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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS and ADVICE for SENIORS - PLEASE PLEASE READ !

Months and months after the 2005 hurricanes devastated so many lives, little seems to have been accomplished in terms of a return to normalcy in many communities. With the 2006 hurricane season only a few months away, it’s already time to prepare.

First, think about this: For most elders, it is simply too difficult and frightening for them to pack up and go to a shelter or drive “out of the hurricane path” to a strange city. Given the widespread damage caused by the hurricanes of 2005, there simply was no place to go, even if they had wanted to. And, believe, me, they will NOT want to go. Especially since they saw what happened during Katrina!

Second, all of the emergency directives say to be prepared for 72 hours on your own. With children who live in earthquake country, believe me, our folks were ready. Stockpiles of food, water, batteries, lanterns, flashlights, radios, the works. What we didn’t anticipate was they would not have safe roads or gas or power for nine days–others in their area would be without for two weeks or longer. (While areas of New Orleans, as we know, still have no power for the “FEMA trailers” six months after the disaster, there is likely no way we can prepare our families for that possibility). And also, as we’ve seen, FEMA and the other “rescue” agencies were woefully unprepared for dealing with the affects of the tragedy on the general population - let alone on isolated seniors throughout the greater affected area.

Think about it this way (and imagine you are 80 or 90 years old):

– no elevators and you live on the third floor
– no gasoline
– streets full of debris and fallen telephone poles and trees
– no streetlights, restaurants, grocery or drug stores
– no means to fix a hot meal or keep food, drinks or medicine cold
– no phone service unless you had underground lines and a “land line” as opposed to a wireless phone
– complete and total darkness after sunset
– no way to get to “Red Cross Distribution Centers” much less have the ability to wait in line in the hot sun for hours, then carry a 20 pound bag of ice, or eat a MRE

And this assumes that you still have a home to live in, with roof, windows and walls undamaged. And have your health.

Needless to say, this is among the more complicated situations a caregiver can be in.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW. (I’m sure there’s more, but this will get you started).

1. STOCK UP. Get battery operated camp lanterns with non-flickering bulbs. (If they flicker, you cannot read without getting a headache). Flashlights. Tons and tons of batteries of all sizes. Battery operated radio. Small battery operated tv (This maybe seems silly, but if the power is out for more than a few days, dark lasts a VERY long time). More batteries. Light sticks to use as night lights in the bathroom. A full tank of gas well before the hurricane arrives. More batteries. Get more water than you believe they will ever need. Way more. And install an old fashioned “land line” phone that plugs into the wall without benefit of cordless phone base. This ‘olde time’ phone, believe it or not, is the key to the whole plan. Have them put at least one change of clothing, a weeks supply of medications, spare glasses and important papers into a small suitcase that they can manage themselves in the event they are required to evacuate.

2. FOOD IS A MAJOR ISSUE. It doesn’t matter how many Red Cross sites there are, a 90 year old is not going to drive 10 or more miles on roads filled with debris and with no street or stop lights for the opportunity to carry a 10 pound bag of ice to the car. Nor are they going to keep coming back for MREs. Or more ice. Nor are they going to wait 8 hours in line to pump gas. I don’t know why FEMA or the other helping agencies have yet to figure this out, but they haven’t. There is NO WAY these agencies are helping independent but frail seniors at present. FYI: It took six days for the Red Cross to set up a food distribution center in my parents’ neighborhood of 10,000 seniors within one mile. My folks would have been really, really ill by that time if I hadn’t figured out how to help them find hot meals they could actually get to.

Stock up on or go get “prepared” foods in small packages/jars/cans that need no refrigeration. Some ideas: Canned fruit or veggies that are ok without cooking. Small bottles of Ensure or similar non-refrigerated (but creamy) power drinks to use with cereal or as beverage. Think of healthy children’s lunch box stuff that doesn’t need to be chilled. Raisins, dried fruits, string cheese. Get a lot of many things.

3. FOR LOCAL HELP. Find a local (their local) newspaper or radio blog on the web. Believe it or not, it only takes a few folks who know the local situation and have their computer on to save your sanity, and perhaps your folk’s health! One the local newspaper blog was titled: How Are You Coping? Another was : What’s Open in Your Area? There were actually some locals providing answers, and there were literally hundreds of long-distance adult children searching for help. I asked if there were any restaurants or groceries open nearby (and named three major cross streets). Within one hour, I knew of two supermarkets and one restaurant. Immediately called my folks. Relief. They could get food! And the ongoing progress reports on road clearing and power restoration gave us all a real sense of hope. Also the newspaper on line photo galleries will give you a real idea of how the locals are viewing what’s happening, rather than the sensationalism of the national evening news. The Palm Beach Post blogs and bloggers were amazingly and wonderfully helpful (albeit invaded by the occasional crackpot).

4. FOR POWER INFO: Go to the electric power provider website for updates on repairs, timing, areas hit, etc. And the phone company site, too, if land based phones are out. Reminder: it’s very upsetting when all the commercial strips get power before the residential users. As one astute blogger noted: Home Depot has to be open for people to start their repairs. Restaurants and groceries have to be open so people can get food and have someplace to go. Seems like common sense, but when your parents have been in the dark for a week, it’s hard to remember.

5. INFO OVERLOAD: Find the following on the web: Local area TV or radio stations that are streaming video or constantly refreshing the news. They are, however, the least likely to have a really good blog, but they will update the best on breaking hurricane news. We found that the radio stations have so much information, if your folks aren’t listening closely, they miss what’s most important, and often they can’t get the phone number or address written down fast enough. That’s why your having the news web-sites for information, or you listening to streaming radio is so critical in this.

6. FRIENDLY VISITORS: Of course, I know some of this only works if there’s phone service in the disaster area. That’s why the “land line” phone is so critical – it gives you a fighting chance. I did see a lot of people on the blogs asking for local folks to go visit and check up on their parents. And it appears there was at least some of that happening. Hopefully it was sincere and not scammers trying to take advantage.

I hope this information is enough to give you and your folks some help and you some peace of mind, assuming we don’t have another Katrina, that is. Your comments and suggestions are welcome! Email me at lz@BoomerView.com.

The Today Show and ABC Nightly News last week presented a story on the Nintendo video game Wii. It seems that ingenious physical and occupational therapists have discovered playing video games on this interactive system results in benefits that no one had planned for.

Games such as boxing, tennis, bowling and golf have helped rehab patients, including the elderly, who otherwise might be daunted by the enormity of their physical challenges, and are often faced with pain and depression. They become so engaged with the game, the pain seems to be diminished, and range of motion improves much more quickly than under traditional treatments.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press on MSNBC.com reports: "The Nintendo Wii craze has caught on at a number of local rehab hospitals and elderly services centers, where physical therapists are saying "Wii-habilitation" is improving outcomes for patients with a wide range of cognitive or physical conditions.

By playing games using the Wii's handheld motion-sensitive controller, patients can work their way to recovery without even realizing it, said James Stacey, occupational therapy assistant at Alexian Brothers Community Services PACE program. The adult day care program's rehabilitation department got a Wii game console in the fall.

"It's kind of a sneaky approach" to rehab, he said. "We can sometimes see improved results because they're not thinking about how humdrum this activity is. They're totally engrossed in something and focused on a goal that they're unaware of." In some cases a Wii game almost seems designed for occupational therapy and the adjustment back to independent living, therapists here said.

Yet physical therapists note that using the Wii as a rehabilitation device still is a relatively new concept, and uncertainty exists about the "transferability" of skills learned on the Wii to everyday life.

For brain-injured patients, transferability is "being able to learn a skill in one environment and take it and use it in another environment," said Mark Heydt, community re-entry specialist at Siskin. "There hasn't been a lot of research on that."

Use of the Wii is part of a trend in "virtual rehabilitation," or physical or cognitive rehabilitation entirely based on or augmented by virtual reality, such as robotics or video games, said Grigore C. Burdea, a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Dr. Burdea helped launch a yearly international conference on virtual rehabilitation in 2002 and pioneered research on its use for hand rehabilitation. Thousands of rehabilitation hospitals across the nation now are using the Wii, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he said. "I predict in five years it's going to be all over the place," he said.