What the ER actually needs to know about your parent.
5 min
The eight answers every emergency visit asks for, why 'I'm not sure' costs hours, and how to have them ready at 2 AM.
The questions that are always asked
- 1.Exact medication list, with names, doses, and especially blood thinners.
- 2.Allergies, and what actually happens with each.
- 3.Conditions, including the mild ones nobody mentions, like early cognitive decline.
- 4.Baseline: what is normal for her? Walks with a walker? Oriented but foggy at night? The ER treats the gap between now and normal, and all they can see is 'now.'
- 5.Recent falls or hospital stays.
- 6.When symptoms started, since 'this morning' and 'three days ago' lead to different tests.
- 7.Code status and whether documents exist (DNR, POLST, healthcare proxy).
- 8.Who can make decisions, and their phone number.
Kinbase
Kinbase keeps these eight answers current and puts them on one sheet the ER can read. It opens from one link with no login, and it works at 2 AM from two states away.
Why 'I'm not sure' costs hours
An unclear med list means the pharmacy reconciliation crawl. An unknown baseline means treating confusion as new when it's Tuesday-normal, or, worse, treating it as normal when it's genuinely new. Every uncertain answer becomes a test, a call, a wait. Families who arrive with answers routinely save hours; sometimes they change the diagnosis.
Keep it current, keep it reachable
The magnet-on-the-fridge sheet was the right idea in 1995. Where it falls down is staleness: the med list from two hospitalizations ago is worse than none. Whatever you keep, the discipline is the same: update it when anything changes, and make sure the answer to 'where is it?' works at 2 AM from two states away.
Common questions
Should I take my elderly parent to the ER or urgent care?
Go to the ER for chest pain, trouble breathing, signs of a stroke, a serious fall, a head injury on a blood thinner, or any fast decline. Urgent care handles smaller things like minor cuts, mild infections, and sprains. When you are unsure, an older adult with a sudden change is safer at the ER, which can run tests urgent care cannot. A nurse line can help you choose.
What should I bring to the ER for my parent?
Bring the medication list, insurance cards, a photo ID, and any advance directive, DNR, or POLST. Bring the phone number of whoever can make decisions if your parent cannot. A short note on what is normal for them, their baseline, saves the staff from guessing. If you keep a care record, the emergency sheet from it covers most of this on one page.
Can I stay with my parent in the ER?
Usually yes, and it helps to be there. A parent who is frightened, hard of hearing, or confused does better with someone who knows their history at the bedside. Policies vary by hospital and by how busy they are, so ask if you are sent to the waiting room. If you cannot be there in person, make sure the staff has a number that reaches you fast.
Who can make medical decisions in the ER if my parent can't speak for themselves?
If your parent named a healthcare proxy or medical power of attorney, that person decides. Without one, most states fall back to a family order, usually spouse first, then adult children, but the rules vary by state. Bring the proxy document if it exists, since the ER acts faster when it can see who is authorized. If there is no document and no family, the hospital follows its own process.
Where Kinbase fits
Kinbase compiles the emergency sheet from the record automatically (current meds, baseline, recent falls), and it opens from one link, no login, on any phone. It's the KB-3 form, and paramedics have complimented it.
Start your family’s record.
Name the book, invite the people who help, and the record starts keeping itself. Most families are set up inside ten minutes.
Free for families to start. Everyone you invite joins from a link or by scanning a code, and nobody has to install anything to read or write.