Emergency Care : The Dos & Donts
You get the call and a friend or relative needs your help. In fact, it might take a whole community to provide the care which comes with an emergency, be it, an illness, injury or loss. While well-meaning intentions are worthy and can be helpful, experience in the real world begs to differ.
6 Best Practices For Providing Emergency Care
- First ask, what does the individual or family really need from you? A person can only eat so many casseroles, and the refrigerator doesn’t need to become a stockpile. If you are organizing food donations for a family in need, ask them
- When is the best time for folks to drop off food?
- What do you or your family prefer to eat? Are there dietary restrictions?
- Do you have time to heat something up or would you prefer ready-to-eat food like salads and sandwiches?
- Would you rather a gift card to the local deli or sandwich shop so you can pick up something of your choosing based on your own schedule?
Recommending these requests to volunteers will make the care all that more helpful and meaningful.
- Cover all the bases. Food is important, but it is also beneficial to ask if there are other things the family needs like volunteers to pick up kids or take them to school, rides to doctor or treatment appointments, financial assistance with the monthly bills, miscellaneous household items, or simply the time from a volunteer spent sitting with the individual in need. Often, it can be hard for someone to ask for help; make it easy on them, and offer multiple ways you can help them.
- Keep people updated and get it right! Volunteers will want to know how the people they are helping are doing, so post updates via email when the time is appropriate. Make sure when giving your care community updates about the folks in need that you have all the information correct – whether it’s a date for treatment or a diagnosis, make sure you are sharing the right details. This shows your friends in need that you were really listening when you spoke with them and allows volunteers to contact with calls and cards regarding what is really happening.
- Visitation? Recommend volunteers do not drop in or call to pop by unless the individual or family in need requests it. Jot down the visiting hours of the hospital or place where someone is staying (if applicable), so you can share this information with people who wish to visit or bring by flowers and cards.
- Think outside the box. A totally random act of kindness will definitely brighten a friend or family member's day who is dealing with an emergency. Find volunteers who are willing to mow the lawn or rake the leaves. If it's the holiday season, consider hanging lights or a festive wreath at your friend or family's home. These are the type of extra things people dealing with emergency situations may not have time for or even think about doing, but which will definitely bring a smile to their face.
- Thank your volunteers! Understandably, emergency care needs no thank you, but if you are in charge of food donations and assistance, it is absolutely fine to thank volunteers for helping during a somewhat-dire situation. A call, card, or quick conversation in person goes a long way.
VolunteerSpot's free online sign up sheets with reminders can help save time and energy in organizing volunteers to provide emergency care, allowing for more time to be dedicated towards truly helping others.
