Emergency Planning | Connecting Carers

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What you should know

In an emergency, replacement care can be sorted out quickly and efficiently

When emergencies happen our lives are put on hold while we deal with them. For many Carers life cannot simply be put on hold if the person they are looking after relies on them for vital help and support. When a Carer is rushed into hospital, who will step in?

Creating an Emergency Plan

Connecting Carers advise all Carers to create an emergency plan for you and the person you look after. Having a plan in place can ease your worries if you are not able to care for the person at any point in the future. In order to create an emergency plan that fits your needs, you need to collate:

Contact details of the person you look after
Who you and the person you look after would like to be contacted in an emergency. This might include friends, family or professionals
Details of any medication the person you look after is taking
The names of two emergency contacts who know the caring situation and who also know your emergency plan
Details of any ongoing treatment that the person you look after needs.

Involving others in the plan

You may be able to arrange help and support from family and friends, but it can be reassuring to involve your local Carer Centre and NHS Highland in case the informal arrangements fall through. You can do this through an assessment for the person you look after or an Adult Carer’s Support Plan for yourself.

Every Carer with an Adult Carer Support Plan should be asked about emergency planning during the discussion to prepare the Support Plan, and offered help to prepare an emergency plan. In addition, Carers who provide care for people with mental health problems under the care programme approach should have a written care plan that includes contingency planning.

Our Carer Link Workers can assist you in emergency planning and can ensure that, if necessary and with your permission, a copy is sent to your social work office for them to keep and act upon in the event of an emergency.

It is important to involve at least two people that you trust and can rely upon. The details of these people must be in the plan and they should know that they are named in the plan, so they can act in the event of an emergency.

Emergency Plan and Card

There are a number of things you can do to create an emergency plan. Download an Emergency Plan document here and apply for an emergency card by contacting us. Connecting Carers have produced a Carer Emergency Card which Carers can carry with them at all times to help trigger the emergency plan.

Connecting Carers also provide leaflets on Power of Attorney and Guardianship. If you would like more information, see the Decision Making page, call our Carer Support Line on 01463 723560 or email us on carers@connectingcarers.org.uk

Here is a helpful Emergency Planning for Carers video: https://youtu.be/g-m-qeYyhHU .

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