A trip to the hospital rarely happens at a convenient time.
It happens at 11:30 at night when your parent suddenly can’t catch their breath. It happens early Sunday morning when they fall getting out of bed. It happens when you’re tired, worried, and trying to remember whether their cardiologist changed that medication from 20 mg to 10 mg three months ago.
That’s why an emergency hospital go-bag can be so useful.
But you don’t need to pack your parent for a weeklong vacation. The purpose of a hospital go-bag is much simpler:
Have the important information and basic essentials ready so you can get out the door without trying to think of everything during an emergency.
Start With the Information the Hospital Will Need
Clothes and toiletries can usually be brought later. Accurate medical information is much harder to recreate from an emergency room chair.
Your hospital bag should include current copies of important information such as:
- Medication list, including dosages and schedules
- Medication allergies and other known allergies
- Medical conditions and significant medical history
- Names and contact information for doctors and specialists
- Health insurance information
- Emergency contacts
- Advance directive, health care proxy, or other applicable health care documents
- Any information about implanted medical devices, if applicable
Don’t assume you’ll be able to pull all of this from your phone.
Phones die. Passwords get forgotten. Hospital Wi-Fi can be unreliable. And sometimes another family member is the person who ends up grabbing the bag.
Paper copies still have a place in an emergency.
Keep the Medication Information Current
An old medication list can create almost as much confusion as having no list at all.
If a medication is stopped, added, or changed, update the copy in the hospital bag. Include prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, supplements, inhalers, patches, injections, and medications taken only as needed.
Don’t rely solely on the bottles sitting on the kitchen counter. They may include discontinued prescriptions or old instructions.
If you’re heading to the hospital, know what medications are normally due next and tell the nurse. The hospital needs not only an accurate medication list, but also to know what your parent has already taken that day and what they would normally take next.
The goal is for the hospital team to be able to see what your parent is actually taking now.
Include Identification and Insurance Information
Keep copies of the information you’re likely to be asked for during registration.
Depending on your parent’s situation, that may include:
- Photo identification
- Insurance cards
- Medicare or Medicaid information
- Pharmacy information
- Emergency contact information
Keep these documents together in one clearly marked folder or section rather than scattered throughout the bag.
When you’re worried about someone you love, you shouldn’t have to dig through six pockets looking for an insurance card.
Don’t Forget Glasses, Hearing Aids, and Communication Needs
These can seem like small things until they’re missing.
If your parent can’t hear the nurse’s questions or read the paperwork being handed to them, communication becomes much harder.
Think about what your parent needs to communicate and function comfortably:
- Glasses and a protective case
- Hearing aids and extra batteries or charger
- Dentures and a labeled container
- Communication cards or devices
- Written information about language or communication needs
If your parent has dementia, aphasia, significant hearing loss, or another condition that affects communication, include a short written explanation of what helps.
Something as simple as “Please approach from her left side because she hears better with her left ear” can make a difference.
Consider Keeping a Separate Change-of-Clothes Bag
A second small bag kept in the car can be useful even when you’re not headed to the hospital. Older adults can have unexpected accidents, spills, vomiting, incontinence, or other situations that leave them needing clean clothes while you’re away from home.
Consider keeping:
- A complete change of clothes
- Underwear or incontinence supplies
- Body wipes
- Dry shampoo
- Socks
- Comfortable shoes
- A few disposable bags for wet or soiled clothing
This bag can also become your parent’s overnight bag if an unexpected hospital visit turns into an admission.
Think of it like a spare tire. Most days you won’t need it. On the day you do, you’ll be very glad it’s already in the car.
If you use something, replace it when you get home so the bag is ready again.
Pack for the Caregiver, Too
This is the part people forget.
You may be sitting beside your parent for hours.
Keep a few things in the bag for yourself:
- Phone charger and charging cable
- Small notebook
- Pens
- Water bottle
- Shelf-stable snack
- Sweater or light layer
That notebook deserves special mention.
During a hospital visit, you may talk to nurses, doctors, specialists, case managers, therapists, and discharge planners. You’re going to hear medication names, test results, instructions, phone numbers, and follow-up plans.
Write things down.
You don’t need to prove that you can remember everything while you’re exhausted and worried.
Consider a Small Comfort Item
Hospitals can be frightening and disorienting, particularly for someone with dementia or cognitive impairment.
A familiar item may help.
That could be:
- A small family photograph
- A familiar blanket or shawl
- A favorite pair of socks
- A simple comfort object
Keep it small, washable, and replaceable.
This is probably not the time to bring Grandma’s irreplaceable 80-year-old wedding quilt.
What Should NOT Live in the Hospital Bag?
Some things are better left at home.
Avoid keeping large amounts of cash, valuable jewelry, irreplaceable sentimental items, or anything you would be devastated to lose.
Unless the hospital specifically tells you to bring a medication from home, leave prescription medications at home. Bring an accurate, current medication list instead.
The hospital needs to know what your parent takes, what they’ve already taken that day, and what would normally be due next. Hospital staff will generally manage medications during the stay. If you’re unsure whether a particular medication or medical device should come with you, ask the appropriate health care professional.
A Hospital Go-Bag Is Not a Disaster Evacuation Bag
These two bags serve different purposes.
A disaster preparedness kit may contain food, water, flashlights, batteries, emergency blankets, radios, and supplies intended to help someone remain safe when normal services aren’t available.
A hospital go-bag has a much narrower job.
It helps you get an older adult to the hospital with the medical information, documents, communication aids, and basic essentials you’ll need during those first chaotic hours.
You may eventually want both.
They just shouldn’t be the same bag.
The Bag Is Only Useful If You Can Grab It
Don’t build the world’s most organized hospital bag and then put it somewhere nobody can find it.
Choose one consistent location.
Near the front door may work. A hall closet may work. A designated shelf may work.
What’s important is that the people who may need it know exactly where it is.
If another family member has to take your parent to the hospital, they shouldn’t need to call you and ask:
“Where’s that bag with all Mom’s stuff in it?”
They should already know.
Check It Every Few Months
A hospital bag isn’t something you prepare once and forget for five years.
Medication lists change. Insurance cards change. Phone numbers change. Chargers disappear because somebody borrowed them. Snacks expire.
Every few months—and after any major medical change—take a few minutes to check the bag.
Update the paperwork.
Replace expired or missing items.
Put back anything you’ve used.
Then return the bag to its designated spot.
Prepared Doesn’t Mean Expecting the Worst
Keeping a hospital bag ready doesn’t mean you’re waiting for something bad to happen.
It means you’ve removed one small piece of chaos from a situation that may already be stressful.
You won’t have to remember every medication.
You won’t have to hunt for the insurance card.
You won’t have to wonder where the advance directive is.
You’ll have the information you need, a few things that make the wait easier, and one less problem to solve on the way out the door.
Pack it. Keep it current. Put it somewhere everyone knows. And hopefully, it spends a very long time sitting there unused.