When a crisis occurs, how prepared are you? Are you someone who can leap to attention easily and take charge, or do you panic and struggle to forge a coherent plan? Crisis’ can occur at any time, so knowing what you’re doing in that situation could be the difference between life and death. Stress can affect you deeply in a situation such as someone you care for having a heart attack, or someone choking, which can impact your efficiency in that scenario. The better prepared you are, the better you’ll be able to cope and help those in need. You may be the only person around to help, which means that you need to be completely in control. In particular, if your parents are elderly and you’re the only person available to look after them, they may need you to be quick to act in a stressful situation. Then there is what needs to be done after a situation has arisen – to what extent are you prepared for the aftermath of a crisis?
If someone you care for is taken to hospital, there are numerous things you’ll need to think about. For starters, there is the issue of managing work around visiting schedules – if you can’t get child care, you may need to take a few days leave from work. If your job allows it, you may be able to work from your laptop within the hospital if the staff there give you permission. Be sure to engage your entire family though, as this will help you build a support network and will take some of the stress off you. Your partner can take turns with you at the hospital or look after the children so that you can arrange more visits. Make sure that you check what the hospital is serving at meal times, so that you can monitor if there are any mistakes with dietary requirements, if need be.
At home, the care-taking duties will need to be split equally – an ill elderly person will require full-time care. The best way to ensure this is done fairly is to sit down as a family and draw up a schedule which fairly shares out the duties so that no one person is left doing all of the work, but the elderly person in question doesn’t lack attentive care. If this isn’t an option, you can hire a full or part time nurse to help you if you’re at work throughout the day. Medicines are also probably going to be an issue, as elderly people who can no longer look after themselves will struggle to remember to take any required pills. If they take care of their own medication, be sure to keep a glass of water and the tablets by their bedside so that they are to hand. If not, then you may wish to use a beeper system to remind you when each tablet needs to be taken. If the person in question struggles with incontinence, try to set them up in a room with a toilet attached or close to the toilet where possible. This will make it easier for them when they need to use the bathroom. Lastly, ensure that they have plenty of emotional support – this is a stressful time for both of you so you need to be there for each other. Take time to talk to one another, not just about the struggles of the day but just about your lives in general to take some of the stress out of the situation.