Festive season safety
The festive season is here! After a year of unprecedented stress – this is a time of much-needed relaxation, good food, and ideally many happy moments with family and friends. That said, it’s important to keep you and your loved ones safe and healthy in all aspects during the year-end festivities.
Crime rates increase during the festive season – and while we often focus on our homes and travel plans when it comes to staying safe during the holidays, being safe encompasses a lot more than we realise. A medical emergency in many shapes and forms can happen at any time and these could catch you by surprise if you are not prepared!
No need to panic though – with your health and safety in mind, here are some tips to keep you and your loved ones safe during the holidays:
Know who to contact
Every emergency situation is different, and the exact procedures of how to handle the emergency may vary – but one thing that will always be your first point of call is to get help. If disaster strikes, you might not have time to search for emergency numbers. You may also be too stressed and panicky to think straight.
Ensure you have a list of emergency contacts printed out and stuck up in a central point in your home – a good place is the fridge. Make sure that these contacts are updated regularly and that they include your preferred medical and security response providers as well as a friend or family member. It is also a good idea to keep a copy of this list in your car and save the info on your phone.
If you are going away, be sure to establish where the nearest hospital and police station, to where you are staying, are.
Carry an I.C.E card
Create an In Case of Emergency card for yourself and each member of your family to carry with you. This should include name, medical conditions, medical aid details and a contact name and number. Should anything unforeseen happen and you are unable to communicate, this will assist responders in getting you the help you need.
Communicate with your family
Be sure to have a good communication plan in place with your family and loved ones. Make it a habit to let someone know where you are going, when you get there, when you are leaving and when you are safely home. That way if they don’t hear from you, they will be alerted to the fact that something may be wrong
A great solution for anyone in an emergency situation is the mySOS stand-alone panic button which is a wearable panic button that allows you to alert your pre-determined emergency contacts wherever you are with the simple press of a button.
The mySOS panic button comes with a variety of life-saving features, all the user needs to do is press the Panic Button and the mySOS system activate your emergency. Your contacts will be notified with your GPS location, type of emergency and other relevant details.
To find out more visit www.mysos.co.za or join the conversation on Facebook.