Get the free Crisis Plan for the first 72 hours: questions to ask the medical team, documents to locate, care options to understand, and ways to keep your family informed.
Get My Free Crisis Plan
● What to ask the medical team: know the right questions to ask about diagnosis, prognosis, discharge, and what your parent will realistically need next.
● Which critical documents to locate: understand which documents may become important and what to do if you cannot find them.
● How to understand care options: get a clearer picture of home care, short-term rehab, assisted living, long-term care, hospice, and palliative care.
● How to communicate with family without adding more chaos: use simple scripts and practical strategies to share information, assign roles, and reduce unnecessary conflict.
● How to organize the next 30 days: create a plan for appointments, medications, caregiver coverage, follow-up care, and family responsibilities.
Families love each other deeply.
But when a crisis happens and important wishes, documents, and decisions have never been clearly recorded, everyone is left trying to remember.
One sibling remembers one conversation. Another remembers something completely different. Someone thinks they know what Dad wanted. Someone else is certain Mom said the opposite. And suddenly, a medical crisis becomes a family crisis too.
It is rarely the illness that divides a family. It is the interpretation.
The Crisis Plan was created to help you bring clarity to the moment - so you can focus on your parent instead of scrambling for answers.
The Crisis Plan is especially helpful if:
Your parent has recently had a fall, hospitalization, diagnosis, or health scare
You are beginning to notice that Mom or Dad may need more support
You are not sure where their important documents are
You have siblings or relatives who may need to share decisions
You have no idea what would happen if your parent could not speak for themselves
You want to prepare before a stressful situation becomes an emergency
You do not need to have everything figured out.
You simply need a place to start.
I’m Tamra J. Fairchild-Varty, MSBS, MPH.
For more than four decades, I have worked at the intersection of healthcare, public health, caregiving, education, and family decision-making.
I have worked alongside families facing hospitalizations, care transitions, serious illness, and end-of-life decisions.
Again and again, I saw capable, loving people suddenly forced to make major decisions with incomplete information.
No roadmap.
No checklist.
No clear place to begin.
The Crisis Plan is the guide I wish I could have handed those families on Day 1.
Now I’m giving it to you.
If your parent is in crisis right now, start with the first checklist.
If everything is fine today, even better.
Read it now.
Know what questions to ask.
Know what documents matter.
Know what you would need to find.
Because the best time to discover what your family does not know is before the next phone call.
It does not have to take another one to fill them.
What to Do in the First 72 Hours of Your Parent’s Health Emergency
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This guide is educational and does not replace legal, medical, or financial advice. It prepares you for those conversations — it doesn’t replace them.
