Seniors Abuse Awareness - Sensibilisation à la maltraitance des personnes âgées 79 In an emergency If you do have to act quickly, it’s important to be prepared. Here are some things to think about: • Where will you go in an emergency? You will need to have somewhere safe. • How will you get there? Is there someone who can come and get you? Can you take a car, taxi, or bus? • Is there someone you can call to tell what is happening and where you are going? • Is there someone you can leave your pets with? • If you need to go to a transition house, do you know how to get there? Elements of an Emergency Plan for Safety You should make a plan for increasing your safety. Prepare it in advance for the possibility of further violence. Although you do not have control over the abuse, you do have a choice about how to respond to it and how to best get to safety. Keep this plan in a safe place. • Establish an escape route. Know where any firearms are kept in the house. • Know where you can go to be safe, if only to make a phone call. • If you’ve been abused before, make sure the police are fully aware of the situation. • Have emergency numbers programmed into the phone (shelter, neighbours, those who will help you). • Speak to your neighbours and people you can trust. Let them know what’s going on so they can be watching out for you and call the police if they become concerned. • Call a transition house and talk to staff. You may want to work out a code word so they know who you are if you have to call them in a crisis. • Hide some money away if possible (you may need emergency taxi fare) and a spare set of car keys in order to leave quickly. • Make a list of things to take so that you will know where to find them in an emergency. Here are some items that may be important: ○ Money, bank books, credit cards ○ Clothes for a few days ○ Any medicine you may need ○ House keys, car keys ○ Identification ○ Important papers: birth certificates, social insurance numbers, income tax returns ○ Medicare card ○ First Nations status card ○ Immigration/citizenship papers, passport ○ Copies of your lease, deed or mortgage ○ Your address/phone book ○ Car registration, driver’s licence, car insurance ○ Your favourite possessions/books (things that give you comfort) • Consider packing an emergency bag with some of the items above in case you need to leave quickly. You can’t take everything. Just take what you’ll need for a few days. You can leave the bag with a friend if you have to. • It is probably a good idea to get legal and other advice now, even before there is an emergency. • If you are in danger, get to a phone and call 911 immediately. • Find out about emergency intervention orders and others ways to stay safer if you are being abused by your intimate partner. SAFETY PLANNING FOR LEAVING ABUSE legal-info-legale.nb.ca Image created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==