Do you have a Coronavirus Hospital go-bag?

[Merryoldgoat]

My son was hospitalised unexpectedly last year - all fine now, but at the time we were woefully unprepared for the stuff we’d need in hospital etc.

We’ve been thinking that we should have ready hospital bags Just in case. Do you have one? What should go in it?

When in hospital do you have to wear a gown? Or your own stuff? Obviously no visitors so books etc (assuming one isn’t ventilated)?

I’m anxious as I have a few underlying risk factors so being properly prepared would be help me stay calm. Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

Test result**!!

@Redolent

I think it’s something like a 10% chance of hospitalization if you’re in your 50s. No massive but not minuscule either. Under 40s, it’s incredibly unlikely you’ll need hospital.

Husband is vulnerable but no, haven’t packed one yet. Most people who require hospital do so after the first week, so if he has a positive tree result we should have some notice.

Yes it probably is sensible if you have had a positive result especially if you are in a more vulnerable group but there seems to be about a week before hospital if it happens to prepare.

I don't think it's such a bad thing to be prepared for emergencies. No different to keeping a grab and go bag in case of being evacuated. People in hurricane paths are actively encouraged to do this in the US.
I haven't done it, but it's a good idea. Covid is just a prompt - you could be hospitalised for any reason.

DH was hospitalised as an emergency just before this all happened.
Local hospital provided everything he needed.

@SqidgeBum

No ......

Do you also have a bag in your car filled with supplies if you break down in the middle of nowhere, including a phone charger, food, water, a map, petrol in a canister, traffic cones, a tool kit, maybe a compass and walking boots and a snow suit in case you need to hike across a mountain in a blizzard?

In all seriousness, I think you need to look after your mental health. This is a bit much.

Haha yes I actually have pretty much all of this in my car !

I volunteer at my local hospital. If I had to be admitted I would prioritise what to take in the following order:

Phone and charger - this is THE most important - if you can contact the outside world, and have some form of entertainment, your stay will be much easier.
Headphones
Books
iPad
Moisturiser
Underwear
PJs
Slippers
Socks

In our trust hospital gowns and PJs are provided if you need them.

There are also biscuits, fruit and hot and cold drinks available all the time on all the wards.

Your relatives/friends can bring anything you need to reception and volunteers will bring them up to the ward. Large fluffy dressing gowns are discouraged, but most other stuff seems to be OK.

Children (and some people with learning disabilities) are allowed to have a parent/guardian visiting or staying with them in the hospital.

Yes I have had one ready since March , not just for me but for my kids too, I have ASD kids who need certain comforts.
I know someone whose became so ill so quick wi covid one afternoon. From fever to coughing to breathless to 999 ambulance. His partner was scrabbling about getting a bag together while the ambulance was on its way !

My DC is vulnerable so we have a bag for him with PJs, change of clothes, wash things, colouring stuff & meds. And a bag for me who would be staying with him (change of clothes, wash things, chargers for phone/tablet, meds etc)

They are in a cupboard rather than in the car, but it means that there's less running around trying to decide what to take/find stuff in an emergency.

It's not ludicrous. People often degenerate quickly and don't have time to pack a bag. They may spend a few days in hospital before becoming better or ending up on a ventilator etc. Food in the hospital is often shocking and people often miss a meal so a few biscuits isn't a bad idea. If you recover then a few sets of pjs are very nice to have and make you feel slightly more normal.

Not for covid in particular but I keep meaning to pack a bag with clean/matching/ non holey PJs and toiletries. I was admitted to hospital through A&E a couple of times last year and had to phone DD and tell her where everything was that I wanted.

@SoManyActivities

If you are so ill from Covid that you need to be hospitalised, why would you need a visor? Or biscuits?

My thoughts exactly. Maybe a clean pair of underwear and a phone charger at most.

One for all of us. I'm a general prepper so it's no big deal for me. Mini rucksack.
Couple of changes of underwear
T-shirt
Book
Lip salve
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Phone charger
Baby wipes

That kind of thing. And each bag has a luggage label with our names on.

Surely no one's going to go from perfectly fine to needing hospitalisation overnight, though? I would consider packing one if I had symptoms maybe.

If we were all varying degrees of poorly, the last thing I could do was think sensibly and be organised. Using a house full of flu as an example, none of us was up to being practical.

@Redolent

I think it’s something like a 10% chance of hospitalization if you’re in your 50s. No massive but not minuscule either. Under 40s, it’s incredibly unlikely you’ll need hospital.

Husband is vulnerable but no, haven’t packed one yet. Most people who require hospital do so after the first week, so if he has a positive tree result we should have some notice.

10% chance in your 50s? Where did you read that?

I had three shielding letters in March which said to pack a bag. And to try sudoku...

I didn't pack one, and didn't take up sudoku.

I'm now working in a 'covid secure' workplace with the general public, who take off their masks to talk to me..

It seems odd as it's the same virus and i haven't been cured of my condition and I'm supposed to believe All Will Be Well because of...well..sanitiser.

I wonder if I'll be told to hide in the spare room for a few months again soon?

@SqidgeBum

No ......

Do you also have a bag in your car filled with supplies if you break down in the middle of nowhere, including a phone charger, food, water, a map, petrol in a canister, traffic cones, a tool kit, maybe a compass and walking boots and a snow suit in case you need to hike across a mountain in a blizzard?

In all seriousness, I think you need to look after your mental health. This is a bit much.

I have one of these, only because I usually have a toddler with me. Spare clothes for him, blanket, torch, few nappies, wipes, couple of bottles of water and some long life snacks (flapjacks and crisps off the top of my head!). If I'm travelling any distance from home I always take the pushchair and rain cover too, so I have somewhere safe and dry I can contain said toddler in the event of a breakdown. Don't fancy wrangling a toddler on the side of the motorway.

But I don't have a hospital bag. I'm not that paranoid.

I was rushed into hospital recently. I’d only taken my handbag. It really wasn’t an issue for my DH to nip me some clothes and essentials in.

Get on the preppers board OP. You'll get a more sympathetic audience.

I don't think it's a terrible idea. I was once hospitalised with no possessions. No money for snacks (missed ward meals due to surgery and physio), couldn't buy a magazine, my phone ran out of battery, noisy ward meant no sleep, boiling hot, no toothbrush or wipes. My partner picked up ridiculous stuff for me cos he had no sense. Mind you I still don't have a bag!

11 yrs ago I went into hospital suddenly with mystery infection. I was in an isolated single room & from what was said, I think they thought I might be infectious. No CPAP but Had IV antibiotics.

tbh, I was much too ill to give a fig about any of the stuff you guys mention in bags. I barely stayed awake. I couldn't have read anything, watched tv or looked at a phone or thought about moisturiser. I am quite sure I didn't change my knickers once in the 5 days, I could barely get out of bed to toilet.

Are parents allowed to stay with kids if they go in? I sure hope so. Parent having a bag for the stay I understand a little better -- but this bag might be limited due to infection control, too.

I occasionally have a "hospital bag" organised after being caught out... Like 3 nights in for appendicitis and forgot glasses. Saw GP as appendix site sore - sent to surgical ward when expecting to be told to man up and get on with it, no charger to hand. 48h in paediatric ward with DC2 after visit to GP, no spare pants, tooth paste etc.

Lack of visitors means easy acquisition of things (like forgotten chargers, glasses) is not quite as simple as pre Covid, so would advise (from recent bitter experience) having chargers and spare glasses (if you wear contacts) somewhere easily grabbed so you can take them if you end up in for any other reason. Forgetting glasses twice in 6 weeks was completely special (wrong car as I swapped with DH).

Pants and tooth brushing things are my biggest survival things, apart from phone charger/glasses.

In my defense on the glasses thing I've been wearing contacts more because less difficult with a mask in wet weather so I'm not used to remembering spare glasses!

@Jrobhatch29

I’ve rechecked the analysis now (it was published in The Lancet in the spring.

hospitalization likelihood:

• 3.43 of people in their 30s
• 4.25 per cent in their 40s
• 8.16 per cent in their 50s.
• 11.8 per cent in their 60s
• 16.6 per cent in their 70s
• 18.4 per cent for over 80s.

It’s why the cases need to be kept low. Not so much the death rate, but the hospitalization stats which can very quickly become cumbersome on a healthcare system.

If you call 999 and then pull out a ready packed bag the paramedics will be

Unless you have a condition that means you are regularly admitted as an emergency.

Yes, but only due to the fact my asthma can go south very rapidly without any warning. So I have a bag in the car and one at home. Enough for one day. I assume DH would get further supplies if needed!