I started AirHealthOurHealth because I spend so much time caring for people suffering from the downstream effects of breathing air filled with particulate matter, whether from tobacco, diesel exhaust, traffic related air pollution, etc. After someone has already come to the ICU and can’t talk and breathe, frequently we are towards the later stages of their disease. I wanted to look more upstream, to the source of a lot of illness, unhealthy air.
However, right now with COVID19 in particular, there are very important intermediate steps I want to advocate for people to take to prevent harm in the hospital. With the COVID19 safety rules at the hospitals preventing visitors, we doctors aren’t as able to talk to families, communicate well, and find information. We do our best, but there are things you can do to help us help you in case you need care in the hospital.
Watch this video to learn more.
Or who has time to watch anything these days?
TLDR = Make a “Go Bag.”
For those with kids, remember when you had a bag ready to go for when the baby came?
Same idea- if you are feeling so sick you need to go to the doctor or hospital (remember a doctor or urgent care may just send you to the hospital from their location, so take your bag for healthcare needs), you aren’t necessarily going to be feeling well enough to get things together.
In your “Hospital Go Bag-” have
- Written list of medications and doses
- Names and phone number(s) of family and medical decision maker
- copies of important healthcare documents like an Advance Directive or POLST if applicable
Breakdown-
Q: Why #1? Isn’t it all in the computer?
A: NOPE- electronic medical records collate from multiple sources, frequently have old or out of date medications, and if are ordering things from Canada, taking meds over the counter, or even stopped a med for adverse effect, we may not know. And if there is a tube between your vocal cords and you can’t talk to me, I GUARANTEE I don’t know either.
Q: Why # 2- Surely you’ll know who to call, right? I think I told someone the last time I was in the hospital.
A: Sometimes, but in urgent admissions to the hospital hunting through old notes becomes challenging. I have had to hunt for days to find family member of patients who could not talk because they were on a ventilator and that was BEFORE COVID. Oregon law puts spouse then adult children in charge. If you want someone else, you REALLY need to specify that person in writing (eg Advance Directive and bring a copy) or at least write down who in your family you want to make decisions.
Q: Why #3? My family knows me and knows what I want.
A: Do they? Have you talked to them about what you want? Do you know what things may come up in the hospital if you can’t speak for yourself? I hear ALL THE TIME from family members that they don’t know what a loved one would want in a given scenario. You can help take this burden off your family by talking to them.
A great website I recommend is a project run from UCSF called Prepareforyourcare.org. It is free, bilingual, and walks you through how to do an Advance Directive in all 50 states. For physicians and healthcare professionals, it is a GREAT resource for helping patients and has robust randomized control trial data to back it up. I have been working with them to increase awareness of the importance of Advance Care Planning. No financial relationship, and actually not related to healthy air (except you may be coming to the hospital due to unhealthy air), but super important nonetheless.
En Español
Around the US and the world, we are seeing disproportionate impact of COVID19 on racial and ethnic minorities. In Oregon, our Hispanic community is being hit particularly hard. Many studies show that the healthcare system does a poor job at communicating the importance of preparation for hospital care and Advance Care Planning in minority communities. Prepareforyourcare.org is bilingual, and interested in growing into other languages as well. Here is a Spanish language video that can be shared as well.
