Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsHelen and Marvin Cherry on Tuesday at their Richardsville home. The couple us e the Home Instead's Senior Emergency Kit, which helps seniors and their caregivers have important information about medical care and insurance information on hand.

Helen Cherry knows the importance of having a list of medications handy in case of an emergency.

“We’re old, and we have a lot of medicines,” Cherry said as her husband, Marvin, sat in a chair Tuesday enjoying the view from their Richardsville home. “We don’t have a lot of people come to see us.”

The Cherrys know there might be a situation at some point in which they must receive help from someone who might not know their medical history, such as a stranger or emergency technician, or there could be things their adult children don’t know. Keeping her husband’s medications straight is a job in and of itself.

“I have a (container) with just his medicine,” she said. “A stranger certainly wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

Cherry decided they needed to have that information and more in one place. They got a Senior Emergency Kit from Home Instead Senior Care, which provides nonmedical services for seniors. The couple received the kit last week, but have used Home Instead services for more than a year.

“It’s brand new. We have a couple of clients with it so far,” local Home Instead CEO Brad Cannon said. “We’re happy to make it available to people in the community if they want one.”

The kits contain worksheets that have important information, including contact names and numbers, a medication tracker, an allergies and conditions worksheet, a doctor visit worksheet, a health care proxy, a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order, advance directives such as a living will and durable power of attorney, insurance policies, will and testament, a copy of Medicare/Medicaid card, anatomical gift/organ donation card and valuables designation list. The worksheets can also be downloaded at www.senioremergencykit.com.

“So often, Home Instead receives a call for services when there’s been a crisis,” Cannon said. “Adult children are not always aware of many things when it comes to their mothers and fathers. This helps adult children become better prepared.”

All adult children don’t necessarily know the worksheet information about parents, Cannon said.

“In nine years, we’ve met with thousands of families and there are differences in how involved adult children are,” he said. “With that involvement, there is a level of knowledge.”

The contact information has space for things that people might not think about during an emergency, such as newspaper and utility bills that may need to be paid, suspended or canceled.

“It’s a pre-thought-out list in case the parent needs to go in the hospital,” Cannon said.

The medication tracker has more information than just the name of the drug.

“How nice would it be that you have medications, their descriptions, doses and dose instructions right on one sheet?” Cannon said, showing the worksheet.

The kits at Home Instead also contain a refrigerator magnet and a senior emergency card that can fit in a wallet or purse. Each contains more concise medical information.

“Say a senior were to have a stroke,” Cannon said. “This information would be helpful to a complete stranger or EMT.”

When the seniors and their family members do the worksheets, they should do them together, Cannon said.

“Sit down with family members and talk through it,” he said. “This can be useful, if for nothing else, to serve as a tool for families to discuss the things that matter.”

Although they haven’t had an emergency arise where they needed to use the kit, having it handy has brought some peace of mind to Helen Cherry. Now anyone who visits can easily find the vital data.

“If he has to go to the doctor, it’s got all his health information,” she said. “I would need to go to a doctor every once in a while.”

— For more information, call 842-7540 or visit www.senioremergencykit.com.