No matter the time of year, or where you live, natural disasters can happen so proper disaster preparedness is important. Tornadoes, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, and plain old severe weather are a fact of life. During a disaster, electricity, gas, water and telephone services may be interrupted. Roads may be closed and even emergency services may be unavailable. While disaster preparedness is important for any family, leukemia and lymphoma patients have a few extra things to consider when planning for the worst case scenario.
Here are a few recommendations for thinking about your special requirements:
- Take a few minutes and jot down important medical information, including the names and phone numbers of your doctors, medical history, allergies, and medications.
- Keep any prescription medications in a localized place that can be easily accessed in an emergency.
- Have a supply of other medications you may need as well. Drugs to prevent nausea, constipation, diarrhea, allergic reactions, and fevers should be kept with or near your prescriptions.
- It is important to keep in mind that water supplies may become contaminated in an emergency. You should have adequate water for drinking and hygiene on hand, or the supplies to purify water.
- If you have a low white blood cell count and are at high risk of developing an infection, it will be particularly important for you to have clean first aid supplies on hand. These should include antiseptic spray, peroxide, or alcohol for cleaning wounds, as well as sunscreen and a thermometer.
- If you have a central venous catheter, or an intravenous that you receive treatment through, you will need to ensure that you have extra dressings and supplies in case of emergency.
Keep all of your supplies in a waterproof container so they can be moved easily, or taken with you in case of evacuation.
When you have leukemia or lymphoma, you have plenty of things to worry about other than a natural disaster. However, emergencies do happen and with a little bit of planning ahead for the worst case scenario, you won't skip a beat.
