TEXAS, USA — With flooding hit parts of Texas last week and new tropical systems churning, Texas Medical Association (TMA) physicians are advising patients to obtain a copy of their relevant medical information now in case of an emergency later.
"After hurricanes, It can even be after tornadoes. Sometimes Houston, Dallas, and other towns are surprised by flooding, which can wipe out offices and wipe out homes and they lose it all," TMA President Gary Floyd said.
The TMA suggests having a physical list of your medications, any allergies, and an updated vaccination record with dates. Some patients might even benefit from knowing having a list of recent procedures, results, and treatments.
"It's great on the computer it'll last but you probably don't have your computer with you when you get displaced or when you're traveling," Floyd said. "So printing it off and putting it in a wallet or in a purse or in a kid's backpack is a good idea."
Dr. Floyd knows firsthand about patients that were displaced from past hurricanes like Harvey, Rita, and Katrina. Most had to evacuate their homes and communities for an extended time, and were unable to refill necessary prescription medicines in their temporary housing quarters.
"A lot of those people showed up with nothing but the clothes on their back. And many were on chronic medications and trying to get any kind of record medical record was impossible," Floyd said. "Trying to piece that together, we just had to use our knowledge of medicine to try to figure out what doses and what medications they might have been on."
To get access to your medical records, Dr. Floyd recommended to access them through your physician's office's online patient portal. There, you will be able to download and save or print your medical record summary to keep yourself prepared if disaster strikes.