Helen Dandurand (Host): Welcome back to the Well Within Reach podcast brought to you by Riverside HealthCare. I'm your host, Helen Dandurand, and today I'm going to be joined by Jay Kindle, Riverside's Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, to talk about emergency preparedness.

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Host: And we're back with Jay. How are ya?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: I'm doing well, Helen. How about yourself?

Host: Good. Now that we got past some technical difficulties at the start, we already joked around that this is Jay's first podcast, but he's not allowed back, because we were having some issues at the start, but we are back. We are here. And Jay, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: Sure thing. Like Helen said, my name is Jay Kindle. I'm the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator here at Riverside. Been in my position just over two years now. My background, I grew up from around Danville area, born and raised there.

 Early in my career, 2005, I was 15 years old, had a very solid interest in the fire service and fire response. So my uncle was a fire chief down in Florida and got to ride with him in the fire truck one time. So that really got me hooked into it.

Host: That'll sell you.

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: Yeah. I was sold lights and sirens at 12 years old. It was awesome.

So I, continued for the fire service for 17 years. I just recently stepped back in my role moving down here to Riverside, from Rockford area last year. Shortly after I joined the Navy in 2010, so not a lot of firefighting going on as I was in the Navy, but where I could volunteer, I would volunteer, so I was on a department in North Carolina for some time, South Texas around Corpus Christi, Kingsville area, and then ended my service in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the Naval Hospital there, so that's where I got my start in emergency preparedness was in Kingsville, Texas at our Naval Air Station there.

 They were saying, you're going to be the emergency manager. And it was weird because we were very small clinics. We didn't have an emergency room. And in my mind, I was like, there's no emergency room to manage. And they said, no, no, no, that's not it. It's a disaster program and just kind of got thrown into it. And, here I am, what's that, almost 10 years later.

Host: That's amazing. Let's jump right into the topic. Could you give us some advice on how families can create a practical emergency plan that ensures everyone knows what to do and where to go during a disaster?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: There's a lot of great resources out there, and we're so thankful to have the internet the way it is today in the last, you 20 years it's grown over the time, but, ready.Illinois. gov is a great website to go to, and ready.gov as well. One of course is Illinois State specific, the other one's more of our FEMA federal plans, but they have little tabs you can click on that easily just say to make a plan or build a kit, and they'll list all kinds of basic items to have in there.

 Biggest thing too is to plan by location, not just at home to worry about home, but we drive back forth to work and especially this time of year having an extra layer of warm clothes, blanket, things like that in the vehicle in case you find yourself stuck on I-57 in a snow jam.

Host: What would you say are some of the most critical items that individuals should include in like a basic home emergency kit?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: Sustenance is always a thing. The federal agencies typically recommend one gallon of water per day per person for drinking and sanitation.

So if there's four of you in the house you want to have four gallons of water for that day. Plan for four to five days typically is the general guidance. There's several different organizations out there that have some sort of disaster meal, almost like an MRE type thing, they've gotten really fancy for the general public.

MREs are a big thing for those who are veterans or active duty who might listen, so it's just a very fancy MRE in another shape or form. Having those extra supplies like can openers, things like that for the cans you might need. Battery powered radios or battery powered anything, candles, things like that just to have around generally in the house.

Host: How would you say that families can maintain communication if phone networks go down? Are there specific tools or strategies that you recommend we use?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: The internet's a great resource, but what happens when we lose that resource? Everyone has a cell phone nowadays. Being able to text, message, or whatever. The Life360 app is always a great thing, I see families use. But be prepared. Like, are you able to log into a Wi-Fi somewhere if you needed to? And if the overall network does fail for any reason, you're not able to connect, just a simple old school, we identify a spot, if you can't get a hold of mom or dad, or if you can't get a hold of your kids, we're trying planning on meeting at the neighbor's house, or I'll come pick you up at the school, or come to my place of work, so you just know that I can't reach out, but here's our plan, that they're going to meet me here, I'll meet them there.

Host: Good, good, yeah, meet up location, that's good. How should caregivers otherwise prepare for emergencies when they're responsible for children, elderly family members, or pets?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: First step is to have a photo of that person or that animal with you in that place. For children, you know, you want to have different comfort items. There's a training, program on the FEMA website on ready.gov called Prepare with Pedro. He's a little penguin that helps kids get ready for a disaster. It's a really cute program. For our elderly people out there, discuss with your families, your friends, neighbors, what are your needs ahead of time.

 The biggest thing is to look out for scams, especially in disaster times. There are bad actors out there that just target the elderly, and as sad as it is, they do get a lot of money from different people for help us, we need this type of care. We need this type of assistance that never comes, and they may have offloaded a lot of money for that.

So just verify, where are you calling from? Get a callback number, and make sure that they're a legitimate source before giving any money to anybody out there. As far as pets, I have my dog, I have him microchipped, he has a GPS collar on him, so I can track him if I need to anyway, again, comfort items for them, you know, if they're a little bit of anxiety like my dog has, have that thunder shirt ready for him to kind of squeeze him, give him some love, and that buddy system, just having a plan with your friends, family, neighbors, food and water for them, of course.

If you do find yourself in like an evacuation, you want to have a travel kennel for them. Most shelters, that's a requirement for your pets is that they're kenneled at least while in that shelter.

Host: What local resources would you say otherwise? I know you've listed some websites and things, but local resources or services should people know to rely on during natural disasters?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: I'm part of an organization with the county that's called Community Organizations Active in Disaster, or COAD for short. There's also one called a VOAD, which is our volunteer organizations. And a lot of these encompass the American Red Cross, which is a great resource, our county health department, Catholic Charities is a part of those organizations, the NAACP, and our local churches. So just reaching out to those community organizations and saying, hey, could I come to the church if there was a storm that took my house, or if there was flooding. And during that disaster, they'll put a lot of information out to you that lets the people know, this is where you can come for safe haven, or here's where we'll be providing this type of service, or if you need food and water, this is where this will be at.

Host: We are going to take a quick break to talk about primary care at Riverside.

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 And we are back. So what should individuals with chronic health conditions or disabilities do to prepare for emergencies, like particularly if access to health care facilities is limited?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: One of the things that the County Health Department does statewide, is they have an Access and Functional Needs Database.

So, every year, I don't remember what time of year they send it out, but once annually they'll send out a contact form. And if anyone in your household does have some type of functional or assistive need, go ahead and fill that form out. Name, address, what the needs are, and typically in disasters, when they strike, that's the first resource that our health department will go to, to assist EMS and fire resources, identifying, you know, where these people are, are they in the affected zones, or even if, once fire and emergency services do show up, you have this document that has the needs and the requirements for that loved one, that family member, once help does arrive. Maintaining your up to date medical summary or diagnosis, medications list, allergies, your healthcare providers, contact information.

Because in this case, you're going to have a lot of providers who may be, up in the Chicago area who won't be local to us. Also again, that communication tools, if that person might be nonverbal or have difficulty communicating, what would they need to be able to communicate properly with the responders during a disaster.

And also, we have our MyChart, of course, so you'll want to be able to keep that up to date if you're able to put that in your smartphone or log in on a computer somewhere. We'll have all your information there, too.

Host: What would you say is the best way, this kind of goes hand in hand with, with the healthcare portion of it, but, to store and manage essential medications, and I know you said medical records already, but how to store them to ensure they're accessible in an emergency?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: There's several things out there. The fire, water safes out there that you typically see. There's a fireproof document bag that you can actually get. I've seen on, actually bought one from Amazon. They're about 15 to 30 dollars for that box or bag, but they're fireproof, waterproof. They have reflective straps on them.

All your information in one of those boxes or document bags. Put it in a location where this is where that is, if something were to happen, grab this, take it with you.

Host: What steps does an ER take to prepare for natural disasters and how could individuals contribute to the efficiency of care during an event like that?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: So we actually run an annual exercise. It's called a full scale exercise, which includes a disaster scenario of some type. We coordinate with St. Mary here in town, our local fire department, EMS, and everyone plays along. So, county Sheriffs, our police departments, we all play out that disaster. Here last year, it was a chemical response here in town to one of our facilities, and we had role players, about 15 to 30 role players that were our patients.

We got them all moulaged up with fake blood and fake injuries. They're transported by ambulance. They get the radio calls in the ER. It's a full If it were to actually happen type scenario, and it just tests our current written emergency response plans. That's how we stay up to date on if we're able to respond appropriately. We make adjustments based on our training and make sure that we're ready to go for our community.

Host: Are there emergency preparedness drills or training programs available for the public? And, how beneficial are they in real world scenarios?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: There's not so much of a large scale drill that the community participates in, but there are a few things that people can do to kind of stay ready. One thing is getting CPR certified or your first aid. There's Stop the Bleed courses that we offer.

The American Red Cross has several courses that people can enroll into as well. There's also what's called a Community Emergency Response Team training. It's a CERT team, so it's just community of people within that community that when something does happen, they're able to go out and help assist with cleanup or getting people in a shelter if they need it or certain food items, whatever they might need. Additionally if you're one that likes to just do random kind of online courses, they're quick, easy, but have information in them. If you go on the FEMA independent study page, they have several courses that you can click on and kind of get information through that.

Host: What advice do you have for managing stress and anxiety during a natural disaster or other emergencies, especially for those who may feel like easily overwhelmed.

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: Having that plan in place is definitely step one. Knowing that you have a process in place for if this were to happen, then we would do this or if that, then this. Practice the plan. Like I said, we have an annual disaster drill to make sure that we're ready for anything, practice that plan with your family. Have fire drills at home. Have a meeting place or meet at that meeting place, see how long it might take for you to get there versus each other.

So, maybe if it's the kids, meet at the grocery store, they get there before you. Maybe find somewhere else less public or something of that nature. And asking about your workplace's plan too. Don't be afraid to ask at work, if something were to happen, what is our process and what is our procedure here in place that we should follow?

Host: It's always great to be prepared. It makes you feel better, Well, is there anything else that you wanted to add, you feel like we didn't cover?

Jay Kindle, CHEC II, CAHSO: I think we've got everything pretty much covered, but just thank you for letting me be here today and kind of explain what I do here at Riverside.

Host: Of course. Thanks for being here. And thank you for tuning in to the Well Within Reach podcast with Jay Kindle and the Riverside Emergency Department and your host, Helen Dandurand. To learn more about the Riverside Emergency Department, visit riversidehealthcare.org/ed.