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Sunday, August 11, 2013

How much planning do you do?

(The Coquille Valley, a traveling route to and from the coast from I-5 Oregon's biggest thoroughfare.)

Most of Oregon is this pastoral! We can stop and count cows, or elks, or sheep many times on the hour and a half windy road that takes us from our coastal village to the big (ger) towns dotting the I-5 up and down the length of the state. Once we get inland, the weather changes, and the sights change too. By the time we reach our doctors, 150 miles later in Eugene, the second big town in Oregon with @ 150.000 people, we are beat. No way we can then turn around and return home the same day.

For visits that are planned, we take an overnight bag with enough clothes and meds for a couple of days.

Many people end up in emergency rooms in Eugene because the doctors on this coast do not possess all the various specialties and surgical expertise for all cases. So, in case of an emergency, we may end up 150 miles from home in a hospital, accompanying a relative who is being transferred unexpectedly all the way to the Riverbend Hospital in Eugene.

Fortunately, Riverbend Hospital has a guest bed in each patient's room.  All patients' rooms are private with beautiful views of the tended grounds and the Willamette flowing down river. I've spent days and nights in the hospital, and their food and hospitality resemble those of an elegant lodge. The grounds are great for solitary walks too, and stopping under a thick canopy of pines on a river's edge is the best medicine for a worried soul.

You can't plan for all emergencies; but, you should be able to survive if you are away from home for a few nights unexpectedly. 

With so much wildness surrounding us, we could be stranded without any way of getting a message out  mere miles from home, on a wet and windy night when the cell phone and the battery are both dead and we end up in a ditch or off road to no fault of our own.

This is what we keep in our car at all times:
a first-aid kit, water, paper towels, a colorful tea towel, blankets, coats, sturdy shoes, meds, snacks, a change of clothes, big flash lights and a lot of change.

If you are stranded, stay in or close to your vehicle!
If you can't be seen from the street, drop coins from the street to your car and tie your tea towel to your mirror.
Portion your water and snacks to last at least three days.

Better than anything, tell someone where you are going and when you're coming back so they can alert emergency personnel if they don't hear from you.


   

10 comments:

erin said...

:) you know me - i've no plan at all. but i'm glad you do.

xo
erin

Vagabonde said...

Goodness – it does sound like you live in the desert! Well a marine one. After having been brought up in Paris and lived in San Francisco I feel that I am in the back-country since my house is ½ hour from Atlanta! I could not live that far away from a big town and I admire you to do so. I think I only have ½ a bottle of water in my car, and that’s about it. If I do go to the Oregon coast again someday, I’ll be sure to place all these first aid and emergency items in my vehicle.

Rosaria Williams said...

Vagabonde, a forest! I live in a forest as most of Oregon is, full of rivers, creeks, and mountain roads. The entire population of Oregon is just four millions or so, and the biggest city, Portland with its greater neighborhood comprises half the population of the entire state. We lived in Los Angeles before moving out here where you could never escape the city. I thought I'd miss big city living, but I'm enjoying my isolation.

Helen said...

... tell me you have a walk-in clinic in Port Orford!!

Brian Miller said...

we keep a first aid kit in the car..i am certified as well...you never know...i had to tend a kid with a broken foot the other day and get him to the hospital...preparation over planning for me...smiles.

Velva said...

Not sure I would plan well....Let's hope you never get stranded and have to use your supplies. Oregon is beautiful country...Just stunning.

Velva

yaya said...

My #2 son lives in Portland. We visited there this spring and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the ocean. I live in a small town, but we have a hospital (where I work) close by. I always have an emergency kit in the car and I keep extra things during the winter months. It's always good to be prepared...just like I teach my Boy Scouts!

Rian said...

We have never lived away from a big city... although I think "I" would like it. DH says that it wouldn't be smart to move away from our doctors and familiar areas now that we are getting older. But the quiet of a small town, and the ability to walk around nature, trees, or beaches sounds awfully good to me.

the walking man said...

Wow Rosaria 150 miles--is that one way? Although I can't think of anything else you should have in your emergency kit except for the wholly unexpected maybe fifty feet of 3/8ths or 1/2 nylon climbers rope. Oh yeah a box (150 count) of wooden stick matches if you do get stuck on the road a small night time fire will warm you. Just make sure you know how to make a fire surround that is safe for the forest around you.

Maggie May said...

I don't plan too far ahead and because of our health problems don't go anywhere too isolated. Maybe I lack adventure! However, it seems practical for us.
I think you are very wise to plan ahead for such a trip.
Maggie x

Nuts in May