Disaster Preparedness: Make Sure You & Your Aging Parents Are Ready

I grew up in San Francisco and have lived in California all my life, so I have been through more earthquakes than I can count. And since they often occur early in the morning, I don’t even bother to get out of bed unless they’re a 4.0+ (I’m as accurate as a Richter Scale at Cal Tech), and I just roll over and go back to sleep. However, when the recent southern California 5.8 quake hit quite close to my new high-rise condo—it got my attention!

I was on the phone with my friend Therese in Seattle when the light shaking began. I said, “Hold on a second”, waiting to see if it was going to stop or get worse. Then, BOOM, shake rattle and roll and roll. I threw the phone down yelling “Earthquake!”, grabbed my cell phone and ran to get under my dinning-room table.

And even though this beautiful new high-rise was built with even higher EQ standards than the law requires, the thought of twelve floors of steel and concrete above me was not comforting--but I guess the collapse of one floor will kill you just as quick as twelve!

As I crouched and held on, swaaaying back and forth for what seemed like an eternity, I heard these guttural groaning sounds coming from the building straining. A few small things were falling over, but I was so relieved I had recently used “Quake Hold” under on all my breakables, which held everything in place.

Finally the rocking stopped but the eerie creaking continued for many minutes as the building resettled itself. I raced back to my desk to assure Therese I was alive, but the phones were dead so I sent a quick email. Later she said it was a good thing I yelled “Earthquake!” or she would have called the police because my scream was chilling.

Soon the phones came back on and I took several quick calls assuring friends and family that I was still breathing fine, not wanting to tie up the lines in case I wasn’t anywhere near the epicenter and it was worse elsewhere.

Then I went to check on some seniors who live here and even though quite shaken up, fortunately they were okay. But then my heart ached, as I couldn’t stop thinking about all the millions of elders and particularly those suffering from mild dementia in southern California who are still living alone and who must be terrified. Had their families ever prepared them for earthquakes or a fire, or any emergency? Did they have Medic-Alert necklaces on? Did they take a fall trying to get under something sturdy? Did something fall on top of them that was not properly secured? Did they forget about the gas stove they had on?

Soon the television flashed a “Special Report” and the news anchor announced, “Southern California has just dodged another bullet today.” Ohhh, phew, it wasn’t the BIG ONE--but then I wondered how many are as prepared for that eventuality as I am.

My part of the world is prone to earthquakes, but whether you live in an area where the prevalent natural disasters are earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires or tornadoes, there are some things you can do to prepare yourself and your elderly loved ones for “the big one.”

Disaster Preparedness Tips

1. The most important thing you can do is to create a family plan and rehearse it regularly (especially with children and elders), so everyone knows what to do. I rehearsed my plan when I moved in so I knew to grab my cell phone, which is always charging at my desk when I am home. At night, I move it to my bedside in case I have to grab it and run from there. I knew to go to the safest pre-determined place under my dining room table, which is near my balcony where I have an escape ladder. I also have bottled water and a whistle hidden under the table in case I get trapped.

2. If you are not in a one-story home, be sure to have an escape ladder or even one in each bedroom in case of a fire or becoming trapped. I purposely bought my condo on the sixth floor because it is only three above a large cement area, enabling me to use a collapsible 3-story ladder that hooks onto my balcony allowing me to climb down. It’s compact and readily accessible in a seat/storage bench with some rope and a cutter in case I have any problems securing it.