Thread by @anilbhatortho

#ToolKit for #MedicalEmergency @ home

Sunday started as usual & I thought it would be a relaxing day .After the coffee (which I posted) ,I received a call from my brother in law that my mother is semi conscious & complaining of chest pain. The whole world stopped for a moment .

I did a video call to see her & I saw my dad,sis ,BIL panicking. I really had to calm them down,ask my sis to check my mom’s BP n pulse , & give a sublingual nifedipine . I quickly had to find my cardiology friend ,check the nearest hospital he visits & finally take her there .

By God’s grace she is alright now & back home with medications & plans for further monitoring.
The whole episode set me thinking as to what could have been done better today morning by the family & hence,have drawn up this 6 point tool kit for any medical emergency in a family.

This could vary for each family based on the structure of the family itself & also the medical conditions they might have. It is by no means a comprehensive toolkit but just a guideline as to how the family has to prepare themselves in any eventuality.Customise if required

1. A medical information file containing the details of all the diseases, the treatment , medication, any previous surgery/ procedures which a person has undergone should be written as a single sheet information briefly. Every hospitals would ask these when you go for a treatment

In technical terms we call this past history , medical history treatment history & drug history. So a single page information would help the doctors in treating the emergency situation in a much better way to avoid any drug interactions & also plan the treatment protocol

2. Accessibility to nearby health care: Map the nearby hospitals, doctors, specialists, ambulance services so that these details are available immediately for anyone to contact them. if you have a regular physician, then the contact numbers to be written in this file very clearly

Check which hospital is best for conditions anybody might have at home like cardiac diseases, diabetes, hypertension, neurological problems, Orthopaedic emergencies & make a list of it with the contact numbers so that it is easy to directly go there.

Time is precious in an emergency & lot of this precious time is wasted running around different nursing homes & smaller hospitals & then reach the correct hospital . It also increases the financial burden. A little planning helps in mapping these essential hospitals beforehand

3. Finances: details of finances which includes health insurance & its details like card number & the actual health cards need to be kept in the same file . How to access Cash & cards for immediate payments should be indicated in this file with suitable precautions

4. Social support : is very important & hence the phone numbers of which relatives or friends to be contacted during such emergencies have to be clearly written in the file . Video calls are a very important tool to be used in such conditions

5. Action plan rehearsal: the family should sit together & have an action plan of how to deal with such emergencies and discuss it . Basic things like checking for pulse,BP & glucose, avoiding overcrowding over the patient, whom to make a video call are to be taught to all

This action plan rehearsal this will go in a long way in training members of the family for any medical emergencies. There are many things which are beyond our scope but there are things which can be dealt by most families even without having a basic medical knowledge

6. A First aid kit is very essential at home which should have at least a thermometer, digital BP apparatus , bandages,gluocometer, pulsoxymeter, & some basic medications like nifedipine tablet, an antibiotic cream, a silver nitrate cream for burns and bandaid plasters. Customise

I feel this toolkit would help many families who will be at least mentally prepared for any kind of such eventuality.After today’s episode at home, I strongly felt that I should share my thoughts this way. Any additional points by experts from medical field is welcome . Thanks !