Image Courtesy Canadian Red Cross

By Chris Brown

Emergency Preparedness Week May 1-7

What to pack before and what to do in an emergency

May 6, 2022 | 1:37 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Our community is no stranger to spring floods and summer heatwaves and the upheaval of lives in their aftermath. The Canadian Red Cross says older adults can be severely affected during and after events like those events and other disasters and emergencies.

As part of national Emergency Preparedness Week, May 1-7, the Red Cross released its Emergency Preparedness for Older Adults guide. According to federal census data released last month, seniors make up more 20 per cent of the Medicine Hat population.

Amanda de Boer, emergency management coordinator with the Red Cross, says seniors are faced with different challenges than younger people during and after emergencies. Those challenges include more difficulties with mobility, more medication needs and the dangers an oxygen tank can pose.

There are also the more general challenges that anyone will face when emergencies strike. Everyone should have a go-bag ready in case of emergency.

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She says any go-bag should include basics like food and water and a first aid kit, phone chargers, batteries and battery backup plans.

de Boer adds identification and proof of ownership of items for insurance needs are the two most important items for a go-bag.

“They absolutely need to have proof of identification,” she says. “Taking pictures of those things in advance, storing them on the cloud, making sure that your insurance documents are electronic so you can access them anywhere.”

de Boer says everyone should do the research and preparation and ask the questions to be more ready and more resilient when it actually happens. She says to go through the Emergency Preparedness for Older Adults guide, ask yourself the questions and try to follow them through to the end.

“What would I do if my phone ran out of batteries? What would I do if I couldn’t get in touch with my senior, my neighbour, who is expecting me to come and help them move from that electric wheelchair to that manual one? How am I going to make sure that they know coming or I’m not coming because I’m in the middle of a disaster myself?” she says. “Really putting those plans in place so we know a caregiver is going to come and help us, we are going to be able to communicate with our family and we’re going to be able to get the medications we need and get back to normal faster.”

In some emergencies you will have to shelter in place, and communication becomes a major factor in that case.

People need to consider how they will send and receive updates on the situation, evacuation routes and when it’s safe to emerge.

“So what is your means of communication? Do you have a smartphone that has good battery storage or a means to power it up where you can look on Facebook, look on Canadian Red Cross, look at your municipality or your local town website to find out what information is out there?” de Boer says.

de Boer says the Canadian Red Cross site is full of information on disaster preparedness and suggests downloading the Alberta Emergency Alert app as well