As I mentioned in the Introduction, Emergency Planning can be a overwhelming task that most of us would prefer not to think about. After all, the whole idea of having a big emergency–let alone actually dying!–is deeply uncomfortable. Most of us prefer to float through life feeling invincible, even when we know that's a rather unreasonable way to think given that we are here in very human bodies.

Putting a plan together is also a lot of work. There are lots of moving parts and a whole bunch of papers to be located, sorted and made sense of. Frankly, the first time through is a royal pain in the you-know-what!

So... here's how we are going to break this down and make the whole process manageable.

Four Sessions to An Emergency Plan

First off, we are going to break this down into four weekly lessons and online sessions. Each week, we will work through several of the Emergency Plan Forms. Not too little, not too much. But, with substantial progress each week, and we will have our plans in place in doable chunks.

Weekly Lesson Format

Each week, I'll send you an email introducing the topics for the week, the list of documents and information to gather, and the documents for the week. It's fine to work ahead if you wish, but I suggest that you trust the process and allow yourself to take this in smaller bites throughout our time together.

The Paper Chase

• Every week, you will need to locate specific types of information. I call this the Paper Chase. I will admit that this is my least favorite part of the process, as I seriously dislike paperwork and filing stuff. That said, locating the papers and the information are the price of admission for having a good plan in place, so just grin and bear it! Okay?
• Once you have the documentation for the week, you also have the opportunity to add the original documents (or copies) to an Emergency Planning binder, notebook, or file system of your choice. And when you're done, you will have the satisfaction of knowing exactly where to find this stuff in your home!

Fillable Forms

• One thing that makes this process easier are a set of downloadable, computer-fillable forms created by several members of the Lake Chapala End of Life Care Community. (You can visit that website here.) The Emergency Planning forms that we will use in this course are available on the Resources page. The forms are free and are our gift to the residents of our community–and to anyone else who chooses to use them.
• The forms are in the next section of the course, and links will also be available in the lesson for the week.
• When you click on a form name, it will be downloaded to your computer. Once it is there, you can open the form using Adobe Reader or the Apple Preview program and type your information directly into the form.
• You can, of course, print the forms and fill them out by hand if that is easier for you.

Field Trips/Appointments to Make

• If there are specific actions that you need to take that require outside help, they will be listed in this section of the Overview.
• This could be things like contacting a funeral home for pre-authorizing cremation or burial or an appointment with a Notario for a Will or Medical Directive.

Weekly Online (Zoom) Sessions

• We will also have a two-hour online session each week that gives me the opportunity to explain the reasoning behind each of the forms and to give you examples of how these forms will be useful in different situations.
• Zoom sessions will be held on Thursday mornings from 10am - Noon, Chapala Time.
• You are welcome to listen to the conversation, work on your person forms and ask your personal questions during this two-hour session. A link to the replay of each session will be in the classroom a day or two after the meeting.