How many adult diapers should I prepare for emergencies?
“I can not move quickly, so I might have an accident without a diaper.”
“If I ever need them, I will simply get lots of diapers from an evacuation shelter or hospital.”
“Adult diapers are big… so I don’t think my parents will be able to carry very many.
But they do need diapers at night.”
Do you know how hard it is to evacuate with parents who are using adult diapers? Many people tend to think diapers are only for babies, but healthcare workers and people who are taking care of an elderly family member, they know that diapers are not just for babies. These people know just how big adult diapers actually are. These people also know how difficult it can be to take care of grown ups who need diapers, and how especially difficult it would be if diapers were unavailable, due to an emergency.
Prepare as many adult diapers as possible! Use a compression bag and make the diapers small!!
When providing care for people who wear diapers — whether in the hospital, in a nursing home, or on a house call — we can only take care of the patient when there are disposable diapers available. I know because I’m a nurse. Without diapers, how many medical professionals will want to support such a patient? This is very serious problem. Baby pee and poo come in very small amounts, that’s why even without a diaper, we can pretty easily make a substitute, emergency diaper, for a baby. How about for grown ups??
Back when I worked in the hospital, I changed a lot of both adult and baby diapers. I can say with confidence that without disposable diapers, a team of healthcare workers would not be able to take care of their patients for more that about 24 hours. We have become dependent upon disposable diapers, gloves, and wet wipes. In a crisis, what if we had to function without those critical tools!? Could we manage? Then imagine, on top of that, a situation without plumbing, and suddenly we not only have to care for babies and elderly with limited resources, but we also can’t even use the toilet ourselves.
Honestly, I will be able to help my parents and any babies for “excretion care.” But that is my limit. How about you?
We need to know how to take care of people who need diapers, in an emergency: without diapers, without wipes, and without water. Here are some tips on excretion care, for emergency situations.
What to do
1. Bedpan (with urine bottle)
• Use a bedpan, if possible. It would be good to have an inflatable bedpan. Men might need to use the bedpan together with a urine bottle. If you can find a big empty plastic bottle or similar container, use it. If not, use a plastic bag.
• If you don’t have an actual bedpan, make one. I would try to use a bath towel or a large piece of fabric, and roll it into a circle. Then cover it with a plastic bag. For a bedpan to function, it needs to make space between butt and bed. If you come up with any other ideas for an ad hoc or DIY bedpan, please let me know!!
2. Fundoshi
日本相撲協会（Japan Sumo Association)
Fundoshi is an old Japanese style of underwear (check out the Edoten store on Amazon.com). You know sumo wrestlers, right? They wear fundoshi. We still use fundoshi for special events and sometimes even in the hospital. Fortunately, we can make fundoshi from towels or from old fabric, in an emergency.
We can use fundoshi as underwear!!
Do not forget how useful old towels, plastic bags and wraps can be in emergency situations. If not as bedpans and makeshift diapers, then how about for other uses… Check out my earlier post #63, for ideas on how to wipe without toilet paper.
When I talk about adult diapers, I am mostly speaking from the healthcare worker’s perspective. What I don’t know is how the people being cared for feel about major disasters. What I lack, I think, is knowledge about the opinions of people who need their caregivers’ help and how they would want to be cared for in a crisis. How do they feel about emergencies? What would they think if a big disaster occurred? These types of questions can be very sensitive, and it is hard to ask them. If you search the internet or the library, you’ll see that it is difficult to find references that talk about emergency care for persons requiring adult diapers.
If I get more info, I will post what I learn.
See you next time.
Remember, “Protect your life by yourself” （自分の命は自分で守る). You need to survive first, and then you need your emergency supply. No matter how well you prepared your emergency supplies, if you die, then all of your preparations will have been for nothing. First and foremost, keep your health up all the time. Build your stamina so that if you need to, you can evacuate as quickly as possible. Stay healthy.