Nationwide, nearly a quarter of emergency department visits among people 60 and older resulted in a hospital stay. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found the rate goes up the older you get.
Marty Irons, a pharmacist in Rutland, has noticed his widowed father, who lives alone in Goshen, New York, has been visiting the hospital more frequently.
So, he made an emergency go-bag for his dad. It's something health experts say more of us should have.
Marty Irons gave the bag to his dad for Father's Day, and the two men wanted to show it to me in case others might like to make one, as well.
Retired Army Maj. Martin Irons still enjoys the 200-mile drive to Vermont when he comes to visit his son. And he feels pretty good considering he turns 94 next month.
But he admits April was rough. “I had seven falls, and some of them were back to back almost. I had four falls in three days.”
It’s obvious by his son’s face that he didn’t know about those falls. “That’s when you should be calling family!” Marty Irons interjects.
But his dad explains that those falls were nothing compared to one last year. “I was coming out of church and missed a step. I landed on my face, and I broke my nose and teeth. The dentures were in four pieces.”
Mishaps like that are what pushed his son to make a different kind of Father’s Day gift this year: a hospital go-bag he hopes will give them both some peace of mind.
“So it's a big bag, bright red, and it's designed to just sit in the front door of the house. It says 'emergency' on it,” says Marty Irons, explaining its features.
The size of a high school backpack, it's got white stitching on the front that spells out the elder man’s name, address and birthdate. It also notes Irons' severe allergy to hornet stings, his pacemaker and his do not resuscitate status.
Marty says members of the Fair Haven rescue squad and his wife, who’s a nurse, along with his dad, all helped him fine-tune what to pack.
“Inside, there's medical information, like diagnoses, contact information, medications. ... On the back, the same information is laminated. It's on a little clip that they can unclip and just hook onto a gurney, a wheelchair, hospital bed.”
There's also a big carabiner on the back of the bag to help ensure the pack itself stays with his dad.
"My son likes to go to extremes," laughs Irons, "but they're good extremes."
Besides contact and medical information, there's extra underwear and T-shirts, a sweatshirt to put on if he gets cold, a new razor, toothbrush and paste.
And most importantly to Martin Irons, something to wear home. "I don't want to go home in one of those hospital gowns!" he says, shaking his head.
The bag includes an extra pair of glasses, hearing aid batteries, denture adhesive, pen and paper and a phone charger.
“Socks of course,” says Marty, “And a paperback mystery, ‘cause they're my dad’s favorites.”
Samantha Helinski loves the idea of a go-bag. She’s a registered nurse at Rutland Regional Medical Center and a senior clinical transitions liaison. “That means I work with patients at higher risk for readmission.”
She says too many patients show up with nothing. “They often will come to the hospital without their pocketbooks.”
Many don't have their cell phone, so having a hard copy list of contacts is critical, she adds.
“Everybody's phone numbers are now in their phone. And if your phone goes dead, or, you know, it didn't get swept up in your emergency situation, you then are kind of left vulnerable, especially if your family lives out of town and you’re here alone.”
She thinks having a go-bag is even more essential for people who travel, or live in Vermont part time. ”Because you're a stranger, and in order to get you the resources you need and give you the appropriate care, we need to know what your history is, what your medications are, and we need to know who your people are.”
Helinski says you don’t need a fancy bag, just something that’s easy to find with up-to-date information. "Something you can toss in the car if you travel," she says. "If you keep one at home, make sure family members know about it."
And, she says, don’t forget to include information about your pets so that someone can be called to care for them. “We do have people who leave the hospital earlier than we would like them to because they have to get home to take care of their animals.”
If you have a small photo that brings you comfort, Helinski says, pack that too.
Martin Irons says his new red go-bag is not something he's eager to use, but he says having it handy by his front door makes a lot of sense.
“I think it's a great idea, and I'm going to take it back to where I live and show it to the head of the ambulance corps, who's a friend."
Most of his neighbors are seniors as well, he adds, so maybe the idea will spread.
Click here for a printable version of the go-bag checklist above.
