Hello, 911, What's Your Emergency?
“Hello, 911, what’s your emergency?”
One of my most painful memories of having to call 911 for a family member (and unfortunately, I’ve had to place that call more than a few times) was when my mom became unresponsive at home.
It was morning – she and I were still in our pajamas – and I was starting to get dressed for work when I heard a large thump in my mom’s bedroom. I called out to her, thinking she’d slammed a cabinet door in the bathroom or dropped something on the floor, and was met with silence. I called out to her again and still heard nothing. Panicked, I ran into her bedroom and found her unresponsive in bed.
I called 911 and ran out of her room to unlock the front door while remaining on the line with dispatch. When the fire department and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) arrived, they immediately went to work assessing her and the situation. They had so many questions for me about my mom, and I was flummoxed. I was so scared and shaky, I could barely remember her age, let alone what medications she was on, when her last meal was, or what she had been doing before she became unresponsive. Those first responders – shout-outs and thank you’s to first responders everywhere – were calm and patient, guiding me through sharing the appropriate information and medical history before loading her into the ambulance. They were wonderful and so helpful. And I was a wreck.
Stay Ready So You Don’t Have to Get Ready
I know I’m not the only one who has had difficulty recalling important information during an emergency. The internet is riddled with stories and audio of panicked 911 calls. At such a time, your primary concern is for your loved one, and the last thing you want to do is rack your brain to recall which medications they are taking, or remember specific feedback from their most recent doctor’s appointment, or their most recent blood pressure readings.
My forthcoming book, The Family Healthcare Playbook: An Action Plan for the Accidental Caregiver, is a practical, step-by-step guide for accidental or unexpected caregivers who suddenly find themselves needing to care for a loved one. It prepares the reader for their new, surprising role as a non-professional, unpaid caregiver or helps them navigate a caregiving crisis if they are already in the thick of it. The opening section of the book is all about preparation: gathering the critical information, with your loved one's permission, of course, that you and the medical professionals will need in a medical crisis, before it happens. I also share some tips on navigating 911 calls, based on my own family’s experience, but the primary focus is on equipping you, the accidental caregiver, with the tools you need to prepare in advance.
Essentially, with this book, I’m going to help you build your own Family Healthcare Playbook for yourself and your loved ones. In my role as an accidental caregiver for my mom, I did just that, developing Mom’s Family Healthcare Playbook, which, among other items, included several key pieces of her medical history and related healthcare documents. Because I had Mom’s Family Healthcare Playbook in hand, my next call to 911 went much differently. When the EMTs and medical personnel arrived and began firing questions at me, I pulled out her Playbook (we keep it in both digital and hard copy formats, and having the hard copy was clutch in this particular instance) and pointed them to the necessary information:
“My mom’s list of allergies? No problem, I have them here on page 3.”
“My mom’s most recent hospitalization dates? Yes, the timeline is on page 7.”
“What were her recent blood pressure readings? I have those here as well, on page 2.”
Of course, the situation was still stressful, but I could calmly share pertinent, current information because of our Family Healthcare Playbook.
As the first responders loaded my mom into the ambulance after that second 911 call, one of the EMTs stayed behind to thank me for being so detailed in my care for my mom, and to ask me about our Playbook: “Excuse me, but where did you buy that? How can I find materials like this?” I explained that I’d created this with my mom and our family, and he said he only hoped his kids would be able to do the same if he ever had a medical emergency. He is one of the many reasons I wrote this book and why I am so compelled to share this information. Stay Ready So You Don't Have to Get Ready!
The Family Healthcare Playbook: An Action Plan for the Accidental Caregiver will be available as an ebook and print book through Amazon, my website, and other venues this year. Visit www.thefamilyhealthcareplaybook.com and sign up to be notified when the book becomes available for purchase. In the meantime, I’ll continue to preview some of the key takeaways from the book here and on my website in the run-up to the publication launch.