The data provided by the National Safety Council and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control shows that, in 2020, 156,744 injury-related deaths were caused by accidental household injuries at home. To protect yourself and your family from accidents, you need to take safety measures and leave specific instructions for the cases when something bad happens — a living will.
Photo by Max Whitehead on Unsplash
10 Home Safety Tips
- Always have smoke alarms installed on every floor of your house, especially near the kitchen and bedrooms, to detect a fire early.
- Always keep a charged cell phone nearby programmed with emergency numbers.
- Keep cleaning products, pesticides, and medications in high or locked drawers so that children or pets do not get to them. Never change the labels on the bottles or boxes with toxic substances.
- Use non-slip mats in bathrooms and other slippery areas. In such a way, you may be sure you won’t slip on wet floors.
- Keep electronic appliances away from water and ensure power cords are in good condition. A simple short circuit can set the whole house on fire in a few minutes.
- Always keep a stocked first aid kit at home. If someone gets a minor injury, it will be easy to fix with a basic first aid kit.
- Cover electrical outlets, keep small items out of reach, and install safety gates to prevent children from getting accidental injuries.
- Check and maintain stairs, railings, and flooring regularly.
- Keep a fire extinguisher or fire blanket on each floor of your home, especially in the kitchen. With its help, you’ll prevent a small flame from becoming a full blaze.
- Ensure hallways, stairs, and entrances are well-lit. No matter how well you know your house, you should also need to see objects in the way when you walk.
Photo by Jep Gambardella
When Are Living Wills Needed?
Life is quite unpredictable. No matter how safe your home is, you may still get injured or get in other types of health-related situations. For such instances, lawyers have created a living will that you may need, such as:
1. Medical emergencies
You can give specific instructions to your relatives or trusted people regarding life-sustaining treatments, such as the use of a respirator, dialysis, and feeding tubes.
2. Long-term incapacity
If you develop the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or dementia and become unable to make decisions for yourself, a living will can clarify your choices on medical decisions.
3. Terminal illnesses
You can specify whether you want aggressive treatments or prefer comfort care instead.
This document may also contain information about whether you want to become an organ donor after your death and save other’s lives.
How Can You Create a Living Will?
In 2020, 45% of U.S. adults had a living will. These people know that, even if they are not able to take care of themselves anymore, their loved ones will do everything to meet the will’s authors’ needs.
There are several scenarios on how you can draft a living will. On the one hand, you may hire a professional attorney who will explain to you how to create a living will, give recommendations on what should be included in the document, and notarize it. On the other hand, you can address a reliable legal platform, Lawrina.org, that offers a template of a living will created by experienced lawyers.
This template contains all the essential elements of a living will. All you have to do is to answer several questions, and the tool will automatically add your personal information to the document. After that, you can review and edit the document and download a PDF file you can further notarize. Generally, it will take you no more than 15 minutes to draft a well-structured, comprehensive living will.
A typical living will form contains information about
- Life support treatment
- Life-sustaining treatment
- End-of-life wishes
- Organ and/or donor tissue donation
- Governing law relevant in the state
What Should You Consider When You Draft a Living Will?
First of all, determine your healthcare wishes. Before you sign the document, think thoroughly about what you want for your health and general well-being in different circumstances. Consider such situations as a terminal illness, permanent unconsciousness, or other severe conditions. If you have any hesitations or do not know who would be responsible for making important decisions for you, consult a legal expert. Living will laws may vary from state to state.
Choose your healthcare proxy wisely. This is a person who has the authority to make decisions on your behalf when you can’t. Choose someone you trust and who understands your desires and needs. It can be your partner, spouse, children, or friend. You can also assign several responsible people so that, if one of them is unable to fulfill your will, another one will take this responsibility. When the right person is chosen, discuss your plans and expectations with them. Make sure you understand each other perfectly well. Misunderstanding can be fatal in such cases.
When you prepare the draft of the living will, be as specific as possible. Ambiguous statements may lead to confusion and misunderstandings.
After time, if you want to change something in the will, review it with a lawyer and notarize a new version.
One more important thing that people often forget is that your family and attorney should have easy access to the document. If you create and hide it so that no one can find it and learn what you expected one to do, what is the point of making one?
Conversations about injuries, treatments, and hospitals may seem gloomy and depressing. However, making your home safe and preparing a living will does not mean you’re expecting the worst. It means that you want yourself and your dear people to be prepared and determined and make rational decisions. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst — this is the motto of the modern world, in which life changes abruptly in days.