With Hurricane Florence projected to hit the East Coast, preparing our elders should be top priority. A few safety tips, which can also be found on the FEMA website, provides details and tips to help us keep ourselves and the elderly safe.

Proper caring for seniors takes planning. Aside from the below list, make sure your elderly loved ones have their medications, access to a safe place, have their wheelchair and walkers available, and a generator for those who require medical equipment such as oxygen, refrigerated medicine, and of course air conditioning.

• One gallon of water per day. (Visit your local grocery store with anticipation, please do not wait till the last minute to buy water. We need to make sure our seniors always keep hydrated).
• Blankets, extra clothing, and comfortable shoes. (Especially with Florida, unpredictable weather we need to make sure we have the correct clothing to stay warm or cool).
• Spare eyeglasses, catheters, batteries, oxygen system, etc.
• First-aid Kit, medical insurance and Medicaid/Medicare cards. (Always keep a first-aid kit on hand, you never know when an accident can happen).
• Prescription medicines and copies of prescriptions that can be refilled for up to six months. (We must make sure we have all our seniors’ prescriptions, accessible always.)
•  Medical-alert tags or bracelets with information about healthcare needs. (Very IMPORTANT step. If worse comes to worse, we want to make sure our elders are getting the correct care).
• An emergency-contact list to reach family and friends.
• Plenty of extra cash, since access to banks and ATMS’s, may be limited. (Power outages are very common in Florida and we never know when the lights are going to come back on. So, let make sure to have enough money to last us a week.)
• Copies of family records and other important documents such as birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards, passports, wills, deeds, and financial, insurance and immunizations records — all stashed in a sealed, waterproof bag. (This should be the first thing we should do. Making sure we are able to prove our identity is something we find ourselves doing every day.)
• A battery-powered radio and/or an NOAA weather radio.
• A solar or battery-operated flashlight.
• A whistle to call for help and a small mirror to reflect sunlight in case you must signal rescue teams.

 You may also consider relocating seniors to assisted living facilities as a respite stay. You’ll want to plan at least 3 days in advance for this option because proper medical forms are required for a temporary stay at a facility. You may also contact FEMA for evacuation assistance programs for the elderly.

We hope these tips help. For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2oX6O4A. Let’s make sure we prepare as much as we can for this hurricane season since it’s always unpredictable. For assisted living facilities and Adult Family Care Homes, please make sure to start testing your generators, have enough water and food. We hope everyone has a safe hurricane season.