Keeping our seniors safe
Measures must be taken to ensure that senior citizens are safe in the event of natural disasters such as floods.
THE catastrophic floods that hit five Malaysian states recently – namely Kelantan, Terengganu, Johor, Pahang and Perak – had placed over 70,000 flood evacuees at temporary relief centers.
Among the evacuees were many senior citizens with mobility impairments due to old age or illnesses who had difficulties getting out of their homes when the flood waters started to rise. Among the many reported cases was that of 70-yearold Chong Kai Ki who had to be rescued by Civil Defence Force personnel. Chong who lived alone in Kampung Tanjung Aru Baru, Kota Kinabalu had to be taken to the hospital after his home was lashed by strong waves during the king tide phenomenon late last year. There was also the case of a stroke-stricken elderly couple with mobility limitations who were rescued after heavy rains deluged their house in Jerteh, Terengganu.
The elderly are not only most at-risk during floods, but also in any occurrence of natural disasters, says gerontologist Lily Fu. There must be measures taken to ensure that they are prioritised in the event of such disasters, she says.
“Besides children, the elderly definitely need more assistance and are among the most vulnerable during floods. This is because many of them have physical limitations while some have barriers in mental abilities such as dementia,” says Fu.
“My friend was badly affected during last year’s flood. She lives with her husband and both of them are seniors. Due to poor preparation, most of their properties were damaged because the water was rising fast and they had little to no time to save their belongings,” she shares.
Preparedness is key
Fu believes there are three groups of seniors and each group requires different types of preparations against disasters such as floods.
“First, there are seniors who live with their family; the second group is those living in nursing homes or elderly care homes. The last, and most critical group, consists of seniors who live alone. They really have to be prepared before the flood and need the most help especially if they are from flood prone areas such as Kelantan and Terengganu,” she says.
To ensure the safety of the elderly during floods, Fu urges everyone to play their role – from family, to community or village heads, state assembly representatives and also the media.
“Families with seniors at home should practice emergency drills regularly as a preparation to face natural disasters. My family used to hold a ‘family drill’ – the head of family organises a meeting with all the family members and each member will be assigned a role during any emergencies.
“For example, one of the family members will be responsible for taking care of vulnerable members such as the elderly; the other members will be in charge of valuable items, important documents or food stuff and drinking water. This will ensure everyone in the family has something to focus on besides avoiding panic in the family,” she says.
Seniors in nursing homes or elderly care homes have the (home) staff to take care of them, she says.
“The staff should be aware of what needs to be done when there’s flood and should regularly organise meetings besides allocating specific roles. For example, they should be informed on which patient or room they are in charge of,” she adds.
Fu feels there must be initiatives for the elderly who are living by themselves in case of emergencies such as floods.
“Within my community, we have a Whatsapp group chat strictly for seniors who live alone. We contact each other everyday and in cases of emergencies, participants are required to inform in the group chat. Prior to joining the group chat, they are required to fill in the contact number and location of their nearest family member, neighbour or friend on a form.
“Village heads should implement this. During floods, they could ask the seniors in the group chat about their current situation and get them to notify the group if their houses are in danger of being flooded. This way, the village heads will be aware if the seniors in their neighbourhood are in need of any kind of support or assistance.
“They should also have a directory of the seniors living in the village especially of those who are living alone. If there is flood and the elderly is unable to contact them, the village heads will know where the elderly is and this will reduce the amount of time needed to rescue them,” says Fu who is the founder of senior community platform, Seniors Aloud.
Regular drills
Fu advocates for flood drills to be practiced by organisations and groups, especially in flood prone areas to increase flood safety awareness among the elderly.
“If organisations and schools have regular fire drills, they should do regular flood drills as well. Village committees should practice them so that the elderly will have knowledge on what needs to be done if their area gets flooded – such as prepare medications, walking stick and most importantly, their identity card.
“Floods occurs every year and having no preparations should not be an excuse even for the elderly. Even if the neighbourhood has never been flooded before, the elderly must be prepared. They should not take the risk especially those in flood prone states,” she says.
Fu believes the government must take more responsibility in reducing the issue of flood unpreparedness among seniors.
“Although media agencies play their part in sharing information related to flood preparedness, some of the elderly rarely read newspaper, listen to radio or watch television. They are unfamiliar with technologies and are unavailable online. So, they require information to be given out verbally.
“The government or state assembly representatives in flood prone states could step up and make use of the Pusat Aktiviti Warga Emas (PAWE) to organise talks on emergency flood preparations for the elderly,” she adds.
Fu hopes the government will play their part in ensuring flood preparedness for seniors. They should put themselves in the shoes of the seniors before making any policies or decisions in the future, she concludes.