Planning for difficulties and emergencies

If you have made a plan with family and friends make sure you write it down. Carry contact details with you so that others can find the information if something happens.

• Complete a Carers’ Emergency Card and carry it with you in a wallet or purse – contact Carers Trust Heart of England for further information regarding this.
• Put your emergency contacts in your mobile phone under ICE (in case of emergency)
  It is advised that you should have at least 2 contacts should the first one not be able to answer. To set this up edit an existing contact or create a new one and put ICE 1 or ICE 2 before the person’s name for priority order. These contacts do not have to be a family member they can be friends or professionals too.
  If you have a password to open your phone, you will have to update your settings so your ICE contacts show as Emergency numbers. If you have an Apple iPhone there is an app called ‘Health’ which will allow you to enter emergency contact details.

If you don’t have anyone who can help or you are worried that it may not always be possible for the person you have identified to cover all the care tasks for the person you support, you can register with our Carers' Response Emergency Support Service known as CRESS. We can provide up to 72 hours of support whilst other arrangements are put in place.

• Carers Trust Heart of England host the CRESS service and it is funded by Coventry City Council.
• A worker will visit you and the person you care for and develop a contingency support plan to be put in place if you are suddenly unable to care due to an emergency, such as being admitted to hospital.
• We can then provide up to 72 hours of support whilst other arrangements are put in place. You do not have to have a Carers' Assessment to access this service and there is no charge to register or if the service is used.

Contact the Carers Trust Heart of England on 02476 632972 (Option 1).