Hurricanes, outages, and the ER

Prepare in May, not the week the cone appears

Register with the county — every year

Florida maintains a special needs registry, administered locally by county emergency management, for residents who would need help evacuating or who require a shelter with medical support. In Miami-Dade, the evacuation assistance program is the front door. Two cautions families learn the hard way: registration is not automatic and not permanent — verify it each spring — and being registered does not guarantee transport on the day. Have a plan that doesn't depend on it.

If your child depends on electricity

• Notify your utility that a medically essential device is in the home. This flags the account. It does not guarantee power or priority restoration — plan as if it doesn't
• Know the true runtime of every battery, tested, not the number on the box
• Have a 12-volt inverter and a car with fuel; a vehicle is a generator you already own
• Ask your DME supplier now what they can deliver before a storm, and get the pre-storm order in early
• If you use a generator, place it outside and far from windows — carbon monoxide kills more people after storms than the wind does

The go-bag for a medically complex child

• Two weeks of medication in original labeled bottles, plus the printed med list
• Two weeks of formula, feeding bags, syringes, extensions
• Backup pump, backup suction, extra trach and G-tube of the right size, and the one size down
• Chargers, battery banks, a 12-volt adapter
• Three copies of the one-page emergency sheet, plus insurance cards
• Comfort items — the specific blanket, the specific headphones. Sensory regulation is medical care in a shelter
• Cash, in small bills

The one-page emergency sheet

Build one page that a stranger can read in thirty seconds. Include: diagnoses; baseline vitals and what "normal" looks like for your child; current medications and doses; allergies; airway and feeding details; devices with settings; seizure plan; how your child communicates pain; what escalates them and what calms them; specialist names and numbers. Tape a copy inside the front door and put one in every bag.