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In the Face of Disaster - Helping Older Adults and People with Disabilities after Disaster Strikes · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking Facts.
• 0:03
  What you need to know about family food finance and fitness.
• 0:07
  This nationally recognized award winning podcast is hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
• 0:16
  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
• 0:19
  families and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:24
  Hello and welcome to Talking Facts.
• 0:26
  What you need to know about family food finance and fitness.
• 0:30
  I am your host,
• 0:31
  Mindy mcculley Extension Specialist for instructional support at the University of Kentucky.
• 0:37
  When natural disaster strikes,
• 0:39
  it not only impacts our own family but often entire neighborhoods or communities in the face of disaster.
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  A disaster preparedness and response program presented by Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky seeks to give families the resources they need to prepare for a natural disaster before it occurs and rebound in the aftermath.
• 1:04
  My guest today is Doctor Amy Castelli Extension Specialist for adult development and aging.
• 1:10
  Welcome,
• 1:11
  Amy.
• 1:11
  Hi,
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  Mindy.
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  Thanks for having me today.
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  Talk about this important topic is just consideration for special needs.
• 1:17
  So again,
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  for people who are older,
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  frail,
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  vulnerable for people with disabilities or who have disabilities.
• 1:22
  But again,
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  I think the biggest pointer here tip here is to try to help people with special needs evacuate before an emergency when possible.
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  Instead of waiting till the last minute,
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  another recommendation that doesn't just include vulnerable populations.
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  But really anybody in case in cases of disaster are whistles.
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  If people have whistles,
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  if they're not able to evacuate or they become trapped.
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  A whistle can really help rescuers find where you are.
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  And so I think it's,
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  then you've got to think about where do you put that whistle?
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  You know,
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  where do you put your glasses?
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  Where do you put your hearing aids?
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  And so that's why it's important to have things like on your bed stand or your night stands that you can quickly grab it if you're,
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  you know,
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  having to evacuate like in the middle of the night and stick those things in your pocket so that they're on your person.
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  So that if you do become trapped,
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  for example,
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  you might have a better chance at being able to get to it like getting to that whistle.
• 2:15
  And then again,
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  I said this before,
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  but just to reemphasize when you're considering persons with special needs to really in advance,
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  identify shelters that cater to special needs so that older adults,
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  people with disabilities can avoid waiting in long lines,
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  um sleeping in crowded or loud places,
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  you know,
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  places that might cause additional stress and confusion.
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  So there are specific places that are available depending on the community for people with special needs.
• 2:40
  And I know we talked earlier about pets,
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  but what recommendations do you have for pets?
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  Well,
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  some of the things you know that again,
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  like the CDC would recommend is that you make it,
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  you know,
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  when possible and,
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  and that's ideal that we can plan for a disaster which we know isn't always the case.
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  But if that's the case,
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  they really recommend making arrangements with the,
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  with your vet or a shelter.
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  If you know,
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  you're not gonna be able to take that animal with you and just trying to plan that out so that you're not stuck with a pet or like Mindy said,
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  you know,
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  you,
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  you don't have a plan for the pets,
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  so you just decide not to abandon and abandon the animal and stay at home with them.
• 3:18
  Yes.
• 3:19
  Um and I know that it's important that people know how to find one another.
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  So there are lots of siblings in my family and we have emergency contacts for each other.
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  So everybody knows where to find everybody.
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  A good idea is to know each other's blood types and,
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  and if you have any emergency adaptive equipment,
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  allergies,
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  immunizations who the emergency contacts.
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  You know,
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  I have siblings who live out of the country at the moment.
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  We've got a nephew who is living in the country and his parents live out of the country.
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  So,
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  you know,
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  all of these things are important to make sure that all of these contacts are made and,
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  and we've got to have all of that.
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  Yeah,
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  for sure something happens.
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  We got to know where everybody is.
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  It is and,
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  and just having that documentation because,
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  you know,
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  all of a sudden it's,
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  it's chaos and it's like,
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  oh my gosh,
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  I need my prescriptions refilled or I've lost my wheelchair.
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  And how do I,
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  how do I get that replaced?
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  And so making copies of important papers and putting them in waterproof pouches.
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  So the ideal would be that you have a copy for yourself,
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  but that you also keep a copy somewhere else.
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  It may be a safety deposit box and it also may be with a family member so that you've got someone who you trust so that you've got sort of check points,
• 4:28
  right?
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  You know,
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  with those,
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  those important documents and those might include things like your passport or driver's license,
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  copies of these social security cards,
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  wills deeds,
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  advanced directives.
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  I think I said that earlier,
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  something else in addition to your medications and prescriptions and dosages is also with your mobility and medical equipment.
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  You may not think to include in your paperwork,
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  the style and the serial numbers again,
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  that might help with insurance and claims and getting things back.
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  And so again,
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  you know,
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  making sure that you keep copies with yourself in some sort of waterproof pouch,
• 5:00
  both on and off site as well.
• 5:03
  Yeah,
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  and I I think that's all great information.
• 5:05
  So what about the um older adults who live in long term care facilities?
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  What do we need to make sure that we have for those people?
• 5:12
  Great question.
• 5:13
  That's a great question.
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  So where a person lives and the types of support they receive can really affect the way you know,
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  their safety and their well being is during a disaster.
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  And so in nursing homes as its living facilities,
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  memory care units,
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  for example,
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  the law does require that these communities provide assistance in states of emergency.
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  But as you can imagine,
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  or as you may even seen on the news,
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  this is a big task and you know,
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  even the the staff is vulnerable and the staff is at risk or the facilities are at risk.
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  You know,
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  when you've got a facility full of potential residents who might not be able to walk on their own or they've got difficulty following direction because of cognitive impairment.
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  Others might be on life sustaining,
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  medical,
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  medical equipment,
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  mobility devices and stuff forth.
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  It can be a scary time.
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  And so it's,
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  it's you would hope that as a family member,
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  you can trust that the facility has,
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  you know,
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  preparation and plans in place when a natural disaster was hit.
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  And so the CDC again,
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  in different organizations like aging care,
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  they're gonna recommend and have and we'll list this in the resources as well.
• 6:19
  Lots of different questions that you can ask so there might be some general emergency planning questions that might include things like,
• 6:25
  you know,
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  just as simple as what is your emergency plan?
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  Do you have an emergency plan?
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  Just so that you sort of know what it is too?
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  And,
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  and where do you go to shelter in place if we've got to evacuate people from this facility?
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  And how are you getting residents down the stairs and things like that?
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  You might want to ask about the staff training?
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  What kind of staff training do you have here?
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  Do that?
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  Do you include?
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  How long does that happen?
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  Do you practice the training?
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  Like we were saying,
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  we should practice in our own homes and then you should also ask about the family communication,
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  you know,
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  who from this facility is gonna contact us?
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  Are you gonna contact us?
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  What are the on site resources that they have available such as generators,
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  backup systems?
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  How long does that last?
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  Do they have,
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  you know,
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  a 3 to 7 day supply of medications for each resident,
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  things like that?
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  And then just the basic evacuation procedures to ask,
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  you know,
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  how does the actual evacuation go down to that facility?
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  I'm almost overwhelmed all of this information.
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  So I can imagine that a family member or an older adult who might be listening to us is gonna be a little bit overwhelmed too.
• 7:29
  But the good news is we have resources.
• 7:31
  Um and we have lots of information that we will share in our show notes.
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  But so after a disaster,
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  older adults and their families can turn to aging services for help.
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  And in Kentucky,
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  this may include the department for aging and independent living area agencies on aging local senior centers.
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  And of course,
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  the cooperative extension service,
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  we are so excited that you took the time to share with us today,
• 7:58
  Dr Cali and I know that the resources that we have for recovering from natural disasters can be a great resource for our listeners as well.
• 8:08
  Yeah,
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  we will post those resources and I'm I'm happy that extension can get that information out there.
• 8:13
  And I think the more that people talk about it,
• 8:15
  Mindy,
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  the more familiar we can get with what needs to be done in,
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  in cases of emergency like that.
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  And as we've seen with Ian,
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  it is a marathon,
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  not a sprint.
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  This will take months and perhaps years to recover from.
• 8:29
  And so don't get discouraged and just keep plugging on uh because we know that it will take time if you have just tuned in,
• 8:37
  you are listening to Talking Facts and we are available on all major podcast providers.
• 8:43
  Thank you for listening to talking facts.
• 8:46
  We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
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  health resource management,
• 8:51
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• 8:55
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• 8:57
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• 9:10
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• 9:24
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• 9:25
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• 9:27
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