Caregiver in Mauldin SC

Summer is a wonderful time to be a caregiver, a parent, and a spouse. The days are longer and the weather is warm, which means it is time to get out and enjoy activities and leisure time you could not during the fall and winter. Along with the lazy warm days, however, could also come sudden and severe weather changes that could put your family in danger. When this happens, your roles change from finding ways to have fun and make memories to protecting your loved ones and making sure that they get through the situation as safely and comfortably as possible.

Preparing for disasters is one of those things that some people do not think about until the emergency situation is upon them and they suddenly realize that they do not have the plans in place or the supplies necessary to manage the circumstances. As a caregiver for your elderly parents and for your partner and children, this cannot be something that you do. It is essential to understand the disasters common in your area and prepare well in advance to ensure both parts of your family are safe no matter which one you are currently with when the disaster strikes.

Use these tips to help you prepare your seniors and the rest of your family for disasters:

• Choose a meeting place. Your first priority when a disaster occurs is making sure that everyone is safe. The easiest and most efficient way to do this is to get everybody together as quickly as possible. Establish a meeting place in the home so that if there is a sudden severe storm, a power outage, an earthquake, or other disaster, everyone knows where to assemble. Also establish an outdoor meeting place for everyone to gather in the event of a fire. Know where all of these meeting spots are in both homes and be prepared to use them

• Create a chain of command. Few things are as frightening or as frustrating during a disaster as trying to get in touch with your loved ones and not being able to contact them because you get a busy signal. Create a chain of command so that all of the members of your family know who should call who in the event of an emergency. For example, establish that you will call your parents if you are at your own home, but that your spouse will call you if you are at your parents’ house. Establish who will call the other first if you get a busy signal. Make sure you also include your children, your parents’ home care provider, neighbors, siblings, your parents’ school, or other pertinent people in the chain of command so that you know who will call who in order to connect everyone during a disaster

• Have plenty of supplies. You have no way of knowing where you might be when a disaster strikes, so make sure that both homes are fully prepared with enough supplies. Your parents’ home should have supplies for them, you, and their care provider as well as one or two additional people. Your home should have supplies for you, your spouse, your children, your parents, and one or two additional people, if space permits. This ensures you have everything you need to get through the situation whether you are at your parents’ home, at your home, or if you have brought your parents to your home

• Focus on your immediate area. It is easy to be terrified during a disaster and worry about the people who you cannot see, but it is important to remember that you cannot help those who are away from you. If a disaster occurs, go through the chain of command to contact your loved ones, and then focus on the people who you are with, and yourself. Put your energy into doing everything you can to get yourself and the people in your immediate area through the emergency, and let yourself feel confident that the plans are being put into effect properly in the other home. Worrying about your parents or your family while you are with the others only takes your energy and concentration away from the things you need to do in that moment.

Get in touch with the elder care agency in your area to find out more about emergency preparedness and learn about resources that can help you better integrate disaster preparedness into your caregiver plan.

If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring caregiver services near Mauldin, SC, contact Heart of the Carolinas Home Care at 864-991-3116.

Providing Home Care Services in Greenville, Simpsonville, Greer, Anderson, Spartanburg, Mauldin, Seneca, Laurens,Charleston, Columbia and the surrounding areas.

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Edward Harrison

Founder at Heart of the Carolinas

Edward Harrison founded the Heart of the Carolinas Homecare in 2007 when he saw there was a need for caregivers that provide non-medical home care services, at a price that most people could afford. It was standard in the industry to require hourly minimums and it was common to be assigned a caregiver, not matched with one based on your individual personal needs. Edward understood that to make a successful relationship between caregiver and client, skills were not enough, personality and compatibility plays as much a role as do skills.

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