Purdue Experts on COVID-19: Nursing professor provides emergency health preparation tips

Jiayun Xu, assistant professor of nursing, offers advice in a video to help people prepare for any non-COVID-19 medical emergencies that may occur.

Xu, who specializes in chronic disease management and family caregiving in the College of Health and Human Sciences, recommends that people have a plan in place for healthcare emergencies. For those who are having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke, she says, make sure you call your doctor or go to the hospital; don’t avoid getting emergency medical care out of fear of the pandemic.

According to Xu, for people who are at risk for health scares or need to go to the hospital often, there are ways to be prepared for any medical emergencies. It’s a good idea to pack a bag with items that you might need to take with you at a moment’s notice, she says, like clothing, toiletries, list of medications you’re taking, medical health history, insurance information, emergency contacts and advance directives. She recommends visiting prepareforyourcare.org for tips on how to have a conversation about making future medical decisions and for more information about preparing a hospital bag.

Xu’s video is part of a collection on a new website, “Purdue Experts on COVID-19.” She is one of more than three dozen Purdue faculty members who are now sharing knowledge pertinent to the pandemic crisis in short videos on the site.

The idea behind this website is for Purdue faculty from a wide variety of disciplines to share their expertise to inform and prepare the public to respond safely and successfully to this pandemic. The videos include big-picture topics such as the economy, unemployment and the workings of supply chains, as well as those closer to home such as food shopping and produce safety, personal finance tips, and exercising at remote work stations.

Faculty members interested in developing a video to highlight their own work should contact their college communications coordinator for approval and ask the communication coordinator to reach out to Jason Fish at jfish@purdue.edu, for recording instructions.

The videos should:

• Be authentic and not heavily produced. Visit the "Purdue Experts on COVID-19" site for examples of format.
• Cover two to three major points about the faculty member’s area of expertise as it relates to the COVID-19 crisis.
• Run between two and four minutes (don't exceed four minutes).
• Be designed to reach a general audience with knowledge that can inform their understanding of the virus, the pandemic and its effects.

Once the college communicator has approved the video, the communicator should submit the video to Jason Fish at jfish@purdue.edu.

Writers: Kelsey Schnieders Lefever
Amy Patterson Neubert, apatterson@purdue.edu