Is Your "In Case of Medical Emergency" Kit Ready?

Today, April 16, is National Healthcare Decisions Day. It’s a day dedicated to helping people think about advance care planning - which is really about quality of life. If you’ve been reading my newsletters and keeping up with me on social media, you know that I often highlight the importance of getting your advance directives (health care proxy, living will, POLST) in order. The current situation with COVID-19 — heightened risk as well as a prohibition on having any visitors in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and senior communities — drives home this point even more. Spending time to get your important health information organized and sharing it with the appropriate people is critical to helping your health care proxy and family members advocate for you in an emergency. Keep reading below for more info.

Stay well and stay home!

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Have you or a loved one experienced being alone in a hospital recently? No family members or friends allowed to visit? Having to communicate by phone with a rushed, overworked, stressed out doctor or nurse? It’s tough to advocate for yourself when you’re sick enough to be hospitalized. Which brings up this important question: what does your health care proxy/emergency contact/family need to know to advocate for you from afar?

Let’s acknowledge what a difficult time we’re living in. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear. Anything that gives us a sense of control can be comforting and empowering. Planning ahead for a medical emergency, regardless of whether it’s COVID-19 or another type of emergency, can help us feel more in control. There are two things in particular that you can do: (1) Create an “In Case of Medical Emergency” kit; and (2) take care of your advance care planning. I’ll discuss both of these below.

(1) If you were alone in the hospital and unable to provide important health information, who else knows about your current conditions? What medications you are on? What medications you are allergic too? What your wishes are?

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I’ve written before about creating a Personal Health Information Binder. Some people are calling it a “Grab and Go Kit” or “Emergency Health Kit.” Regardless of the name, the idea is the same: Organize your important health care-related information in a binder or folder. Keep a copy by your front door or somewhere where an EMT would see it and grab it to take with you to the hospital in case of an emergency; therefore, the front of it should say in big letters: TAKE IN CASE OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Also, make sure your health care proxy has a copy of all this information. If your health care proxy doesn’t live near you, make sure a trusted neighbor or friend knows that you have this folder and where it is in case someone needs to bring it to the hospital.

What should be in this folder/kit:

• Personal and health information - such as date of birth, allergies, emergency contacts, and more
• Health insurance information - policy number, insurance company phone number,; or copies of insurance cards
• Medication list - name of medication, what is it for, dosages, schedule, pharmacy name and number. 
• List of health care providers - name, contact info
• Login information for your patient portal(s) 
• Summary of medical history/health status - what are you currently being treated for, past illnesses/surgeries, family history
• Copies of recent and important test results
• Advance directives - health care proxy (power of attorney), living will/POLST, DNR order (more below)
• HIPAA release form - giving permission for health care providers to release personal health information about you to whoever you list on the form
• Notebook or note paper and pens to take notes, if you are able.

Here is a template for organizing all of this information.
I also recommend keeping your cell phone fully charged and having an extra charger in your folder or binder. If you want to have a small bag prepared too, you could include extra hearing aids/batteries and glasses, if needed, as well as some toiletries.

If you have not set up a patient portal, now is a great time to do that. In “normal times,” it’s an easy way to contact your doctors and keep track of your test results and upcoming appointments. Share the login information with your health care proxy and trusted family members in case they need more information to help advocate for your care. While you may think that the health care professionals taking care of you will have access to that information, it’s entirely possible that you might not be taken to your usual hospital.

(2) Advance care planning is about control. In this time of so much uncertainty and fear, anything that gives us a sense of control can be comforting. It’s the perfect time to think about your wishes and who you want to be in charge of carrying them out for you, if necessary. Five Wishes is a national document accepted by almost all states. It includes a form to list your Health Care Power of Attorney but also includes an easy-to-use way for you to let people know what kind of care you would want. Other great resources include The Conversation Project and MyDirectives.com

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about or need help with any of this -- [email protected] or 847-920-8238.