|

Note from the webmaster:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION - This is A "LIVING WEBPAGE" Updates/Revisions will be posted
as soon as they are submitted. Please re-visit this page often.
News from Neighbors Helping Neighbors 11/01/09
We would like to thank everyone who attended our “When there is an emergency…” workshop. Our guest
speakers were well received and were even requested to make their presentations at individual village meetings. For those
residents who may have missed it, we would like to share some of the information presented there.
Deanna Chapman, from Lake Sumter Emergency Services, gave us some guidelines of how a neighbor can help when there
is a medical emergency in your village. When you call 911 for someone in your
home, call a neighbor also. Or if you are that neighbor and see the emergency
vehicles, don’t hesitate to offer help.
Depending on the circumstances, you may offer to take care of a pet, to make calls to family, to lock the house or
watch over it. See if the family member would like someone to wait with them
at the hospital and if they would need transportation back home. Later, food may be appreciated or assistance with other tasks.
Deanna also reminded us about the importance of house numbers for the emergency vehicles looking for an address when
responding to a call. She reiterated the need for medical information, especially
medications, insurance cards, and contact information for families. Having the
information ready in your Vial of Life would be really helpful. Other suggestions were to keep emergency contact numbers in
your cars and to list ICE (In Case of Emergency) in your cell phone.
Kathryn Linn from the Millhorn Law Firm discussed several issues of estate planning and probate, and answered questions
from the audience. There is a simple checklist for survivors facing the legal
tasks after losing a loved one. It is available from any of the activities offices
when needed and can be viewed online on the Plantation website.
The Neighbors Helping Neighbors will continue to present seminars of interest to the Plantation when needed. Contact Gary Grieco, 326-8407, or Betty Gurany, 728-1285 with suggestions.
Checklist for Survivors.pdf <-----click here
|
| Lake County Florida - Special Needs Program |
|
The Lake County Special Needs Program is designed to assist those persons with special medical, transportation or mobility
considerations during disaster situations.
Emergency Management officials, local home-care agencies, the Public Health Unit, American Red Cross and other service
organizations make up the “Local Special Needs Inter-Agency Committee.” The committee meets throughout the year
to plan and coordinate disaster services to the special needs population.
A person with special needs may be any age. Most are identified through their home-care agency. Some contact Emergency
Management directly. A two-page Special Needs Application form (also available in Espanol) must be completely filled out by the person in need or their caretaker, and submitted to Emergency Management. Once received,
it is processed for review by the Lake County Health Department for the monthly Special Needs Review Team meeting. Based on
the information provided on the form, the Medical Director will then make one of the following assignments in the event of
an evacuation:
- Special Needs Shelter — The majority of persons assigned to a Special Needs Shelter
are approved for that program because their medical condition requires them to be on required or life-sustaining medical equipment
and are electrically dependent, and therefore must evacuate to a shelter where generator backup would be available in case
of a loss of electricity. Some persons who are not electrically dependent and are not able to perform their daily routine
activities without assistance are also assigned to the Special Needs Shelter.
- Acute Care — If the Medical Director determines that a person’s medical condition
is beyond the care that can be provided to them in a Special Needs Shelter, they are assigned to an Acute Care Facility such
as a hospital which requires them to obtain a pre-admit order from their physician to be used only in the event of a mandatory
evacuation.
- Public Shelter — Those persons who live in a mobile or manufactured home and are not
electrically dependent, and their medical condition does not require either of the above shelters, are assigned to go to a
public shelter and all public shelters are wheelchair accessible.
- Stay at Home — Since Lake County is an inland county and not in a hurricane evacuation
zone, persons who are not electrically dependent, live in a site-built home, and are able to perform daily routine activities
without assistance, are sometimes assigned to shelter in-place and stay at home or with family or friends who live in a site-built
home.
Upon completion of review by the Medical Director, the form is returned to Emergency Management for final processing which
will include a letter to the mailing address provided on the form advising the applicant of the results of the review.
The Special Needs Application form is considered and treated as a confidential medical document and is kept in a locked
file. These records do not fall under public records laws.
For more information about special assistance due to physical limitations, call Lake County Emergency Management at (352)
343-9420 or print out the Special Needs Application form. Complete the form then send it to the following address or fax it to (352) 343-9728.
Lake County Emergency Management 315 W. Main St., suite 441 Tavares, FL 32778-7800
**Applicants must be full or part-time residents of Lake County.** |
| |
|
Download the Special Needs Application Below
| | |
ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'
We all carry our mobile (cell) phones with names and
numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers
belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our cell phone but
wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of
an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.
The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones
are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should
be contacted during an emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scene of an accident, there were always cell
phones with victims, but he didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there
was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, emergency service personnel and hospital staff
would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number stored in your cell phone as 'ICE.'
For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3, etc. A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our cell phones today!
VIEW THE BOOKLET BELOW
BY CLICKING ON THE LINK
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ NEIGHBORS HELPING
NEIGHBORS RESOURCE GUIDE
(Easy to Read at 50% setting)
Click here to view---> NHN BOOKLET
EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION SHEET.JPG <---CLICK HERE
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Resource Guide
Village Program
The Plantation at Leesburg
consists of 30 individual Villages ranging in size from 7 homes to 280 homes. Each Village serves a vital role in maintaining communications with their residents. Ideally, important information can be disseminated through the Villages and, equally
important, the Villages can be aware of problems that their residents may have.
Our goal is to help
the Village organizations with information and help to deal with the common challenges of the residents. In our community, many of the residents are aging, have medical problems, and are distant from family support. We want to fill this gap as much as possible.
We will all need help sometime. And many of our neighbors want to help,
if they know how.
Each Village should appoint a volunteer coordinator
and committee, as appropriate, to be aware of needs in the Village and to facilitate the necessary help. This document will outline available resources and provide phone numbers to access the resources. The Information will be maintained in a timely manner and updated online. It is arranged in categories of needs. Be aware that many
measures described here can be initiated only by the resident or family members.
Note from Webmaster:
The Table of
Contents shown below will give you an idea of the topics discussed in the Resource Guide. Click on the link following
it, to read the guide. This is a "living" guide, which will be updated as needed.

*****************************************************************
If you currently have a Vial of Life in your refrigerator, you might want to update the information.
Click on the link below,print, and fill in the sheet with your current medical information.
VIAL OF LIFE INFORMATION SHEET .jpg<-----CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
|