December 15, 2009

Carol Carbutti the owner of Comfort Keepers, A Local In Home Caregiving Agency Would Like To Remind Seniors and Their Caregivers To Be Safe During the Holidays

By Carol Carbutti

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, each year 12,000 in home elderly senior Americans are treated in hospital emergency departments for falls, cuts, electrical shocks, and burns due to faulty holiday decorations or accidents while decorating. Christmas trees account for more than 400 residential fires annually. Other holiday items family and private caregivers should be cautious about are candles, fireplaces, and lighting displays.

Here are some tips for caregiving companions to help make sure their elderly senior loved ones are safe this holiday season:

Candles

·         If a senior wants to use candles, make sure they are in stable holders and place them where they cannot be easily knocked down.

·         Be sure to check the smoke alarms and test them. In order to protect your elderly parent you need to test them monthly and keep them clean and equipped with fresh batteries at all times.

·         Remember to continually discuss and practice the home escape plan with your healthy aging seniors.  Repetition will prevent confusion in case there is an actual emergency.

·         Please remind your retired senior parents to avoid open flames near the Christmas tree. Never use lighted candles on a tree or near other evergreens. Always use non-flammable holders, and place candles where they will not be knocked down.

Trees

·         Caregivers and other elderly family members should check the label on the artificial tree to make sure it is “Fire Resistant.”

·         When your senior loved one purchases a live tree, make sure that it is fresh. A fresh tree is green, needles are hard to pull from branches, and when bent between your fingers, needles do not break. The trunk of a fresh tree is sticky with resin, and when tapped on the ground, the tree should not lose many needles.

·         If family caregivers help to set up the tree, they can place it away from fireplaces, radiators, or portable heaters. To prevent your senior parents from tripping and falling, place the tree in an out of the way place that does not block their doorways.

·         To keep real trees healthy for the entire length of the holidays, aging clients and homecare companions need to keep the stand filled with water, because heated rooms can dry live trees out rapidly.  This will also help prevent tree fires.

Lights

·         A note to all caregivers and elderly parents, never use electric lights on a metallic tree. The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching a branch could be electrocuted.

·         Homecare companions should help at home seniors check all tree lights before hanging them on the tree. Make sure all the bulbs work and that there are no frayed wires, broken sockets, or loose connections.

·         Homemakers and family caregivers should remind our elderly relatives to plug all outdoor electric decorations into circuits with ground fault circuit interrupters to avoid potential shocks.

·         In home companions should make sure all the holiday lights are turned off when their senior loved one goes to bed or when you leave the house.

Decorations

·         Caregivers should remind seniors to purchase non-combustible or flame-resistant materials for their decorating needs.

·         Senior family helpers should wear gloves to avoid eye and skin irritation while decorating with spun glass “angel hair.”

·         If your aging client chooses to use artificial snow sprays you need to follow container directions carefully to avoid lung irritation.

·         When the caregiving family members get together to open presents make sure you remove all wrapping papers, bags, ribbons and bows from the tree and fireplace areas.

Gift Purchasing and Fraud

·         Senior Citizens should use direct deposit. The mail - both incoming and outgoing - can be vulnerable, especially during the holidays when criminal activity is heightened.

·         The elderly seniors should avoid unfamiliar phone calls and emails.  Do not give any personal information over the phone or Internet to an unfamiliar company or caller.

·         Many seniors enjoy the convenience of online holiday shopping. Use a credit card as your payment option.  This may be the safest way to shop during the holiday. 

·         Another safe alternative you can try is homecare assistance from your local Comfort Keepers in home senior caregiving agency in Wallingford, CT for chaperoned transportation and decorating needs.  For more information please call (203) 697-1030 or email us at carolcarbutti@comfortkeepers.com.

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