When the Health Storm Comes: Why Every Family Needs a Plan

Preparation Does Not Prevent the Storm

This is not about convincing ourselves that if we organize enough paperwork, nothing bad will happen.

Life does not work that way.

A plan would not have prevented my cancer. It would not have prevented my grandson’s heart condition,

my friend’s husband’s fall, or my husband’s heart attack.

Preparation does something different: it gives us a place to begin when everything suddenly feels out of

control.

In a medical emergency, families are often trying to answer important questions while frightened,

exhausted, and overwhelmed. What medications does Dad take? What dose? Does Mom have an

allergy? Who is her cardiologist? Does she have a healthcare proxy? What insurance does she have?

What was she able to do independently before this happened? What would she want if she could not

speak for herself?

Those are much easier questions to answer before the emergency department is asking them.