Safety--Do these things today

[Rod Hagen]

Wether you're 30 or 85, do these things today, don't put them off. In Order

1. On the fridge with magnets not tape:  White Paper Titled !EMERGENCY! with Your name, your Date of Birth, your EMERGENCY CONTACTS in order of importance and with the note PLEASE CALL ALL 4 (?) Numbers!.   And your list of medications and dosages and wether they are weekly or daily.

2. At Fedex make a credit-card size copy of that EMERGENCY paper, and put it in your wallet. Delicately, you can cover it with clear packing tape and trim that to "laminate" it.

3. Right by your door a Gallon sized Ziplock bag, or Hefty (Hefty is better) bag, with HOSPITAL in Red IN RED written on the side.  Also, write, not in Red,  both "+ iPhone" "+Wallet" on the side to increase likelihood that EMS will find and then shove your phone and your wallet in it, or take them along. 

Inside this bag put another copy of your Emergency Paper, put in a very very very long iPhone (Phone) charger WITH an outlet plug that has two usb ports as well.  Also, a charger cord for your smart watch if you wear one. One or two N-95s (because why not), a hard shell glasses case.  VERY important that you have a small notebook in there WITH a pen, Eyemask and silicone Earplugs.  Silicone earplugs, not the uncomfortable foam ones.  Underwear. Again, it's very important that this be right next to the door and visible to EMS folks in a hurry.    (I put in a small bit of normal toilet paper under the assumption that the next day my partner, or anyone, would bring me a few rolls so that I never use the hospital sandpaper TP.)

This is not a "Go" bag which Californians know about because of fire and Earthquake, this is a Hospital bag.  No EMS ppl will hunt for a Go bag, especially if you are uncommunicative.  They likely will look at your Fridge and they WILL see your bag.

4. Urinal by the bed.  There is NO fucking reason to get up and down at night to pee.  It's dangerous and disruptive to sleep.

5. Plug in lights in all rooms.  They can be motion activated, or they can just stay lit all the time.

6. Get rid of those goddam rugs.

Lastly, stop drinking liquids after 6 or 7pm.  You know this already.   Put some electrolyte tablet in what you drink with Supper, and after that use only the smallest bit of water to take your evening pills.

Not that long ago, I was talking to a friend who had a fall getting up to pee.  He never did buy a urinal no matter how many fucking times I told...asked him to.  So, on the phone once he got back from the hospital I asked, "you don't have much water after dinner do you?" And he responded, "just the two glasses I drink right before bed."  Me, "Why?".  Him, "I think I read it's good for the skin...Isn't it?"  It was not a zoom call so he could not see me over dramatically cradling my head in my hands and shaking said head back and forth.

Anyway, I could have provided links to all this, but I'm off to the climbing gym.   You can find these things on Amazon and put them together in less than an hour.  

 

Edited May 30 by Rod Hagen

[SirBillybob]

Climbing gym, where much of what has just been recommended should be accompanying you.

Edited May 30 by SirBillybob

[maninsoma]

A urinal by my bed?  If I had severely limited mobility, then yes.  But as a recommendation for everyone?  Seems a bit overboard to me, and in order to use it you're still having to wake up a bit.  Might as well walk down the hallway to the toilet.  It typically doesn't take me long to fall back to sleep anyway.

A do have a low intensity, color LED bulb in my living area that goes on at dusk and goes off at dawn.  I do like having some visibility in the middle of the night when I get up.  I don't see the need to have a light in every room, though.  If you're actually going to get up, wouldn't you just turn on the light in the room you're using.

I do like some of the suggestions at the top of the list, though, particularly putting contact information on the refrigerator and in my wallet.  Rather than typing out medical information, however, I would add something to the list: Always have a copy of your health insurance card with you, even if you're just going out for a jog and not carrying anything else.  If an accident happens this will not only identify you but also provide access to your health information since EMS will know where you receive care.  (Well, come to think of it, this works for me because I'm part of an HMO that provides both the insurance and the services; I guess if you're insurance company is not your provider then it might help to have your medications listed along with the name and phone number of your primary care physician.)

[+ sync]

18 hours ago, SirBillybob said:

Climbing gym, where much of what has just been recommended should be accompanying you.

I can (have) done all that from getting up from a chair.

[SirBillybob]

1 hour ago, sync said:

I can (have) done all that from getting up from a chair.

Sometimes the right ikea is new furniture.

[Rod Hagen]

On 5/31/2025 at 8:32 AM, maninsoma said:

A urinal by my bed?  If I had severely limited mobility, then yes.  But as a recommendation for everyone?  Seems a bit overboard to me, and in order to use it you're still having to wake up a bit.  Might as well walk down the hallway to the toilet.  It typically doesn't take me long to fall back to sleep anyway.

A do have a low intensity, color LED bulb in my living area that goes on at dusk and goes off at dawn.  I do like having some visibility in the middle of the night when I get up.  I don't see the need to have a light in every room, though.  If you're actually going to get up, wouldn't you just turn on the light in the room you're using.

I do like some of the suggestions at the top of the list, though, particularly putting contact information on the refrigerator and in my wallet.  Rather than typing out medical information, however, I would add something to the list: Always have a copy of your health insurance card with you, even if you're just going out for a jog and not carrying anything else.  If an accident happens this will not only identify you but also provide access to your health information since EMS will know where you receive care.  (Well, come to think of it, this works for me because I'm part of an HMO that provides both the insurance and the services; I guess if you're insurance company is not your provider then it might help to have your medications listed along with the name and phone number of your primary care physician.)

My Response to your first two graphs is:  Orthostatic Hypotension.  Starting at 40, the frequency goes up and up.  It's how several of my friend hurt themselves in the middle of the night, except for the Parkinsons friends, who also should have stayed in bed.  Regarding peeing, you fall back asleep?  Great! But I'd put lots of money down on the second man in a race back into the ever important DEEP SLEEP between a man who drags his ass into the bathroom, then checks his phone, then one more drip in the toilet, then back to bed vs. the man who turns, pees, places the bottle back on the nightstand.  The more deep sleep, the healthier you are.  

Third graph, I had assumed everyone carries their Insurance card on their person out in the world and also has their iPhone emergency information filled out as well as their Apple Watch Fall Alert set.  It's always amusing when I eat shit snowboarding and under my glove I can feel my watch vibrations counting down to 911 because I "had a fall" and had forgotten to turn off the feature.