Go Over Steps Mom Can Take in the Event of an Emergency
If your mother is in her 70s or 80s, if she’s living alone, you may be worried about her safety. Safety should always be one of the top priorities for every senior, whether they live at home alone or not.
While your mother, you, and anyone else may not be able to prevent every little mishap or medical emergency from occurring, in the event of an emergency, is your mother clear on what steps she should take?
Emergency preparation is a good idea for everyone.
Everyone, regardless of age, should have a good emergency plan in place. This could be for weather related emergencies, medical emergencies, a fire at the house, or anything else.
While we don’t want to think about bad things happening, they can happen at any given time. Here are a few steps you might want to go over with your mother that may help her stay safer, and allow her to remain at home much longer.
Emergency Step #1: Understand fire extinguishers for kitchen fires.
It’s easy to assume your mother can just go grab a fire extinguisher from the wall, wherever it stored in the house, and put out a kitchen fire, but there are two different types of fluids people tend to use to try to put on a kitchen fire.
If your mother is cooking with grease or other oils and it catches fire, she should never pour water on it. This can expand the flames by more than 20 times, instantly engulfing the entire kitchen extreme heat. Instead, she should get a properly charged fire extinguisher specifically designed for grease fires and have it on hand.
Emergency Step #2: Call 911.
Any time your mother feels unsafe or as though an emergency is arising, she should call 911. She should never hesitate, hoping that things work out. It could take anywhere between five, 10, and even 15 minutes or more for emergency responders to get to her house, depending on where she lives and other factors.
Emergency Step #3: Get out of the house safely.
Your mother should have a safe place to go in the event of an emergency. If it’s a weather or other emergency that affects many people throughout the town, she should know where the emergency shelters are generally set up. If it’s just her house that has an emergency, she should be able to go to a neighbor’s house and wait with them until help arrives.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering in-home senior care in Alexandria VA, contact the caring staff at Access Home Care Inc. Proudly Serving Northern Virginia and Surroundings for over 12 years. Call Us: (703) 765-9350
“My desire to enter into nursing started when one of my older sisters died of kidney disease due to lack of care. At age 15, I decided to enter into nursing so that I could provide quality care to patients.Upon arrival in United States at 21 years of age, I enrolled in T.C Willliams School of Practical Nursing while working as a nursing assistant at a nursing home. I also worked as a part-time home health aide to take of the elderly. After completion of my practical nurse education, I worked in geriatric psychiatry unit at Dominion Hospital and Arlington Correctional facility mental health unit.
I completed Marymount University in 2001 and entered into Home Care as a field case manager.
I held that position for 2 years and as an Administrator, and for another 2 years until Access Home Care was found in 2004."
Today, Access Home Care has over 300 employees and 286 clients.
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