Be Prepared For a Family Member’s 911 & Your Own…

On August 23rd, my mom suffered a major stroke while sitting right beside me on her sofa.  As one of her main caregivers, I keep a picture on my phone of all her current medications.   As a caregiver, I have a clear picture of her medical history for the past 5-10 years.  And all of her information is in the health system for her doctors/hospital of choice.

I was not prepared for the hospital of choice to be diverting paramedics to other local hospitals because their air conditioning had gone out the night of her stroke.  Because of the seriousness of her stroke, we had to choose one close to her home.  It was a hospital that did not have her records prior to the years of my knowledge.  Needless to say, I was scrambling…

Prepare a Medical Folder/Binder for Your Spouse,  Next of Kin, or Caregiver In the Event of an Emergency.  With Memory Issues so prevalent today, do it sooner rather than later…

Things to Include Would Be:

• Current Medications
• Medical History
• Known Allergies to Medications
• Your Wishes for Advanced Directives-Living Will-DNR
• Anything Else Prevelant to Your Circumstances