Disaster Preparedness
Hurricanes, floods,
earthquakes and tornados
Hurricane season seems to be
getting worse every year and the
national weather service isn’t
expecting it to get better in the
future. Earthquakes on the west
coast, tornados in the Midwest and
floods throughout the nation cause
hundreds of emergency evacuations
every year.
Hurricane Katrina displaced
tens of thousands of people, most of
them hundreds of miles away from
home or other family members. Records at home and even the medical records in
hospitals and doctors offices were destroyed by flood waters. Many
of these with injuries or chronic
conditions had no record of their
medications or medical conditions
and were treated by doctors that had
incomplete information about the
patients medical history, causing
delays in diagnosis and treatment,
possibly putting the patient at
serious risk.
In these situations, access to a person's medical information, medical
history and prescriptions can have a significant impact on their diagnosis and
treatment by avoiding delays and unnecessary testing .
FEMA and the American Red Cross
both recommend you maintain a list
of important information as part of
a disaster preparedness plan. That
list includes your emergency medical
and contact information.
Of course, that list
needs to be with you to do any good.
And having it on your key ring
means you are
more likely to have it with you
in the
event of disaster or emergency
evacuation.
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