:05:18] You may have a loved one that was just released from the hospital right before the storm.

[00:05:24] You may have other things coming along with that hurricane residue.

[00:05:29] You might have flood, of course, with fire.

[00:05:32] If gas lines are broken, they may have spinoff tornadoes.

[00:05:36] There's animal threats and, of course, mudslides.

[00:05:39] We know that, too.

[00:05:40] And I know that was so devastating to you guys.

[00:05:42] You also need to know and understand your sheltering options and how to access them if you need to.

[00:05:50] Generator safety is huge.

[00:05:52] And then one of the things that I feel gets ignored or maybe not really gets the attention it deserves is your mental health.

[00:06:01] Your mental health is very important in this situation, especially as a caregiver and your loved one's mental health.

[00:06:09] If you think about they're having a disability for whatever it may be, mobile or intellectual, cognitive, neurological, they're afraid, too.

[00:06:21] And they may not have the ability to process it as easily as you.

[00:06:25] You're going to have adrenaline in that first disaster.

[00:06:30] A crash is going to come.

[00:06:32] You are going to crash.

[00:06:33] It's normal.

[00:06:35] It's okay.

[00:06:36] You've got to release those stress chemicals.

[00:06:39] Pacing yourself before, during, and after is so important.

[00:06:43] And know that disaster fatigue and preparation anxiety can be very real things.

[00:06:51] And so having that awareness as we go into this new era of, you know, bigger storms, stronger storms, faster building storms, difficulties and predictions of where they'll go.

[00:07:05] You know, if you go in with that awareness, it can help a lot.

[00:07:10] Holy mackerel.

[00:07:11] I have just taken a bunch of notes because, you know, in Western North Carolina, we had no clue that whatever 300 miles away from where a hurricane came on to the shore.

[00:07:28] We had no clue that we would be so devastated.

[00:07:32] Okay.

[00:07:32] Let me pick up on a couple of things.

[00:07:34] So let me emphasize the to-go bag.

[00:07:39] So what you are suggesting is literally to have a bag packed all the time.

[00:07:46] Yes.

[00:07:46] With just the basics in it.

[00:07:48] But let me ask, how do you do that with medication?

[00:07:53] Because that's a great question.

[00:07:56] And I can tell you what we do.

[00:07:58] And I've talked to a lot of Louisiana emergency managers about it and they agreed.

[00:08:03] So we have a backpack, one for me and one for my son.

[00:08:07] In that backpack, I keep a Ziploc bag with the bottles, with the prescriptions on them.

[00:08:13] The bottles stay in that Ziploc bag in the backpack.

[00:08:16] When I fill my AM, PM medication box for the week, take them out, fill my medication boxes, I put the bottles back in that go bag.

[00:08:25] That way, if I have to grab it in case of a fire, I live very near a lot of chemical plants and a nuclear power plant.

[00:08:33] If I have to leave in five minutes, I grab it.

[00:08:36] I've at least got the bottles with some of our medication in it.

[00:08:39] And I've got the prescription numbers all in there.

[00:08:42] Okay.

[00:08:43] So you basically store your medication in the-

[00:08:50] Yes.

[00:08:51] Brilliant.

[00:08:52] Brilliant.

[00:08:52] Yes.

[00:08:54] Gotcha.

[00:08:55] Gotcha.

[00:08:55] Gotcha.

[00:08:55] Yeah.

[00:08:56] Yeah.

[00:08:56] I really like that.

[00:08:57] And because we were with, I mean, so much of this is so personal for me right now.

[00:09:03] Yes.

[00:09:05] But when you were talking about the communication and have paper maps and have papers with phone numbers on it,

[00:09:12] because you may not have communication where you are, but you may be able to get somewhere that does have communication.

[00:09:20] Yeah.

[00:09:50] So you may have kind of a lot of those, but you may have kind of already talked about this, but are there some tips that can be done easily and some maybe larger preparedness goals that you would suggest?

[00:10:03] Sure.

[00:10:04] Sure.

[00:10:04] Absolutely.

[00:10:05] Absolutely.

[00:10:05] So like I said, some of the smaller goals would be just having access to a paper map in your go bag, collecting your important documents ahead of time and having them in multiple, like I said, redundancies, multiple formats.

[00:10:21] You may have your paper documents in, they have these fireproof, waterproof bags.

[00:10:27] Now it's like a, more like a briefcase. They can go next to the go bags, be picked up right when you leave and you've got your originals and your paper copies, but also have a copy on CD-ROM scanned.

[00:10:39] I don't recommend the thumb drives because they do break.

[00:10:43] So having your important documents accessible in an emergency, start building that communication plan, start collecting those numbers, the phone numbers of,

[00:10:55] I recommend also having alternative dialysis locations, durable medical equipment companies in case a wheelchair or things like that are destroyed.

[00:11:05] Now there are systems to get the aids and things, walkers and things like that.

[00:11:13] If you lose that equipment, there are ways that the government replaces it if you're in a shelter so you can get access to that kind of thing.

[00:11:21] But you may want to have some access phone numbers for the companies that you normally use.

[00:11:28] Have the phone numbers, emergency numbers for any paid caregiver agency that you're using.

[00:11:36] So see if you can, even if you're in a shelter sometimes, they may make arrangements to be able to set up for another worker to come and assist and give, you know, the caregiver, the family caregiver a break.

[00:11:46] You want to create some lists, a to-do list.

[00:11:50] Say you revisit it every, I do mine, June 1st, the beginning of hurricane season.

[00:11:55] But set an annual review.

[00:11:57] See what you need to update.

[00:11:59] See what you can build on.

[00:12:00] Create some packing lists.

[00:12:03] Pack what you want for your child, for your elderly loved one, for yourself.

[00:12:09] Maybe even advance pack.

[00:12:11] For us in Louisiana, I already have a couple bags that are packed and ready to go.

[00:12:16] My elderly mother, what we worked with her to do was have a suitcase set up June 1st.

[00:12:23] She starts packing.

[00:12:24] She has her list.

[00:12:25] And by a week or two, she's got everything packed and it's in the suitcases.

[00:12:29] So all we have to do is go there, get her, and get her things and evacuate her.

[00:12:34] So that's kind of how we work for our situation.

[00:12:38] List out emergency preparedness purchases as future goals and look at your finances of when you can afford maybe to upgrade on different things.

[00:12:49] Make sure your bags are strategically placed, that everybody in the family knows where they are,

[00:12:55] so that if you have to evacuate quickly, fire, chemical emergency or such, you can grab them and go.

[00:13:02] So learn how to shut down the utilities to your home if you have to leave so that you don't have issues with gas lines breaking,

[00:13:13] you know, electricity with four feet, five feet of water in it.

[00:13:17] We saw some of that in Florida.

[00:13:20] That's very dangerous.

[00:13:21] And also plan for your pets and your service animals.

[00:13:26] I saw a wonderful video.

[00:13:28] It was just such a great example of preparedness during – it was either the recent Milton or Helene.

[00:13:37] And this couple had several animals.

[00:13:39] They had a backpack bag to carry one of them.

[00:13:43] They had their backpack go bag for the animals.

[00:13:45] They had their travel cases for their dogs.

[00:13:51] And they were very prepared.

[00:13:52] They had everything ready.

[00:13:53] Their house flooded unexpectedly.

[00:13:56] And all of them were on the porch.

[00:13:58] Their animals were secured.

[00:14:00] And they had everything they needed.

[00:14:01] They were just waiting for rescue.

[00:14:03] So doing those kind of smaller things.

[00:14:06] Now, some of the bigger things I would say would be to build on what you start with.

[00:14:12] As you revisit your plan every year, double check that go bag.

[00:14:16] You might want to be sure you have an extra pair of glasses.

[00:14:19] That maybe it's the last prescription, but an extra pair in case glasses are broken.

[00:14:24] Extra hearing aid batteries.

[00:14:26] Candies and things for diabetics.

[00:14:29] Extra power strips, charger cords.

[00:14:31] Of course, some first aid.

[00:14:33] And one other thing I didn't think of when I first started doing our go bag was having an extra set of clothes and dry shoes.

[00:14:41] You know, you get a pair of tennis shoes, you can put the old ones in the go bag.

[00:14:46] And the reason I mention that is the flooding issue.

[00:14:49] So I worked with, we in about 2016 in Louisiana had a tremendous rainstorm.

[00:14:57] It was unusual, very unusual and more like your experience with Helene.

[00:15:01] And we had over 20 inches of rain.

[00:15:04] We had some places that are 100 miles away and just flooding, terrible flooding very, very quickly.

[00:15:12] This gentleman was bedridden.

[00:15:13] His elderly mother was caring for him.

[00:15:16] And they were in the floodwater because it came up so fast.

[00:15:20] So their clothes were soaking wet with that floodwater.

[00:15:22] And they sat in a shelter for three days in those same clothes.

[00:15:25] Of course, that was very dangerous for him due to, you know, skin breakdowns and having that bacteria.

[00:15:32] There's illness, everything in that water.

[00:15:35] So having that extra change of clothes and a go bag can mean all the difference in the world.

[00:15:40] And that goes to both your physical and your mental state.

[00:15:45] Another thing people may want to consider is training any paid income in home caregivers

[00:15:52] that they have on how their loved one may react in a disaster.

[00:15:57] If they're caring for them at the time, you know, your worker may be there taking care of your mother

[00:16:03] while you're working or something like that.

[00:16:05] You want them to know how she may react if she's going to be able to answer a firefighter

[00:16:11] when they call out her name or respond and or if she's going to panic.

[00:16:16] If there's some information that you can give them, help them understand how to help your loved one.

[00:16:22] And you may want to consider putting that information in the plan of care that's done for your home care visit.

[00:16:30] Bigger issue two, power.

[00:16:33] So your big things are water, fuel, food.

[00:16:36] So when we talk about power and fuel, you may want to start saving toward some sort of a generator.

[00:16:44] And I have some more information about the generator situation.

[00:16:49] But, you know, and save up toward having an emergency cash fund in the case of a disaster that you can access.

[00:16:59] And those would be some of the bigger things I would suggest.

[00:17:03] I'm serious.

[00:17:04] I just keep taking notes.

[00:17:08] Oh, golly.

[00:17:09] What great insight.

[00:17:12] Thank you.

[00:17:13] Something came to my mind.

[00:17:17] Maybe I'll come back.

[00:17:21] Yeah.

[00:17:23] Maybe it will come back to you.

[00:17:25] Sure.

[00:17:27] Okay.

[00:17:28] So.

[00:17:29] So we've talked a lot about preparedness.

[00:17:32] What to do before the storm hits.

[00:17:37] But then.

[00:17:38] Okay.

[00:17:39] So we're prepared.

[00:17:40] Everything ready.

[00:17:41] The storm hits.

[00:17:43] Right.

[00:17:43] Now what?

[00:17:45] We've gotten through it.

[00:17:46] The storm has moved on from our area.

[00:17:49] And now it's the aftermath.

[00:17:52] Now what?

[00:17:53] What are some of the first or the early actions to take after the storm passes?

[00:17:59] So I think a lot of that response and what you're going to do first, second, and third is going to depend on where you are at that time.

[00:18:09] If you've evacuated, it may be a matter of trying to notify other people that you're okay.

[00:18:14] You're evacuated and then you're evacuated.

[00:18:16] You're evacuated and then going into the process of starting to apply for assistance.

[00:18:21] But if you're in the disaster zone, unexpected, anything can happen.

[00:18:25] The very first thing is verify that everyone in your home is safe.

[00:18:30] Administer any first aid that's needed.

[00:18:33] And if the home is not destroyed, try to access 911.

[00:18:38] If they do need emergency evacuation, 911 systems tend to go down in these situations because they're just overloaded.

[00:18:48] So if that happens, this is part of your redundancy planning.

[00:18:53] You're going to have those phone numbers for any government emergency personnel you can call.

[00:18:59] For instance, in Louisiana, every parish has an emergency operations or Office of Emergency Preparedness, mostly connected to also Homeland Security.

[00:19:11] And they are the ones responsible for dispatch of rescue operations and things like that.

[00:19:18] They know where all of the assets are.

[00:19:21] They know how to, you know, get to people that they will be working with, all of the other first responders on road access and things like that.

[00:19:29] So knowing how to reach them can be very important in being able to access that emergency rescue that you might need.

[00:19:39] Have those go bags ready.

[00:19:42] And I say ready and even heightened readiness more so than you just having it in your location.

[00:19:48] You might be keeping that backpack on if floodwaters are coming up or, you know, grabbing the backpack and going outside of the home waiting for that rescue.

[00:19:59] Check on your access to supplies.

[00:20:01] Because you may be able to stay in your home and may just need someone to check up on the family.

[00:20:10] Make sure you have your supplies aren't dwindling, what they can get to you if you can't get out.

[00:20:16] So check your access to your generators.

[00:20:19] Make sure everything that's good.

[00:20:20] Your fuel is set up.

[00:20:22] If you have tents and you can't stay in the home, set your tents up.

[00:20:26] Be aware of that adrenaline rush, too, that I talked about because I find in Louisiana we have tons of trees.

[00:20:33] I know you guys, I'm sure, same thing.

[00:20:35] So those trees are all down.

[00:20:37] They're blocking the roads, right?

[00:20:39] And especially in a little further north than me, everybody there tends to have a chainsaw.

[00:20:45] So you hear those chainsaws going because we just get out and we help ourselves.

[00:20:50] You know, we're not waiting for someone to come and move those trees.

[00:20:54] So we're out there helping ourselves, but we also have this adrenaline rush going.

[00:20:57] And you want to be very careful because this is when accidents happen.

[00:21:02] A lot of deaths and severe injuries occur after the storm for this kind of thing.

[00:21:10] And then one of the very first things, and so important not to forget because we will get caught up in that setting everything up for survival situation.

[00:21:20] But just reassuring your elderly loved ones.

[00:21:24] It's going to be okay.

[00:21:26] I'm here for you.

[00:21:27] If you need something, let me know.

[00:21:29] I'm going to do my best.

[00:21:30] But just stay calm and we'll be calm.

[00:21:33] And we're going to get through this.

[00:21:34] We're going to get through this.

[00:21:36] If possible, give them something that they can do to help, whatever it is.

[00:21:43] People fare so much better when they feel like they can contribute.

[00:21:49] And I think it goes a long way to their mental health as well.

[00:21:53] So just don't forget in the aftermath, they're going through a lot too.

[00:22:02] Absolutely.

[00:22:03] And you're absolutely right.

[00:22:05] You feel much better if they feel like they can do something.

[00:22:08] And we may not have control over the situation, but at least we know, at least we're doing something to help.

[00:22:15] Right.

[00:22:17] A couple of things have popped into my mind as I'm taking notes fast and furious.

[00:22:25] Yes, in North Carolina, we had a lot of trees down, partly because of the rain or the flooding, partly because of the wind.

[00:22:35] Would you, I mean, a lot of people can't do this.

[00:22:40] But it seems to me that making sure that you have trees cut down, big trees cut down that are around your house.

[00:22:49] I know in one neighborhood, there are either three or four houses that trees came down through the roofs.

[00:22:54] Yeah.

[00:22:55] I mean, my brother, who lives in Louisiana, had three trees come down on their roof in some hurricane.

[00:23:04] And it not only crashed the roof through, but it actually literally broke part of the house away.

[00:23:12] Mm-hmm.

[00:23:12] Yeah.

[00:23:13] So would that be something that people can do before the storm gets?

[00:23:19] Would you recommend?

[00:23:20] Yeah, I mean, if that's financially feasible for them to do, you know, cut back those branches.

[00:23:28] Thinning out the trees kind of helps to, you know, when the canopy is really thick, they tend to catch the wind more and become uprooted.

[00:23:37] But that can be a very expensive, very expensive prospect.

[00:23:42] So, yeah.

[00:23:43] But if it's something absolutely that, you know, they're able to afford, I would suggest, you know, taking a look at that.

[00:23:50] We actually did do that probably a few years before, probably a couple of years before Hurricane Ida came through.

[00:23:59] We had one that was a tree that was starting to look sick.

[00:24:02] And that's the other thing, you know, maybe having an arborist look at those trees and decide, yeah, this one looks like it's not too healthy.

[00:24:08] It's going to be more susceptible to wind and being knocked down.

[00:24:13] You know, that might be an item to put on their potential list too.

[00:24:18] Right, right, right.

[00:24:19] Well, let's talk about some supplies and technology that you have found to be really helpful.

[00:24:27] Sure.

[00:24:27] What people ought to have kind of in their hip pocket.

[00:24:30] Sure, sure.

[00:24:32] So one of the things, like I said, your major things you're looking for are water, food, and fuel.

[00:24:38] And in terms of water, you can purchase relatively inexpensively the five-gallon water-safe or food-safe jugs to store water rather than purchasing water in advance.

[00:24:51] You know, you just fill them up.

[00:24:53] They're very easy to deal with.

[00:24:55] I just would stick them in my garden tub in the bathroom, and it has a spout on the top, and you can access the water there easily.

[00:25:02] If we were going to stay and kind of hunker down.

[00:25:04] But you don't even have to purchase those.

[00:25:07] You can even use like two-liter soda bottles.

[00:25:10] Wash them out.

[00:25:11] Rinse them out.

[00:25:12] Store them.

[00:25:12] And if a storm comes, you can fill those.

[00:25:14] I do not suggest using anything that had a milk product in it because it's really hard to get that milk out of there and bacteria.

[00:25:21] Some other things that I've learned from our neighbors in central United States is helmets in a tornado threat.

[00:25:32] So there was a couple of storms that went through.

[00:25:35] They had tremendous damage.

[00:25:36] And one of the football teams all grabbed their helmets, put them on, and it saved their lives because a wall came down during the tornado.

[00:25:45] It hit the school.

[00:25:46] It was another mom told her story about grabbing her son's little peewee football helmet, put it on his head, saved him from head injury.

[00:25:54] Head injuries are the most frequent issue after a tornado.

[00:25:59] It's the head injuries because, you know, if it's hit in your house, you can be thrown.

[00:26:03] So just something to have, a bike helmet in that safe room.

[00:26:08] Of course, work on your stockpile of food.

[00:26:11] You know, some can, it doesn't have to be tremendous.

[00:26:14] It doesn't have to be overly expensive.

[00:26:18] Having a safety alert sticker, maybe in a window in the front door for first responders, letting them know there's someone in the household who may not be able to respond to their name if they're called.

[00:26:30] So, for instance, you know, any children that are nonverbal, adults that are having trouble with communication.

[00:26:38] As you know, my husband had frontal temporal dementia and he wasn't able to speak anymore.

[00:26:45] He lost his ability to speak and that does happen.

[00:26:48] So letting them know that the individual may not be able to respond can be helpful to them.

[00:26:54] Medical identifier bracelets, very good.

[00:26:57] You know, if they will wear them, identify if they have diabetes and that kind of thing.

[00:27:03] A choking rescue device.

[00:27:05] And I know I'm talking about things that maybe don't sound connected to, you know, that disaster hurricane.

[00:27:11] But like I said, these things don't exist in a bubble.

[00:27:14] So a choking rescue device.

[00:27:18] Fire blankets.

[00:27:19] So a fire blanket is just this amazing technology.

[00:27:25] It's a little packet with a blanket in it about the top cover size of the top of your stove.

[00:27:31] And it has two loops and you just yank them out, the blanket out of the bag and throw it on top of your stove.

[00:27:38] It's much quicker than a fire extinguisher.

[00:27:42] However, I do not recommend to say replace your fire extinguisher with that.

[00:27:48] But it is an added, faster response and so much easier to teach outside caregivers coming in.

[00:27:56] I also want to remind people don't forget about something to entertain the kids with the adults with word search books and things like that.

[00:28:04] But, you know, having, and this is important too, having a notebook and pen in that go bag because you're going to have to start taking down numbers, FEMA numbers and, you know, claim numbers for your insurance and all of those sort of things.

[00:28:24] Having pen and paper is so important.

[00:28:27] And, you know, we don't always, I know I take a lot of notes in my phone, but if your phone is broken, if your phone is flooded out or whatever.

[00:28:37] So supplies, you know, I would say those are some things that I thought were helpful.

[00:28:42] And then technology.

[00:28:45] Did you ask about technology?

[00:28:47] I did.

[00:28:48] Okay.

[00:28:48] Yeah, I thought so.

[00:28:49] So, so technology, as it goes to communication, I recommend that people download things like WhatsApp or some sort of app on your phone that you can use to communicate with someone who doesn't necessarily have the app on their end.

[00:29:06] So we had this bad flood in 2016.

[00:29:11] We found that AT&T cell tires went down, but Wi-Fi still worked.

[00:29:17] So with the Wi-Fi still working, people were able to use their WhatsApp and some other apps that they were working with to communicate and to request rescue.

[00:29:29] At that point, you know, it was pretty much chaos.

[00:29:34] During that flood, it was pretty intense.

[00:29:37] So having an alternative app for communication is very helpful.

[00:29:41] Weather apps are very important, especially, like I say, during a hurricane.

[00:29:47] There's spinoff tornadoes.

[00:29:48] You could be in an area that receives that.

[00:29:51] Look at Milton.

[00:29:52] Florida was covered with tornadoes and the areas that weren't even in the line of fire for the actual storm.

[00:30:00] So having those weather apps that give you those phone alerts, set your phone alerts to your location.

[00:30:06] I have three on my phone and we have a siren system.

[00:30:10] And my three apps will start ringing before the sirens go off.

[00:30:15] Just because of the speed, it goes through much faster.

[00:30:19] There is an identifier that a product that I love.

[00:30:24] I don't not compensated for this at all, but I want to be sure everybody knows that.

[00:30:29] But I think it's wonderful.

[00:30:30] So it's called ifineedhelp.com.

[00:30:33] And they generate a QR code that's unique to your loved one.

[00:30:39] And when you get your QR code, you can open it and input any information you want somebody to see in case you're separated from your loved one.

[00:30:49] So, you know, my name, my phone number, my alternate phone number, alternate family members that can be called.

[00:30:55] That's all they see if someone scans it.

[00:30:58] And then you can print that QR code out.

[00:31:02] You can get this.

[00:31:03] Of course, they sell products, but they have some really inexpensive things like little business card or a little tag that can go in a shoelace.

[00:31:13] So if you have a loved one that isn't able to articulate where they live or their phone number or who may be in diminished capacity just due to trauma,

[00:31:25] this can be really helpful because anyone can scan that with a phone and then find out, you know, try to get in touch with you.

[00:31:33] One of the other things I recommend for anyone who has a loved one who could wander, you can get these little chime systems if you don't have a home alarm.

[00:31:42] And it just makes a chime go off when the contact's broken so you can hear if a door opens or a window's open.

[00:31:50] You definitely want to get some battery packs that you can charge in advance to keep phones running and things like that.

[00:31:58] There's also solar panels for chargers now, too, and solar chargers, which I think are fabulous.

[00:32:04] I just bought my first solar phone charger, and they're wonderful.

[00:32:10] They're for fires now.

[00:32:13] There's a couple of really good things out there.

[00:32:15] There's a talking smoke alarm where you can record your voice.

[00:32:20] And studies show that people wake up with that before they will, the screeching sound noise that comes out.

[00:32:28] And then if you have a loved one who is hard of hearing or deaf, they have alarms that will shake the bed and flash a light so they know that there's something going on and wake them up.

[00:32:40] And then the other thing, and this is relatively new.

[00:32:45] It's a little bit more on the more expensive thing.

[00:32:48] It might be something people save up towards.

[00:32:51] But getting a buy or try fuel generator.

[00:32:56] This is something that's really new.

[00:32:59] It's portable.

[00:33:00] So it's manageable for a lot of people.

[00:33:06] The tri-fuel takes butane, natural gas, and gasoline, either one.

[00:33:11] And you can alternate.

[00:33:13] So in order to use your natural gas line, there is a fee.

[00:33:16] You're going to have to get your plumber to run it into the line to the house.

[00:33:19] And there's some things you can do to also have it run into the electrical panel.

[00:33:25] Electrician has to do that.

[00:33:27] You don't want the electricity generated in your panel to go back out into the line to potentially harm a lineman.

[00:33:36] So there's some things they can do for that.

[00:33:38] But it can be a tremendous saving grace to keep our loved ones in the home after a disaster.

[00:33:44] And we know they're going to fare better if they're staying in a familiar surrounding.

[00:33:48] So that may be an option for a lot of people.

[00:33:50] But the price is absolutely much less than getting that whole home generator, which only runs on the gas.

[00:33:57] We found in Ida that the gas lines weren't sufficiently supplied.

[00:34:03] So a lot of people spent $15,000 and $20,000 for a whole home generator on a gas line.

[00:34:09] And there wasn't enough.

[00:34:11] The gas company didn't allow for that enough to come through the line to serve everybody.

[00:34:16] So having those alternatives, again, redundancies can be real helpful.

[00:34:23] That's really, I never heard of a buy or try fuel generator.

[00:34:30] So, yeah, that's really interesting.

[00:34:33] We're about two years old.

[00:34:34] There's some different companies making them now.

[00:34:37] So you have some more options.

[00:34:38] The first last year, I think there was really only one company.

[00:34:41] And this year, I noticed there's about three or four making them now.

[00:34:45] Interesting.

[00:34:46] But that does make sense because, as you say, you never know what the disaster might bring and what the vulnerabilities are going to be.

[00:34:56] So if you have a system that has various ways of accessing it or using it, that certainly makes sense.

[00:35:05] Yes.

[00:35:06] These are all such good insights and tips.

[00:35:10] Let's talk about people.

[00:35:12] So after the storm is gone, who are the people that we need to be in contact with to let them know we need help or what our status is or whatever?

[00:35:26] That's a really good question.

[00:35:27] And I would even start a little before that.

[00:35:31] So I would say within your storm preparation, before anything happens, I really recommend people talk to your emergency, your county emergency operations or preparedness department.

[00:35:45] Find out how their system is set up, what to do in a rescue situation.

[00:35:52] And I would note, let them know your situation.

[00:35:56] We have a whole new crop of families in this world, in our country, who are doing more and more medical tasks and things for their family members.

[00:36:07] They're basically operating what amounts to a one-room hospital room in their home.

[00:36:13] We now have in-home dialysis, which is very involved.

[00:36:17] So if those individuals find it extremely difficult to be able to leave, if not impossible, and many of them will opt to stay.

[00:36:26] They'll get the generators.

[00:36:27] They'll do all of that.

[00:36:29] Let your county officials know what your situation is.

[00:36:33] Even invite them to your home.

[00:36:34] Show them your setup and what's going on and why you're going to have to make this decision to probably stay.

[00:36:41] Talk to that local fire department as well because they're your closest first responder.

[00:36:46] And make them aware.

[00:36:48] Get their contacts and ask them who to call for emergency evacuation where the home is not livable anymore.

[00:36:56] It's either flooded or burned or you have to get someone out of the building in an emergency.

[00:37:03] And that way, when you are in the aftermath, you have a better idea of who to call.

[00:37:09] In any medical emergency, you're also always going to try 911 first.

[00:37:15] But as we said, those systems can go down.

[00:37:17] So in our parish, we have parishes, not counties.

[00:37:21] In our parish and the parishes in our state, the process is you call 911.

[00:37:28] If you can't get through, you need to call your parish or county emergency operations department.

[00:37:34] Let them know your situation and say, hey, I have a loved one who's bedridden or in a wheelchair.

[00:37:39] Water's coming up.

[00:37:40] It's critical.

[00:37:41] I need emergency evacuation.

[00:37:45] And they have all the resources.

[00:37:47] They can dispatch that assistance immediately.

[00:37:50] I have even, in the case of people who weren't aware of that or when they, we could not, if I could not get through to someone else's parish emergency operations center, I've gotten a notice on Facebook and called that into the state office of emergency preparedness.

[00:38:06] Because they have satellite phones and can communicate via satellite phones with the locals on the ground.

[00:38:13] Just to let them know.

[00:38:15] Say that again.

[00:38:17] Who did you contact?

[00:38:18] So I called our state office of Homeland Security and emergency preparedness.

[00:38:24] I called their main number and I said, hey, look, I'm monitoring Facebook.

[00:38:28] I've done this for years.

[00:38:30] I monitor Facebook.

[00:38:32] They're posting that a loved one's in a wheelchair.

[00:38:35] Water's coming up.

[00:38:36] This is the address and the location.

[00:38:38] I first try to get the locals.

[00:38:40] But if I can't get 911 or the locals, then I'll call the state and let them know.

[00:38:45] And then the state officials, I'm sure they all have satellite phones in your state as well and other states.

[00:38:52] They can use satellite phones to make sure they connect with those locals on the ground that are running the rescue operations.

[00:38:59] Get the address out there and say, hey, look, this is priority.

[00:39:03] We have a lady in a wheelchair and, you know, they need emergency evacuation.

[00:39:08] Yeah.

[00:39:09] So ask and ask.

[00:39:11] Tell them to ask in advance.

[00:39:12] You know, what's the setup?

[00:39:13] What should I do if water's coming up?

[00:39:17] I have my grandmother or my mother in a wheelchair and we can't leave to begin with.

[00:39:25] But what if we have to actually leave?

[00:39:28] And then afterwards, I also recommend contacting those family and friends that are on your contact list.

[00:39:37] And send your location and what your needs are.

[00:39:43] In case they can help in any way.

[00:39:46] Or they can access getting contact to people to come and help.

[00:39:52] That would be my next call after the emergency support and that kind of thing.

[00:39:58] Give them your location.

[00:40:00] Let them know if you have plans to change location.

[00:40:03] And using text is going to be much more accurate and swift.

[00:40:11] We've learned that in Katrina.

[00:40:13] None of us knew how to use text before Katrina.

[00:40:16] And when Katrina happened, we all learned really fast.

[00:40:19] The phone call won't go through, but the text message might.

[00:40:22] You know, I found the same thing.

[00:40:28] For us, the text would work when emails and phone calls would not.

[00:40:33] And I don't understand the technology, why that is.

[00:40:37] But I'm going to leave that to others.

[00:40:40] All I know is it worked and the others didn't.

[00:40:43] So I was very grateful for that.

[00:40:46] Oh, my God.

[00:40:47] It is definitely a godsend to be able to send texts like that.

[00:40:52] True, true.

[00:40:54] We have talked about so much.

[00:40:57] And this is all so helpful.

[00:40:59] But are there some particular priorities that you say, do this, do this, do this?

[00:41:06] Or think about this before.

[00:41:07] Are there specific priorities you'd suggest?

[00:41:11] I do have a few.

[00:41:13] And my first priority would be just start.

[00:41:16] Start making your plan.

[00:41:18] Start preparing.

[00:41:19] Start thinking about what do you already have on hand.

[00:41:22] What can you access inexpensively?

[00:41:25] Like I said, it doesn't have to be a lot.

[00:41:28] Although I know any financial, for some people, any financial amount is a lot.

[00:41:34] But allow for a variety of possibilities when you're thinking about that plan.

[00:41:40] But start your plan.

[00:41:43] Do what you can based on the money you have and your time constraints.

[00:41:48] But definitely commit to returning to that plan on a periodic basis.

[00:41:53] To revisit it, to edit it, to build on it.

[00:41:58] Just to accommodate your changing needs, your changing financial situation, and whatever may

[00:42:05] have been going on in your family.

[00:42:07] Start with when you actually start to execute.

[00:42:11] Build your go bag and your communication plan.

[00:42:14] You can start with no financial investment on those.

[00:42:18] Your go bag can be things you already have in the home.

[00:42:22] And just making copies of plans and things like that.

[00:42:25] Maybe your map might be your biggest cost in that.

[00:42:28] But you can build on that.

[00:42:30] Make it more, build it out.

[00:42:31] Your communication plan, that does not cost.

[00:42:34] I also suggest every one of those phone numbers on your list, save them into your phone.

[00:42:40] But remember, your phone could be swept away or dropped and broken.

[00:42:44] And then, you know, identify what you want to access to build that plan further.

[00:42:53] Do you want to keep a lookout on certain things on sale?

[00:42:57] You know, do you want to pick up a tent at a thrift store?

[00:42:59] You know, things like that.

[00:43:01] But identify those things so you have them in your head.

[00:43:04] And you can work on that all the time.

[00:43:08] And then the only other thing I do want to mention, if there's any agencies that might

[00:43:13] be listening to this podcast, if you want to send information, just remember, keep it simple

[00:43:21] to the point, bullet points, and not a lot of wording and just a step-by-step.

[00:43:29] Because, as I said before, disaster trauma is a real thing.

[00:43:35] And processing it, you can get a piece of paper, you can read it, but if it's overwhelming,

[00:43:41] it's not going to register.

[00:43:44] So your messaging, it's very important that messaging be succinct and simple and not a lot

[00:43:51] of words for them to consume.

[00:43:55] Wow.

[00:43:56] Karen, this is so helpful.

[00:44:00] I'm so glad.

[00:44:01] Good.

[00:44:01] I really appreciate it.

[00:44:03] I mean, seriously, I have like a page of notes.

[00:44:06] Okay, do this, do this, do this, do this.

[00:44:08] But I plan to put that plan in place.

[00:44:12] Absolutely.

[00:44:13] Thank you so much.

[00:44:15] You're welcome.

[00:44:16] I'm sorry that much of your learning has come with personal experience in midst of disaster.

[00:44:23] But this is very helpful information.

[00:44:27] Well, good.

[00:44:28] Absolutely.

[00:44:29] We also want to thank our listeners.

[00:44:31] We pray you never need this information.

[00:44:34] But hopefully, if you do, you will already have your go bag.

[00:44:38] You will already have all of these pieces put together.

[00:44:42] And this will be really helpful to you.

[00:44:46] We certainly want to thank Pace at Home in Hickory, North Carolina.

[00:44:50] They are the sponsor for all our caregiver community podcasts.

[00:44:53] And we are RNG grateful for their support.

[00:44:57] This caregiver community podcast, excuse me, is part of the Mesh Network of Online Shows and

[00:45:03] Podcasts.

[00:45:04] We record one new ACAP podcast every month, addressing a wide range of topics related to

[00:45:11] caregiving and advocating for an older adult.

[00:45:14] You'll find our podcast on any platform where you listen to podcasts as well as our website,

[00:45:20] www.acapcommunity.org.

[00:45:24] While you're on our site, we hope you'll take a few minutes to learn more about ACAP, our educational

[00:45:30] programs, and our local chapters.

[00:45:32] And if there are other topics you would like to address and like for us to address as a podcast,

[00:45:37] please do let us know.

[00:45:40] Again, Karen Scallon, thank you so very much for this excellent, excellent information and

[00:45:47] insight and tips and just the lists and the to-dos.

[00:45:55] Stay well, everyone.

[00:45:56] Bye for now.

[00:45:58] Bye-bye.

[00:45:58] Thank you.

[00:46:14] You've been listening to The Mesh, an online media network of shows and programs ranging

[00:46:19] from business to arts, sports to entertainment, music to community.

[00:46:23] All programs are available on the website as well as through iTunes and YouTube.

[00:46:28] Check us out online at themesh.tv.

[00:46:32] Discover other network shows and give us feedback on what you just heard.