Chapter 4: How To Prepare For A Medical Emergency Now

Just a few steps can help you maintain some control

When I was little, the only thing my mother told me about preparing for an emergency was to make certain I always wore clean underwear with no holes. She worried, "What if you're in an accident?" But, when I broke my arm, she never asked what I was wearing; she called a taxi and focused on getting to the local emergency department (ED) quickly.

No one ever plans to have a medical emergency. It never happens at a convenient time or place. Illness, accidents, and dramatic medical events are mostly out of our control but they happen a lot. Every year in the U.S. there are approximately 140 million visits to the ED. That’s an average of 43 visits per 100 people. Odds are you will end up in the ED for yourself or a loved one in the near future.

I've spent a lot of time in emergency rooms as a mom and as a daughter. I've made many mistakes as both. I’ve been there for dumb reasons –– like the time my son caught a baseball with his eye –– and for scary ones –– when we feared my dad had had a s…