Emergency Planning Archive

Staying at home during a power outage can be risky for your health. To be safe, take steps to maintain power for essential medical equipment, store medications properly, and prepare for other hazards.

People sometimes have difficulty knowing if they should seek care at an emergency room or an urgent care center. Urgent care centers can treat health problems that don't endanger lives, while emergency rooms can treat serious or life-threatening problems.

Everyone should learn what to do if a heart attack or stroke occurs, beyond calling 911. It helps to become familiar with heart attack and stroke symptoms, so they can be recognized. It's also important to speak with one's own doctor in advance, to find out if he or she advises taking an aspirin in one of those emergencies. Other precautions include keeping emergency contact and medication lists updated and handy, and talking about emergency plans with family and friends, especially one's health care proxy.

Because falls are a serious risk for people ages 65 and older, it's important to have an emergency plan in place. The plan should include a trusted contact who'll be able to help in the event of a fall, and an understanding of when to call 911 versus the doctor's office. It would also be beneficial to have a medical alert system that summons emergency contacts and 911 at the touch of a button. And it would help to consider which resources would be needed if a fall results in a long recuperation.

When you're packing a hurricane go-bag, keep health priorities in mind. If you don't prepare in advance, you might leave behind medicines, medical supplies, important paperwork, and other essentials that can help you stay healthy. Here's how to plan ahead.

Climate change has made life-threatening heat waves increasingly common across the globe. Anyone with health issues will have a more difficult time in extreme heat, including older people and people with diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and other conditions. Be prepared by knowing how to identify and treat heat-related illness, and how to plan for hot days.

Increasingly, floods, fires, and extreme weather stemming from climate change are contributing to large-scale health and safety issues for people everywhere. There are steps you and your family can take to help protect your health.

Flooding due to major storms or heavy rains can harm lung health, both from toxic contaminants that end up in the air and from the growth of mold caused by dampness. Taking steps to prevent flooding when possible and moving quickly to reduce health risks if flooding occurs can help protect your family's health.

A research letter published online April 25, 2022, by JAMA Internal Medicine suggests that existing advance care directives often don't reflect people's actual wishes (based on values and beliefs) and care goals.