August 19, 2025 • 14 mins
Many people overlook the needs of their aging loved ones when creating emergency plans. In reality, Grandma may not have a plan at all. That's why it's essential to include her specific needs in your safety strategy.
In this episode, Jimmy and Megan discuss how disaster preparedness evolves as we (and our loved ones) age. They cover everything from slip-proof showers and sturdy handrails to go-bags tailored for seniors, providing insights into what it truly takes to keep elderly family members safe.
They share personal stories about the frantic search for grandparents after an earthquake, navigating insufficient facility plans, and finding creative solutions to real challenges, such as maintaining oxygen concentrators and keeping refrigerated medications cold during power outages.
Whether you're supporting a parent, grandparent, or planning for your own safety, this conversation is filled with practical tips and important questions to discuss at home. When emergencies arise, it's vital to include all your loved ones in the plan, especially your grandparents.
Join us and take the opportunity to become more confident in caring for your loved ones before the next disaster happens.
Life Safety Associates specializes in emergency response training for corporate ERT Teams. We help businesses create competent and confident first responders who are ready to handle unexpected emergencies. For more information you find us @lifesafetyassoc or email@lifesafety.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jimmy (00:00):
What's happening?
It's another life and safetypodcast with Jimmy and your girl
, megs.
Hello, today we're going to betalking about a population that
is not necessarily thought of.
What Population?
Not the right word.
Megan (00:17):
No, it is, it is just amusing.
Jimmy (00:22):
Okay, you think I used PC words like population.
Should I said today we'retalking about old folks?
Megan (00:28):
I.
That is kind of what I expected.
Jimmy (00:30):
Yes, I was just thrown fair enough, fair enough, and
what we're going to talk aboutis, you know, some disaster
preparedness, specifically forelderly people.
Megan (00:44):
you know, a lot of times we talk about and I would argue,
not even disaster preparedness,just like also basic safety
preparedness too.
Jimmy (00:51):
Okay, okay.
What do you mean by that?
Megan (00:55):
Like, well, yes, we'll talk about things to be prepared
for in a disaster, specificallyabout you know the old folks,
so to speak, as you said aboutum.
You know the old folks, so tospeak, as you said, but also,
like you know that people, um,who are older have a uh, they're
more susceptible to things likeheat exhaustion or, um, you
know, cold and they're moresusceptible to other illnesses.
(01:19):
So you just have to, be likeaware of that and keep that in
mind, and you know you want tomake sure that you have, like
places you're going, like youknow handrails in the shower or
a shower seat, things like that,to keep them safe.
Or you know non-slip pads andthings like that, like be aware
of tripping hazards.
Jimmy (01:40):
Sure, that's all great safety stuff, yeah, and I think
that kind of leans us into thedisaster stuff, yeah.
So if you're already kind offorward thinking, like with
handrails and shower seats andthe ducky, sticky things on the
ground, so on the showers youdon't slip, you know, let's kind
(02:02):
of build off of that, you know,and kind of think about all
right, in a disaster we have anearthquake, you know.
So what are some other specialneeds?
So of course, food and waterand shelter and all those things
.
But if it is a shelter, is thattent they're going to be able
to get in and out of?
Are they actually going to getin?
Megan (02:23):
and out of it.
So, and if they're going to beable to, get in and out of.
Jimmy (02:24):
Are they actually going to get in and out of it so?
Megan (02:27):
and if they're going to be sleeping on the floor,
they're going to be able to geton and off the floor safely.
Jimmy (02:31):
Absolutely.
You know, a cot might be thebetter way to store for that
person, or even, you know, likea double stacked air mattress,
depending on how large theperson is or how small the
person is.
And you know, I meant, I guess,height, that's what I meant by
that.
Um, and then is there going tobe somebody designated to go to
(02:55):
that person's house and check onthem and take care of them in
that situation?
And if so, and does your familyhave that emergency response
plan to even get to thatfacility?
Megan (03:07):
Yeah.
Jimmy (03:09):
Right.
Megan (03:10):
Or if they're living at home, who's going to check on
them?
I know there was an earthquakerecently up where my
grandparents were and wecouldn't get a hold of them and
so my mom and all of herbrothers were like, okay, who's
the closest, who can go check?
And we got a hold of them andthey they were just taking a nap
and it was ridiculous.
But there was that likemobilization area.
We were like oh my God, wait,who's going to go up there?
(03:31):
Who has the time?
Jimmy (03:33):
Yeah.
Megan (03:34):
And like who has the ability, who's closest?
Jimmy (03:36):
Sure.
Megan (03:37):
Which made us realize we have to figure that out, because
that wasn't an emergency, butit could have been.
Jimmy (03:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So those kind of plans RightNow, if the person is living at
home or person you know, they'relike I got to take care of my
gas, I got to shut the gas off?
Are they strong enough to shutoff the gas?
Maybe they need to talk totheir neighbors.
(04:04):
If they are in a neighborhoodand if they're in a facility,
then maybe saying, hey, what'sour plan and what's the
facility's plan?
Are the workers in the facilitygoing to stay?
Megan (04:17):
Yeah, oh my gosh, I used to live next to it wasn't
necessarily, it was a carefacility facility not
necessarily for elderly, butmore just for disabled in
general.
Sure, um, but there was a timewhere, like, the fire alarm was
going off like once a week.
It was ridiculous, um, andusually it got.
(04:40):
They like figured it out prettyquickly.
But one time it was going offfor like 10 minutes and, um, I
was like, uh, I should check onthis, what's going on.
And so I go and knock on thedoor.
It turns out they had no ideathe fire alarm was even going
off.
It was like an outdoor alarm orsomething.
(05:00):
They couldn't hear it becausethere was only one worker at
that time and they were in theback of the house and the alarm
was in the front of the house.
They didn't even hear it untilthey came and found it, until I
was knocking on the door, andthen the worker came and they're
like oh.
I didn't know that was going off.
Uh, and they like didn't knowwhat to do and I was like, okay,
well, in case it's a real fire,we should probably evacuate.
(05:21):
They're like, oh, I don't knowhow to do that.
And I was like, okay, well,you're going to help go rouse
everybody and we're going to getthem outside.
That's what we're going to do.
And I was like, why am I, theneighbor, taking care of this?
This is crazy.
Why isn't there a plan?
Which made me like I don't know,I just kind of always assumed
(05:42):
the care facilities were allgood quality and going to have
good plans, and it made merealize that that's not
necessarily the case.
So ask those questions If youor a loved one is planning on
going into a care facility likemy aunt is probably going to go
into a care facility pretty soon, and so we're like looking at a
bunch of different facilitiesand it like made me realize like
(06:03):
, oh, there are things that likeI want to know that this
facility knows how to take careof that probably isn't on their
website or brochure brochureyeah, there's definitely levels,
right, you definitely get whatyou pay for.
Jimmy (06:18):
I've noticed, yeah, um.
Now, with that being said,those are just a couple of
things.
And then you know to your pointabout warm clothes, right.
So most I would say most people, because we kind of talk about
adults you know 18 to, you know50, 60-ish, you know where maybe
(06:43):
a sweatshirt and a jacket isgood enough, but what about
sweatshirt, jacket, blanket?
That's going to take up moreroom in your disaster stuff.
So you got to think of yourdisaster preparedness kit might
become bigger the older you getversus where it was smaller.
You know different things.
And then making sure that youcan carry it and it can be moved
(07:06):
.
Megan (07:07):
Yeah.
Jimmy (07:13):
And I think it's, you know, kind of an important thing
to think about and to do.
For case in point, we justhelped a family member with
their extended family kind ofcome up with a solution as far
as an oxygen compressor I almostsaid air compressor, but that's
(07:33):
not the right thing.
That's for your tires, nooxygen compressor for your lungs
.
They live in an area wherethere's lots of hurricanes and
things like that and thequestion was what do we do if
the power goes out and our lovedone can't get oxygen?
And they're small bottles.
(07:56):
The travel bottles are only goso far.
Yeah, you know that.
You know I don't remember howlong they had theirs rated for
it, said the bottle it was, butit wasn't very long.
So what's plan B or C at thatpoint?
And they called themanufacturer and they said we
don't give a solution for that,so just call 911.
Megan (08:16):
Which is a crazy statement, I must say.
Jimmy (08:19):
Right.
Megan (08:20):
Like isn't that your job?
Jimmy (08:22):
Yeah, well, I was thinking, well, how come there's
not like a lithium batterybackup, like an UPS backup that
you can stick in to that thing?
Yeah, or have that run it, oryou know.
So what we kind of sourced wasjust a you know power, a you
(08:46):
know a larger power bank thatyou can plug into you know, like
you do camping with.
And we got and we saw one likeon Amazon like a goal zero
battery pack with solar panels,and I'm sure there's different,
yeah exactly, exactly, and Isuggested to put it on a luggage
(09:07):
carrier, like a little luggagecart.
Megan (09:10):
Yeah.
Jimmy (09:11):
So the family member can move it with their walker, so
they can slide their walker,pull their thing.
Slide their walker, pull theirthing If they needed to.
Megan (09:22):
Yeah.
Jimmy (09:23):
But at least it's mobile, so go ahead.
Megan (09:29):
Another good point is emergency backups for an O2
compressor, as needed.
But also, what about meds,especially refrigerated meds?
Jimmy (09:39):
in an emergency.
Yeah, that's where I was goingto go next.
Oh, perfect, no, yeah, so theymake.
You know, there's, the coolersout there nowadays are so good
and so nice.
There, nowadays are so good andso nice, you know.
So if you, even if the elderlyperson, has a couple of the ice
(10:00):
blocks that you can, you know,stick in your freezer and you
pull out and then you slidethose inside your cooler, you
know you can buy thoseeverywhere and then you can
stick your medicine inside thatcooler.
That cooler's gonna.
You know, unfortunately, someof the newer, bigger brand,
really bulky coolers are goingto be expensive, but I know you
(10:21):
can buy some cheap alternativesat, let's say, some of the big
box stores like Walmart, thingslike that, you know.
So that are going to last, youknow, at least for a day, you
know, hopefully two days.
You're going to get help, butyou're definitely going to be
able to do those things.
So consider size, considerationof your disaster pack just
(10:44):
having a plan and talking aboutit it's huge and then, obviously
, executing it or being able toexecute it.
And then your plan or, excuseme, your, your, what are you
going to put things in?
Is it, is it accessible and canyou move it.
And then what kind of documents, as an elderly person, know
you're going to need.
You know, like anybody elsemarriage certificates, insurance
(11:07):
stuff, um, licenses, this,anything all of your
identification stuff.
Maybe some prescription refills, maybe some eyeglass
prescriptions Even if you weareyeglasses, you should have your
prescription sheet printed out,saved someplace.
(11:29):
Some contact information as weget older, the harder it is to
remember everything.
That hard drive gets filled up.
So maybe some things, moreNumbers written down and
especially because elderlypeople they like that
handwritten stuff more insteadof trying to swipe through a
phone, you know.
So that's something to thinkabout.
So that's kind of some of thebig stuff that we were thinking
(11:54):
about.
Now some questions to ask atthe facilities.
The first question I would askis what are your disaster plans?
What are your emergency actionplans?
Can I read those plans?
And then I would ask how oftenthey practiced it.
Megan (12:16):
Yeah.
Jimmy (12:19):
You know, um, I guess I should share this story.
Maybe when we were looking forchild care for our son me being
me just overpanicked and beingsuper stressed out about it I
used to take a baby mannequinwith us to the first couple of
places and I was like my son'schoking, what are you going to
(12:42):
do?
And I throw the mannequin athim and they would go, ah, and
if they panicked and they didn'tknow what to do, we left.
Megan (12:49):
That's so funny.
I didn't know you did that,that's such a you thing, right.
Jimmy (12:55):
So I think I did like the first two or three and I
realized, well, jenny realizedlike dude, you're scaring
everybody, you can't do thatLike that's just.
And I'm like, well, if I scarehim, what's going to happen when
our son really chokes?
Megan (13:11):
Yeah.
Jimmy (13:13):
And I was like, oh, kind of a good point.
But like let's maybe end withthat and let's start with it.
And I was like, well, if youcan't do the basics, why are you
going to tell me everythingelse?
Good conversation, but the samething when you're looking for a
facility for your loved one,your family member.
What do you guys do?
(13:34):
What's the procedure here?
All right, folks, that'sanother Life and Safety podcast.
We appreciate you.
Take it easy, peace.
Megan (13:44):
Peace.
What's happening?
It's another life and safetypodcast with Jimmy and your girl
, megs.
Hello, today we're going to betalking about a population that
is not necessarily thought of.
What Population?
Not the right word.
Megan (00:17):
No, it is, it is just amusing.
Jimmy (00:22):
Okay, you think I used PC words like population.
Should I said today we'retalking about old folks?
Megan (00:28):
I.
That is kind of what I expected.
Jimmy (00:30):
Yes, I was just thrown fair enough, fair enough, and
what we're going to talk aboutis, you know, some disaster
preparedness, specifically forelderly people.
Megan (00:44):
you know, a lot of times we talk about and I would argue,
not even disaster preparedness,just like also basic safety
preparedness too.
Jimmy (00:51):
Okay, okay.
What do you mean by that?
Megan (00:55):
Like, well, yes, we'll talk about things to be prepared
for in a disaster, specificallyabout you know the old folks,
so to speak, as you said aboutum.
You know the old folks, so tospeak, as you said, but also,
like you know that people, um,who are older have a uh, they're
more susceptible to things likeheat exhaustion or, um, you
know, cold and they're moresusceptible to other illnesses.
(01:19):
So you just have to, be likeaware of that and keep that in
mind, and you know you want tomake sure that you have, like
places you're going, like youknow handrails in the shower or
a shower seat, things like that,to keep them safe.
Or you know non-slip pads andthings like that, like be aware
of tripping hazards.
Jimmy (01:40):
Sure, that's all great safety stuff, yeah, and I think
that kind of leans us into thedisaster stuff, yeah.
So if you're already kind offorward thinking, like with
handrails and shower seats andthe ducky, sticky things on the
ground, so on the showers youdon't slip, you know, let's kind
(02:02):
of build off of that, you know,and kind of think about all
right, in a disaster we have anearthquake, you know.
So what are some other specialneeds?
So of course, food and waterand shelter and all those things
.
But if it is a shelter, is thattent they're going to be able
to get in and out of?
Are they actually going to getin?
Megan (02:23):
and out of it.
So, and if they're going to beable to, get in and out of.
Jimmy (02:24):
Are they actually going to get in and out of it so?
Megan (02:27):
and if they're going to be sleeping on the floor,
they're going to be able to geton and off the floor safely.
Jimmy (02:31):
Absolutely.
You know, a cot might be thebetter way to store for that
person, or even, you know, likea double stacked air mattress,
depending on how large theperson is or how small the
person is.
And you know, I meant, I guess,height, that's what I meant by
that.
Um, and then is there going tobe somebody designated to go to
(02:55):
that person's house and check onthem and take care of them in
that situation?
And if so, and does your familyhave that emergency response
plan to even get to thatfacility?
Megan (03:07):
Yeah.
Jimmy (03:09):
Right.
Megan (03:10):
Or if they're living at home, who's going to check on
them?
I know there was an earthquakerecently up where my
grandparents were and wecouldn't get a hold of them and
so my mom and all of herbrothers were like, okay, who's
the closest, who can go check?
And we got a hold of them andthey they were just taking a nap
and it was ridiculous.
But there was that likemobilization area.
We were like oh my God, wait,who's going to go up there?
(03:31):
Who has the time?
Jimmy (03:33):
Yeah.
Megan (03:34):
And like who has the ability, who's closest?
Jimmy (03:36):
Sure.
Megan (03:37):
Which made us realize we have to figure that out, because
that wasn't an emergency, butit could have been.
Jimmy (03:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So those kind of plans RightNow, if the person is living at
home or person you know, they'relike I got to take care of my
gas, I got to shut the gas off?
Are they strong enough to shutoff the gas?
Maybe they need to talk totheir neighbors.
(04:04):
If they are in a neighborhoodand if they're in a facility,
then maybe saying, hey, what'sour plan and what's the
facility's plan?
Are the workers in the facilitygoing to stay?
Megan (04:17):
Yeah, oh my gosh, I used to live next to it wasn't
necessarily, it was a carefacility facility not
necessarily for elderly, butmore just for disabled in
general.
Sure, um, but there was a timewhere, like, the fire alarm was
going off like once a week.
It was ridiculous, um, andusually it got.
(04:40):
They like figured it out prettyquickly.
But one time it was going offfor like 10 minutes and, um, I
was like, uh, I should check onthis, what's going on.
And so I go and knock on thedoor.
It turns out they had no ideathe fire alarm was even going
off.
It was like an outdoor alarm orsomething.
(05:00):
They couldn't hear it becausethere was only one worker at
that time and they were in theback of the house and the alarm
was in the front of the house.
They didn't even hear it untilthey came and found it, until I
was knocking on the door, andthen the worker came and they're
like oh.
I didn't know that was going off.
Uh, and they like didn't knowwhat to do and I was like, okay,
well, in case it's a real fire,we should probably evacuate.
(05:21):
They're like, oh, I don't knowhow to do that.
And I was like, okay, well,you're going to help go rouse
everybody and we're going to getthem outside.
That's what we're going to do.
And I was like, why am I, theneighbor, taking care of this?
This is crazy.
Why isn't there a plan?
Which made me like I don't know,I just kind of always assumed
(05:42):
the care facilities were allgood quality and going to have
good plans, and it made merealize that that's not
necessarily the case.
So ask those questions If youor a loved one is planning on
going into a care facility likemy aunt is probably going to go
into a care facility pretty soon, and so we're like looking at a
bunch of different facilitiesand it like made me realize like
(06:03):
, oh, there are things that likeI want to know that this
facility knows how to take careof that probably isn't on their
website or brochure brochureyeah, there's definitely levels,
right, you definitely get whatyou pay for.
Jimmy (06:18):
I've noticed, yeah, um.
Now, with that being said,those are just a couple of
things.
And then you know to your pointabout warm clothes, right.
So most I would say most people, because we kind of talk about
adults you know 18 to, you know50, 60-ish, you know where maybe
(06:43):
a sweatshirt and a jacket isgood enough, but what about
sweatshirt, jacket, blanket?
That's going to take up moreroom in your disaster stuff.
So you got to think of yourdisaster preparedness kit might
become bigger the older you getversus where it was smaller.
You know different things.
And then making sure that youcan carry it and it can be moved
(07:06):
.
Megan (07:07):
Yeah.
Jimmy (07:13):
And I think it's, you know, kind of an important thing
to think about and to do.
For case in point, we justhelped a family member with
their extended family kind ofcome up with a solution as far
as an oxygen compressor I almostsaid air compressor, but that's
(07:33):
not the right thing.
That's for your tires, nooxygen compressor for your lungs
.
They live in an area wherethere's lots of hurricanes and
things like that and thequestion was what do we do if
the power goes out and our lovedone can't get oxygen?
And they're small bottles.
(07:56):
The travel bottles are only goso far.
Yeah, you know that.
You know I don't remember howlong they had theirs rated for
it, said the bottle it was, butit wasn't very long.
So what's plan B or C at thatpoint?
And they called themanufacturer and they said we
don't give a solution for that,so just call 911.
Megan (08:16):
Which is a crazy statement, I must say.
Jimmy (08:19):
Right.
Megan (08:20):
Like isn't that your job?
Jimmy (08:22):
Yeah, well, I was thinking, well, how come there's
not like a lithium batterybackup, like an UPS backup that
you can stick in to that thing?
Yeah, or have that run it, oryou know.
So what we kind of sourced wasjust a you know power, a you
(08:46):
know a larger power bank thatyou can plug into you know, like
you do camping with.
And we got and we saw one likeon Amazon like a goal zero
battery pack with solar panels,and I'm sure there's different,
yeah exactly, exactly, and Isuggested to put it on a luggage
(09:07):
carrier, like a little luggagecart.
Megan (09:10):
Yeah.
Jimmy (09:11):
So the family member can move it with their walker, so
they can slide their walker,pull their thing.
Slide their walker, pull theirthing If they needed to.
Megan (09:22):
Yeah.
Jimmy (09:23):
But at least it's mobile, so go ahead.
Megan (09:29):
Another good point is emergency backups for an O2
compressor, as needed.
But also, what about meds,especially refrigerated meds?
Jimmy (09:39):
in an emergency.
Yeah, that's where I was goingto go next.
Oh, perfect, no, yeah, so theymake.
You know, there's, the coolersout there nowadays are so good
and so nice.
There, nowadays are so good andso nice, you know.
So if you, even if the elderlyperson, has a couple of the ice
(10:00):
blocks that you can, you know,stick in your freezer and you
pull out and then you slidethose inside your cooler, you
know you can buy thoseeverywhere and then you can
stick your medicine inside thatcooler.
That cooler's gonna.
You know, unfortunately, someof the newer, bigger brand,
really bulky coolers are goingto be expensive, but I know you
(10:21):
can buy some cheap alternativesat, let's say, some of the big
box stores like Walmart, thingslike that, you know.
So that are going to last, youknow, at least for a day, you
know, hopefully two days.
You're going to get help, butyou're definitely going to be
able to do those things.
So consider size, considerationof your disaster pack just
(10:44):
having a plan and talking aboutit it's huge and then, obviously
, executing it or being able toexecute it.
And then your plan or, excuseme, your, your, what are you
going to put things in?
Is it, is it accessible and canyou move it.
And then what kind of documents, as an elderly person, know
you're going to need.
You know, like anybody elsemarriage certificates, insurance
(11:07):
stuff, um, licenses, this,anything all of your
identification stuff.
Maybe some prescription refills, maybe some eyeglass
prescriptions Even if you weareyeglasses, you should have your
prescription sheet printed out,saved someplace.
(11:29):
Some contact information as weget older, the harder it is to
remember everything.
That hard drive gets filled up.
So maybe some things, moreNumbers written down and
especially because elderlypeople they like that
handwritten stuff more insteadof trying to swipe through a
phone, you know.
So that's something to thinkabout.
So that's kind of some of thebig stuff that we were thinking
(11:54):
about.
Now some questions to ask atthe facilities.
The first question I would askis what are your disaster plans?
What are your emergency actionplans?
Can I read those plans?
And then I would ask how oftenthey practiced it.
Megan (12:16):
Yeah.
Jimmy (12:19):
You know, um, I guess I should share this story.
Maybe when we were looking forchild care for our son me being
me just overpanicked and beingsuper stressed out about it I
used to take a baby mannequinwith us to the first couple of
places and I was like my son'schoking, what are you going to
(12:42):
do?
And I throw the mannequin athim and they would go, ah, and
if they panicked and they didn'tknow what to do, we left.
Megan (12:49):
That's so funny.
I didn't know you did that,that's such a you thing, right.
Jimmy (12:55):
So I think I did like the first two or three and I
realized, well, jenny realizedlike dude, you're scaring
everybody, you can't do thatLike that's just.
And I'm like, well, if I scarehim, what's going to happen when
our son really chokes?
Megan (13:11):
Yeah.
Jimmy (13:13):
And I was like, oh, kind of a good point.
But like let's maybe end withthat and let's start with it.
And I was like, well, if youcan't do the basics, why are you
going to tell me everythingelse?
Good conversation, but the samething when you're looking for a
facility for your loved one,your family member.
What do you guys do?
(13:34):
What's the procedure here?
All right, folks, that'sanother Life and Safety podcast.
We appreciate you.
Take it easy, peace.
Megan (13:44):
Peace.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.