WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Welcome to the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton 00:00:03.220 --> 00:00:05.759 Vandiver, your Light Keeper, with the show dedicated 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.699 to everyone who wants to get the very most quality 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:12.119 out of life that they can. My co -host, as always, 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:14.900 Charlene, our very own licensed clinical social 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:17.879 worker in the state of Florida, who is joining 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.699 the conversation this week about what happens 00:00:20.699 --> 00:00:23.460 when you get discharged from the hospital. We 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:26.920 talked last week about what happens in the hospital. 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:29.399 And now we're going to talk about what happens 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.700 next, right here on this episode of the Light 00:00:32.700 --> 00:01:04.180 Keepers Podcast. Before we start, please leave 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:06.180 your questions or comments below. We love to 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.400 hear from you. Questions this week will be answered 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.299 on the show next week on the next episode of 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:14.400 the Light Keepers podcast. Every Wednesday evening, 00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:18.239 7 p .m. Eastern. Charlene, good to have you again 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.799 with us here. What happens when you get discharged 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:24.819 from a hospital? Well, and a lot of people don't 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:27.299 know what to expect with that because it can 00:01:27.299 --> 00:01:29.420 vary depending on why you were in the hospital. 00:01:30.049 --> 00:01:33.150 Most of the time when someone is discharged from 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:36.730 the hospital, one of two things is going to happen. 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:39.670 They're either going to go home with instructions 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:42.209 to follow up with their primary care physician 00:01:42.209 --> 00:01:46.010 or their specialist, whatever is required. On 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:48.349 the other hand, sometimes when someone is discharged 00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:51.489 from the hospital, they may not be ready to go 00:01:51.489 --> 00:01:54.819 home yet and they may need a little more. help 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:57.319 to get themselves ready to go home at which point 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:00.480 they would be discharged to a rehab facility 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.219 which is pretty much kind of like a nursing home 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:06.420 except they do physical therapy there and you're 00:02:06.420 --> 00:02:11.419 not there permanently okay well when you are 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:14.460 in these sorts of facilities is your family a 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:16.620 part of that visit are they able to be with you 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:19.460 and As they would be in a hospital? So every 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:22.860 facility has its own visiting hours. So I would 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:24.900 encourage everyone to check in with that facility 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:28.780 and find out what the visiting hours are before 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:33.000 setting up any preconceived ideas about when 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.719 they can visit and how much time they can spend 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:38.159 with their loved one. Now, something that a lot 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.699 of people don't realize, and this is very important 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:45.139 to know, especially during the COVID pandemic, 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.419 when people were being discharged to facilities, 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.000 sometimes the facilities were not nearby. And 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.599 that's something that the patient and the family 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.240 has no control over. The hospital will try to 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:02.319 work with the family to discharge their loved 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.300 one to a facility that's of their choosing or 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:09.599 is nearby. But if there is no availability, the 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.180 hospital is not going to let that person sit 00:03:12.180 --> 00:03:15.039 there. They're not going to hold someone past 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.199 the point that they're ready to discharge because 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.199 they're not getting paid. Medicare, the insurance 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:24.060 company, will not pay. once that person is no 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:26.860 longer meeting set criteria to be hospitalized. 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:30.479 And so what happens then is if a bed is not available 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.360 at the facility that the family wants, the hospital 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:38.780 caseworker will set up a discharge to the first 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:41.360 facility that they can find to accept that patient. 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:44.759 That's not always in the same town. It's not 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.219 always in the same state. So who sets up all 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.840 of those travel arrangements and getting there? 00:03:50.979 --> 00:03:53.300 The case worker at the hospital would be the 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:55.979 one responsible for setting that up. Now the 00:03:55.979 --> 00:03:58.719 trick there is they don't always set up getting 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.759 them home. That's usually left up to the family. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.800 I see. And during the COVID pandemic, I was working 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.460 in the hospital at the time, and it was not uncommon 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:12.879 for us to discharge patients because the facilities 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.780 were taking fewer people. There were more people 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:19.560 being discharged from the hospital, and we were 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.199 discharging people as far out as three and four 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:26.860 states over. Wow. Well, let me ask you, what 00:04:26.860 --> 00:04:28.720 other options are there when you're leaving the 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.529 hospital? What other potential options? scenarios 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:36.209 might we have? So the other possibility is returning 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:40.470 home with physical therapy being set up at home 00:04:40.470 --> 00:04:43.449 because some people may have a better support 00:04:43.449 --> 00:04:46.230 network. They may be able to do that at home. 00:04:46.769 --> 00:04:49.389 Some people just have really strong aversions 00:04:49.389 --> 00:04:51.529 to going into a facility. Maybe they've had a 00:04:51.529 --> 00:04:53.730 bad experience. Maybe they've had a bad experience 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:57.689 with a family member. The option there is that 00:04:57.689 --> 00:05:01.000 they can go home. and physical therapy can come 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.160 to them and they can finish recovering at home. 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:10.779 Okay, so physical therapy can follow you in a 00:05:10.779 --> 00:05:14.199 way. You don't have to go into like a rehabilitation 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:16.899 center. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:22.959 most rehabilitative therapies can follow you 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.220 home. Now, it can become complicated if you are 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:30.519 needing very detailed equipment, like if you 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:33.000 need a specific piece of equipment to be able 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.819 to do that physical therapy, that may not be 00:05:35.819 --> 00:05:40.720 practical. But there again, if you can be transported, 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.720 if you can move, if you're mobile, then you may 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:47.459 be able to go to an outpatient rehab to do that 00:05:47.459 --> 00:05:50.139 physical therapy. Like for example, if you've 00:05:50.139 --> 00:05:53.819 got a broken leg or you've had a hip replacement. 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.339 you're going to need to be doing exercises that 00:05:57.339 --> 00:05:59.259 you may not have the equipment at home to be 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:03.779 able to do. And during those situations, if you 00:06:03.779 --> 00:06:06.720 can be transported to an outpatient rehab facility, 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:09.740 then you can do that rehab there and go home 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:11.639 afterwards. Well, you also have the benefit in 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:14.120 those facilities of having a coach, if you will, 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:16.360 someone to lead you through those to make sure 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:18.540 you're doing them right and getting the most 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:20.620 benefit out of doing them. Correct. They're very 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:22.699 well -trained, well -skilled. We've got some 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:26.980 great rehabilitation centers. uh here in uh in 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.060 our town and it's just amazing to see them working 00:06:30.060 --> 00:06:32.980 with their patients absolutely yeah they're very 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:35.279 very considerate are there any other scenarios 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:37.480 and i know you were talking about a fellow i 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.120 forgot his name now but you were talking about 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.920 a fellow that um that had an interesting experience 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.680 through the hospital stay and and in leaving 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.779 and i think the name that we came up with was 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:53.399 a very generic uh you know bob bob yes everybody 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.620 Identities have been changed to protect the HIPAA 00:06:57.620 --> 00:06:59.779 privacy, of course. Actually, we were talking 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:05.120 about creating a bob to go into the hospital 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.339 and kind of a test patient to just provide a 00:07:08.339 --> 00:07:14.060 possible experience of what someone would encounter 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:16.000 going through the hospital system, including 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:22.590 going through discharge and rehabilitation. Again, 00:07:22.590 --> 00:07:26.930 it really does depend on why the person was in 00:07:26.930 --> 00:07:29.129 the hospital. And I'm going to give you a good 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:30.949 example, like I was mentioning with the broken 00:07:30.949 --> 00:07:33.850 leg or the hip replacement. That's going to be 00:07:33.850 --> 00:07:35.970 a very different type of rehab than someone who 00:07:35.970 --> 00:07:38.750 is in the hospital for a heart attack. There 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:41.189 are different types of rehab. There's cardiac 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:45.470 rehab. There is even concussive rehab if you 00:07:45.470 --> 00:07:48.930 have a brain injury. Okay, like a traumatic brain 00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:52.819 injury, a TBI. And it seems like if you had movement, 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.259 the inability with a broken leg, broken hip, 00:07:56.439 --> 00:08:00.079 knee replacement, if you're having mobility problems, 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:02.480 the rehab is going to be very different than 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:06.620 if you, after you've had heart issues, I suppose 00:08:06.620 --> 00:08:09.100 you don't want to get terribly excited, but you 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:11.879 can still move around. Correct. In fact, they 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.980 encourage movement, I think, to get you back 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:16.500 on your feet as soon as possible, it seems. When 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:18.379 you're coming out of a hospital these days, it 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.699 seems like they want you back on your feet. If 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:23.519 they could, I think they'd walk you from the 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.079 operating room back to your room. No, I'm kidding. 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:34.500 It's not that bad. Actually, no. Actually, they 00:08:34.500 --> 00:08:36.620 do want you up and walking as soon as possible, 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:38.659 though, because that minimizes the risk for blood 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:40.700 clots. Oh, that's right. So that is important. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.519 That is important. But the discharge process 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.179 can be different for everyone, like I said, depending 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:49.399 on why they're in the hospital. But the bottom 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:51.940 line, what it is most likely going to include 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:55.620 is a caseworker at the hospital who is going 00:08:55.620 --> 00:08:59.220 to work with you to set up your discharge plan. 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:02.049 Now, that in and of itself can be complicated 00:09:02.049 --> 00:09:04.730 because depending on the quality of the hospital, 00:09:04.970 --> 00:09:10.509 there have been situations where discharge plans 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:13.529 have been created without the patient's participation. 00:09:14.450 --> 00:09:19.710 And that can happen. How does that work? Basically, 00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:22.250 what happens... I take it that doesn't happen 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:27.070 all the time, but... No comment. I'm just kidding. 00:09:27.850 --> 00:09:30.330 We hope not. We hope not. But it really does 00:09:30.330 --> 00:09:33.690 depend on the quality of the hospital. A good 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:36.509 hospital will include not just the patient but 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:39.490 the family in the discharge planning. But we 00:09:39.490 --> 00:09:41.610 all know that there are hospitals out there that 00:09:41.610 --> 00:09:45.730 may not be as good a quality as others, and therefore 00:09:45.730 --> 00:09:48.629 their standards and their procedures are not 00:09:48.629 --> 00:09:51.889 going to be as detailed and as thorough. And 00:09:51.889 --> 00:09:55.490 what can happen is if you have... a hospital 00:09:55.490 --> 00:09:59.330 that is slammed and they're out of beds and they're 00:09:59.330 --> 00:10:02.169 needing to empty those beds you're going to see 00:10:02.169 --> 00:10:05.610 patients who are being pushed to discharge sometimes 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:08.350 maybe even before they're ready and that's something 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:10.850 you don't really think about but the dynamic 00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:14.970 of what the hospital needs and what the community 00:10:14.970 --> 00:10:19.750 needs from that hospital can dictate what you 00:10:19.750 --> 00:10:23.309 get as a patient in some cases. Absolutely. There 00:10:23.309 --> 00:10:25.710 are limitations to everything. Absolutely. And 00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:28.610 what a lot of people don't know, especially our 00:10:28.610 --> 00:10:33.210 older citizens who are on Medicare, don't know 00:10:33.210 --> 00:10:36.809 that if they feel like they're being discharged 00:10:36.809 --> 00:10:39.950 prematurely, they can appeal that discharge. 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:43.259 They can contact Medicare and they can appeal 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:46.779 that discharge. Really? And they cannot be discharged 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:49.759 until that appeal is completed. Now, every hospital 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.059 is supposed to notify a patient of this prior 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:56.080 to discharge. Okay. And a lot of hospitals will 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.419 actually require you to sign a form acknowledging 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:00.759 that you've been told you can appeal your discharge. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:04.759 Now, oftentimes after you've had medical procedures 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:09.029 or you're not feeling well, Many of those forms 00:11:09.029 --> 00:11:12.529 that the hospitals have you sign, you're signing. 00:11:12.789 --> 00:11:16.230 You don't read them all. And you don't all the 00:11:16.230 --> 00:11:19.490 time, at least I know I haven't always been fully 00:11:19.490 --> 00:11:22.190 aware of exactly what it was. Oh, it's another 00:11:22.190 --> 00:11:23.950 piece of paper. Okay, and I'll sign this one 00:11:23.950 --> 00:11:26.190 too, and then that one too. Exactly, and they 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:28.490 do that. And I'm not going to say they do it 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:30.590 on purpose because I don't think they mean to. 00:11:30.950 --> 00:11:33.289 A lot of times it's just a matter of efficiency. 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:36.539 But there are a lot of papers that need to be 00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:38.700 signed. You're consenting to treatment. You're 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:41.399 consenting to rehab. You're releasing HIPAA information. 00:11:42.120 --> 00:11:44.600 You're acknowledging this. You're acknowledging 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.340 that. And somewhere buried in that stack of papers 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:49.960 is your acknowledgement that you've been told, 00:11:50.100 --> 00:11:52.779 whether you have been or not, you're acknowledging 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:55.019 that you've been told you can appeal your discharge. 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:59.419 You know, I've signed a lot of papers over many 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:02.700 years. I never noticed that piece of paper before. 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.299 A lot of people don't. And that's why it really, 00:12:05.460 --> 00:12:07.919 I think it's important that this is the sort 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:10.700 of information that we love to share with our 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:13.080 audience, both the listening audience, the viewing 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:15.960 audience, because it's valuable information. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.299 It can change how you manage your own dish. It 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:23.419 gives you power. Knowledge is power. And that 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:27.220 empowers you to be able to perhaps change the 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:31.259 course of your treatment and care. And just being 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:36.379 aware of that going in can change greatly how 00:12:36.379 --> 00:12:40.120 you and your doctors coordinate and communicate 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.639 with one another. Well, and there's a lot that 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.080 goes into a hospital stay and a discharge that 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:49.899 people don't realize. For example, tragic story 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:54.720 that I encountered with a patient once. He lived 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:58.779 alone, came into the hospital. And while he was 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:02.279 hospitalized, no one knew he had a pet at home. 00:13:02.820 --> 00:13:05.700 Okay, well, guess what? Most hospital case managers 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:07.820 are not going to ask you if you have a pet at 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:11.759 home. And it wasn't until the gentleman was being 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:14.580 evicted because he had not paid his rent because 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:18.460 he was in the hospital that it was discovered 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:20.899 that there had been a pet locked in the apartment 00:13:20.899 --> 00:13:24.019 all that time. See, when you're in the hospital, 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:27.419 If you don't have family, if you don't have a 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:29.960 friend, if you don't have someone that you can 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.580 partner with, your bills aren't getting paid. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.360 Whatever is in the apartment is not being taken 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.220 care of. Everything that you do in your day -to 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:43.740 -day life comes to a screeching halt if there's 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:46.159 not someone there that can pick that up for you. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.159 Right. I think of so many things around the household 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:51.600 that you just do every day and don't even think 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.320 about. It's just part of your routine. as part 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.320 of your normal care of running a household, even 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.960 if it's just a small apartment, if it's a large 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:03.899 house. But if you're by yourself, you're depending 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:06.159 on yourself. And if you have a pet, that pet's 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:11.679 depending on you. And if you came in to the hospital 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.059 after a tragic accident and you're not fully 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:17.820 conscious, that pet may not be the first thing 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:20.240 on your mind. You know, one of the things that 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:25.580 I recommend always is having a card in your wallet 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:28.720 that just, it can be handwritten or it can be 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.360 handwritten, laminated, whatever. But something 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:34.340 that says, hey, I have pets at home. These are 00:14:34.340 --> 00:14:37.840 their names. This is their vet. Because a lot 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:41.159 of times, if you have a good, responsible caseworker, 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:43.820 first of all, they're going to be going through 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:47.019 that wallet. Sorry, it happens. That's how they 00:14:47.019 --> 00:14:49.200 find your insurance information. And a lot of 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.379 times, a lot of times I've had Jane and John 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:54.620 Does come into the trauma department. That was 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:57.039 how I found out who they were. Yeah, if you're 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.639 in a traffic accident and you come in unconscious, 00:15:00.139 --> 00:15:03.639 no one knows to call a next of kin. No one knows 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:06.059 if you have a next of kin or a place to live. 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.779 So you come in, somebody's going to have to find 00:15:09.779 --> 00:15:14.039 out who you are. And how many times did the local 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.840 police department, stand there saying, we don't 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.539 know who they are. We got no way to find out. 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:21.899 And a few minutes later, the social worker walked 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:23.559 around the corner and said, this is who they 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:25.179 are. This is where they live. This is their next 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:29.139 of kin. I've already called them. Sometimes police 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:31.799 know. Sometimes the police is able to provide 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.519 that information to the hospital worker. Sometimes 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.299 it's the other way around, depending on how good 00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:40.000 of a Sherlock Holmes they have working in the 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.590 trauma department. There you go. Well, it's important 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:46.649 to have that personnel there advocating for the 00:15:46.649 --> 00:15:48.730 patient, and that's really what the social worker 00:15:48.730 --> 00:15:50.909 does. So when you see your social worker come 00:15:50.909 --> 00:15:54.529 around, realize that they're on your side. They 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:57.889 can be trusted and they can be given that information 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:00.350 because they're really there to help you. And 00:16:00.350 --> 00:16:02.629 they will work with you as much as possible, 00:16:02.690 --> 00:16:05.570 but even they have limitations based on the hospital 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:09.159 setting. But again, it's important to include 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.600 as much information as you can in your wallet 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.919 or in your pocketbook, including next of kin. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.379 And by the way, a lot of people do this in case 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:21.340 of emergency contact on their phones. Guess what? 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.860 We can't access that if we can't unlock your 00:16:23.860 --> 00:16:30.629 phone. Now, isn't that a great thought? So a 00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:34.590 lot of times what I have done and what a lot 00:16:34.590 --> 00:16:37.230 of people that I've spoken with have done is 00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:41.090 they have included on their lock screen in case 00:16:41.090 --> 00:16:43.389 of emergency contact this person because then 00:16:43.389 --> 00:16:45.629 you don't have to unlock the phone to get that 00:16:45.629 --> 00:16:47.970 information. Well, another thought I just had 00:16:47.970 --> 00:16:52.009 for some folks who might have biometric. locks 00:16:52.009 --> 00:16:55.370 on their smartphones. The nurse in the emergency 00:16:55.370 --> 00:16:57.929 room could actually use a thumb or a forefinger 00:16:57.929 --> 00:17:00.929 on the screen to unlock it and that might be 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:04.289 a good idea to use biometrics to give access 00:17:04.289 --> 00:17:07.329 to medical professionals who might need that. 00:17:07.809 --> 00:17:11.069 That thought does occur to a lot of social workers 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:14.109 in the emergency department but usually only 00:17:14.109 --> 00:17:16.410 once the patient is deceased because if they're 00:17:16.410 --> 00:17:18.329 still alive there are more important things going 00:17:18.329 --> 00:17:22.289 on. Well, that's also a good thought. Well, not 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.990 a good thought, but it's a, yeah. It's a pertinent 00:17:24.990 --> 00:17:28.049 thought. It's a pertinent thought. And on that 00:17:28.049 --> 00:17:30.450 pertinent thought, of course, this is all a highly 00:17:30.450 --> 00:17:33.089 personal choice and no conversation that we have 00:17:33.089 --> 00:17:35.809 on the Light Keepers podcast should ever take 00:17:35.809 --> 00:17:39.630 the place of your own medical care team or other 00:17:39.630 --> 00:17:42.430 professional advisor who should always be consulted 00:17:42.430 --> 00:17:46.170 by you on your specific situational needs. And 00:17:46.170 --> 00:17:48.009 it's always good to be willing to talk about 00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:50.930 quality of life because every single one of us 00:17:50.930 --> 00:17:53.750 may face some of these situations at some point 00:17:53.750 --> 00:17:57.829 and will either not be prepared at all, or very 00:17:57.829 --> 00:18:01.289 well prepared indeed, from watching The Light 00:18:01.289 --> 00:18:04.750 Keeper's Podcast. 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I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Light Keeper. 00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:45.230 We'll see you here.