ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Maybe at your house, you keep a go bag for possible disasters. Well, a Vermont pharmacist has designed a hospital go bag for his father. And health experts say more older adults should have one because along with disasters, nearly a quarter of emergency room visits among older patients turn into hospital stays. Vermont Public's Nina Keck tells us this pharmacist's story.
NINA KECK, BYLINE: Marty Irons sits next to his father, retired Army Major Martin Irons. The elder Irons says he still enjoys driving to Vermont to visit his son and feels pretty good considering he turns 94 next month. But he admits April was rough.
MARTIN IRONS: I had seven falls. Some of them were back-to-back almost, like four falls in three days.
KECK: I can tell by his son's face that he didn't know about that.
MARTY IRONS: That's when you should be calling your family.
KECK: But those falls were nothing compared to one last year that landed him in the hospital.
MARTIN IRONS: I broke my nose and teeth. And the dentures were in four pieces.
KECK: Mishaps like that are what pushed his son to make a different kind of Father's Day gift this year, a go bag that he hopes will give them both some peace of mind.
MARTY IRONS: So it's a big bag, bright red. And it's designed that it can just sit in the front door of the house. It says emergency on it.
KECK: Picture a high school-sized backpack with white stitching on the front that spells out the elder man's name, address and birth date, and notifies first responders of his severe allergy to hornet stings and his pacemaker. Marty says members of a local rescue squad and his wife, who's a nurse, along with his dad all helped him fine-tune what to pack.
MARTY IRONS: Inside, there's medical information like diagnosis, 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 or hospital bed.
KECK: There's extra underwear, a razor, toothbrush and a change of clothes to wear home.
MARTY IRONS: Extra pair of glasses. The hearing aid batteries. Socks, of course.
KECK: And a paperback murder mystery 'cause they're dad's favorites. Samantha Helinski loves the idea of a go bag. She's a registered nurse at Rutland Regional Medical Center who says too many patients show up with nothing.
SAMANTHA HELINSKI: They often will come to the hospital without their pocketbooks.
KECK: Many don't have their cellphone, so having a list of contacts is critical.
HELINSKI: Everybody's phone numbers are now in their phone. And if your phone goes dead or 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.
KECK: She thinks having a go bag is even more essential for people who travel or are snowbirds.
HELINSKI: 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, we need to know what your medications are and we need to know who your people are.
KECK: Helinski says you don't need a fancy bag, just something that's easy to find with up-to-date information.
HELINSKI: Copies of your driver's license. Copies of your health insurance cards, your Medicare, your supplements, your prescription plans.
KECK: If you have an advance directive, a copy of that should go in the bag, or the name and phone number of an agent who can make health care decisions on your behalf. And Helinski says don't forget information about your pets, so someone can be called to care for them.
HELINSKI: 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.
KECK: And if you have a small photo that brings you comfort, Helinski says pack that as well.
For NPR News, I'm Nina Keck in Chittenden, Vermont.
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