Emergency Planning
I, like many others, have felt quite helpless as our country burns, the grey skies are now normal, glimpses of blue are a special treat.
The enduring bushfires across Australia have highlighted the need for carers to ensure we have emergency care plans in place. What do we do in a crisis? What if we find ourselves without shelter and in need of temporary accommodation? Some already have extended family and friends who they can call on. How do you find emergency disabled access accommodation when there’s a demand?
Caring can already be a stressful unpredictable time and whilst is seems daunting to think about it’s easier to have a plan with ideas that are logged and communicated to your care team or local community than to make and act on spur of the moment with crisis point decisions.
This need for a plan B has been exacerbated for me not actually because of the fires but because of a cyclone like storm which tore through northern Sydney in less than 10 minutes. For some the storm was powerful and quick, for others it was devastation as trees and power lines lay strewn upon the streets. My parents were among 50,000 homes without power. The outage lasted at my parents place for five days which meant no hot water, no fans or air-conditioning, no telecommunications or internet and no lift which enables Mum in and out of the house. When looking for possible alternative accommodation so that Mum could shower and access, I found it was a very difficult hunt. Not to mention adding pet-friendly accommodation to the mix. Whilst Australia does well in terms of allowances for service animals, companion animals are of another order. The upshot, there was shelter, the weather was warm and there were comfortable beds to sleep in. Never mind the sound of chainsaws from sunup to sundown over the course of a week whilst the debris was being removed.
Additionally in the final days of 2019 my uncle, the “always fit, healthy uncle” suffered a heart attack. He’s recovered well however he is also the carer for his wife so the family was mobilised to provide care in his place. The event highlights the importance of self-care, if something happens to the carer what then happens to the person being cared for and who is able to speak up for them if they cannot?
I still don’t know what to do should the family home become uninhabitable but I do know it’s a plan I need to make and soon. In the meantime if you or someone you know would benefit from emergency care planning, check out some helpful information on the Carer Gateway (https://www.carergateway.gov.au/help-advice/planning) including a template to complete an emergency care plan.
