If you are the point person for an elderly relative living alone, one of your chief concerns should be following basic elder home safety tips. You have probably spent time making your loved one’s home as safe as it can be, but what if something does happen? Whether it’s a personal medical emergency, a brief power outage or a natural disaster, you need an eldercare safety kit.

A Communications Center
Create a communications center in your elder’s home to ensure that vital information is easy to find and use on a routine basis, advises Romie Myers, R.N., of FamilyCareGiversOnline.com, a Web site devoted to supporting caregivers. Many people use the kitchen as a convenient central storage location for this information, she says.

“Emergency workers such as firefighters are trained to go to the kitchen and check the outside and inside of the refrigerator for emergency information,” Myers notes.
Anyone who routinely comes to the home and provides care should know where the communications center is.

An emergency information sheet (see sidebar) is the centerpiece of a plan to help an elderly person cope with a crisis, according to Joy Loverde, author of The Complete Eldercare Planner. You and your elder should document your network of emergency contacts.

“This list should be posted near every telephone,” Loverde says. “But also on the refrigerator. A copy should be given to a trusted neighbor. Every family member should have a copy on their person, in their car and in their home.

According to Myers, many emergency personnel are trained to look for the Vial of L.I.F.E. (Lifesaving Information For Emergencies) inside the refrigerator. This is a clear plastic container (such as an empty pill container) with a copy of the important medical and personal information rolled up together with a photograph and stored in the door of the refrigerator, close to the handle. Place a note or a Vial of L.I.F.E. magnet (available from some local fire departments) on the refrigerator door. The refrigerator will provide some measure of protection to the information sheet in case of fire, flood or other major damage.

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