Disaster preparedness for kidney patients

Kidney patient financial assistance

If you are living with kidney failure and are unable to afford your treatment-related expenses, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) may be able to help. Patients who demonstrate financial need may apply for assistance through our grant programs. We distribute grants as funding becomes available. Learn more.

Plan ahead

• If you know a storm is coming, arrange to have dialysis early, before the storm arrives. Also, before the storm, start eating a more restrictive diet to control the build-up of potassium, phosphorus, urea, and fluid while you're unable to have dialysis. 
• Make a disaster preparedness (prep) kit. Choose a safe place in your home that's easy to access, where you will keep all of your disaster prep supplies and materials. If something happens, you'll know exactly where to go to find everything you need. 
• Plan how you will keep food and medicines cold if the power goes out.
• Plan two evacuation routes: one should be best route out of your community and the other should be the next best route. If one route is blocked, you can take the other. Keep a map of both routes in your disaster prep kit. 
• Identify meet-up locations for your family and friends. One should be nearby your home and one should be far away in case you need to leave town. Keep the addresses of both locations and directions to each one in your disaster prep kit.
• Download this guide for more information

Be in the know

• Know how your community notifies residents of disasters. 
• Know what types of disasters are most common in your region, so that you can plan accordingly. 
• Know how your public transportation system functions in disasters. 
• If you are on home dialysis, contact your provider to find out what you should do in the event of a disaster. 
• Make a list of your medicines, doses, and when they should be taken. Note which medicines on your list, if any, need to be refrigerated. Also write down the name and phone number of your pharmacy. Keep this list in your disaster prep kit.
• Make a list of the names and contact information of all members of your health care team (doctors, nurses, dietitians, etc.). Keep this list in your disaster prep kit. 
• Keep a list of phone numbers of nearby dialysis centers. Keep this list in your disaster prep kit.

Be your own advocate

• Keep a patient ID card with you. If you don't have one, you can fill one out here, then print it out and keep with you! 
• Consider wearing a medical alert bracelet. This will inform emergency response personnel that you are a dialysis patient. You may also include on your bracelet any other conditions that may affect how you are cared for (diabetes, allergies to medicines). 
• Some utility (gas, water, electric) companies keep lists of people in their communities who need their utilities for survival, such as people on dialysis. These people are given priority to have their utility service restored as quickly as possible in case of an outage. Contact your utility companies to find out if they offer this, and ask to be put on a priority restoration list. 
• Identify an emergency contact person. This could be a family member, friend, or neighbor, but whoever you choose should be someone who knows how to contact you if you need to be reached.

Stock up

• Create an emergency first aid kit. Some key items to keep in your kit are adhesive bandages, antibiotic cream, and a 5-7-day supply of all of your medicines. If you are diabetic, you will need a glucose meter and test strips. A more complete list of what to include in your kit can be found in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' booklet, "Preparing for Emergencies: A Guide for People on Dialysis."
• Create an emergency food supply with three days' worth of food. Choose non-perishable foods that will sustain you, while also enabling you to limit your intake of protein, potassium, salt, and fluid. If you are diabetic, you will also need to control your sugar intake. A sample three-day emergency diet plan can be found in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' booklet, "Preparing for Emergencies: A Guide for People on Dialysis."
• Make sure you always have enough of your medicines to last you for a few days in case you don't have access to a pharmacy.

Check up

Just like you have check-ups with your doctors to make sure everything is going as planned, you should have a schedule for checking on your disaster preparedness plans. A good way to remind yourself is to do this every time you change your clocks.

• Make sure the food in your emergency supply has not expired. 
• Make sure important phone numbers and addresses have not changed. 
• Update your list of medicines. 
• Make sure your first aid kit is well-stocked. 
• Make sure your batteries are still good. 
• Make sure you're up to date on your vaccines.

Resources for more information

• Preparing for a natural disaster (infographic)
• Disaster preparedness for transplant patients
• ESRD patient emergency planning checklist
• 3 day emergency diet plan
• Plan de dieta de emergencia para tres dias (En español)

Disaster preparedness & emergency management resources for renal professionals

Renal professionals are usually the first and most trusted source of information and relief available to dialysis patients in the event of a disaster. Here are some helpful resources and tools for renal professionals that will make navigating through abrupt, sometimes dire emergency circumstances attainable.