Emergency readiness for cochlear implant users in New Zealand
Floods, storms, earthquakes, slips and power cuts can happen quickly in Aotearoa New Zealand. Most emergency advice starts with the basics: water, food, medication, warm clothes, a torch, a radio, phone charging and a grab bag. For cochlear implant users, there’s one more practical question to answer:
If the power is out, you have to leave home, or your processor stops working, how will you keep hearing and communicating?
This does not have to be expensive or complicated. Start with what you already have. The aim is simple: keep your cochlear implant gear together, keep it powered, and make sure other people know how to help.
Quick checklist: what matters most
For cochlear implant users, emergency readiness comes down to six things:
- Have a Civil Defence grab bag with your usual emergency supplies.
- Have a small cochlear implant grab bag for your hearing gear and communication support.
- Plan for power with chargers, cables and a charged power bank
- Keep your CI details written down in case you need help from emergency staff, hospital staff or an audiology clinic.
- Have backup ways to communicate if your processor is off, flat, damaged or missing.
- Tell someone where your kit is and what needs to be added if you leave home
Get Ready recommends grab bags with essentialssuch as warm clothes, water, snack food, hand sanitiser, portable phone charger,cash and copies of important documents. Their advice for Deaf and hard ofhearing people also includes having a way to receive warnings, using a supportnetwork, and keeping a writing pad, pencils and torch in your grab bag. (GetReady)
What to keep in your cochlear implant grab bag
Your CI grab bag does not need to be flash. A mall pouch, dry bag, lunchbox or toiletry bag will do. Keep it somewhere easy to find - near your charger, beside your bed, by the front door, or with your main emergency supplies.
Useful items include:
Power
- Charger and charging cable
- Wall plug
- Portable power bank, kept charged
- Phone charging cable
- Car charging option, if you use one
- Disposable batteries, if your processor can use them and you have access to them
CI gear
- Spare coil, cable or ear hook, if available
- Backup processor, if available
- Small care tools
- Waterproof pouch or dry bag
Information
- Emergency contacts
- Audiology clinic contact
- Implant brand and processor model
- Implant side: left, right or both
- Programme/map details, if you have them
- Doctor or audiology note
- Medical alert information
Communication
- Communication card
- Pen and paper
- Small torch
- Notes about the best way to communicate with you
Include charging solutions, spare parts where available, personal emergency information and accessible communication methods in emergency planning for implant users.
A quick note about rechargeable batteries
Some people only have the rechargeable batteries they use every day. That is normal.
Your grab bag does not have to hold spare rechargeable batteries if you do not have them. Keep your everyday batteries in use, and put them in the bag when you leave.
A simple label on the outside of your CI kit can help:
Before leaving, add: processor, batteries, charger, phone and medication.
That’s it. Practical beats perfect.
Make your hearing needs visible
In an emergency, people may not realise you use a cochlear implant. Your processor may be off, flat, broken or missing. You may be too stressed, injured or unwell to explain what you need.
Keep a card in your CI kit, wallet, phone case or car that says:
I use a cochlear implant. If my processor isoff or flat, I will not hear you. Please face me, speak clearly, write things down or use text. I do/do not know New Zealand Sign Language.
Add your name, emergency contacts, implant details, processor model, audiology clinic and any important medical alerts.
Do not rely on one alert system
Emergency Mobile Alerts are useful, but they are not guaranteed. You may not receive one if your phone is off, in flight mode, out of coverage, not connected to a targeted cell tower, or if mobile towers are damaged or power is out.
Use a few ways to stay informed:
- Emergency Mobile Alerts
- Local Civil Defence updates
- Battery, solar or hand-crank radio
- Text messages
- Official council and emergency channels
- Whānau, friends or neighbour check-ins
- Visual or vibrating alerts, if you use them
If you may not hear alarms when your processor is off - at night, in the shower, swimming, or while charging - make sure someone nearby knows.
Tell your people
A kit only helps if people can find it.
Tell at least one trusted person:
- where your CI kit is kept
- what needs to be added if you leave home
- how to charge your processor
- how to communicate with you if your processor is off
- where your CI and medical information is stored
Civil Defence disability guidance also recommends building a support network, planning more than one way to give and receive information, and not depending on one person only.
This is especially important if you are in hospital as staff most likely will not know how to manage a cochlear implant processor, including not charging it or not putting it on in the morning, leaving a person cut off from communication.
For parents and whānau
For children and young people with cochlear implants, make the plan obvious.
Keep their CI kit clearly labelled. Share basic instructions with school, grandparents, babysitters, sports coaches or anyone who may be caring for them when something happens.
Include:
- child’s name and emergency contacts
- implant and processor details
- audiology clinic contact
- how to charge the processor
- what to do if the processor comes off
- how the child communicates if they cannot hear
For teenagers, involve them in setting up the kit. They are more likely to use a plan they helped make.
Ten-minute starter plan
No need to sort everything today. Start small.
In the next ten minutes, you can:
- Find a pouch, small bag or container.
- Add a charging cable, pen, paper and small torch.
- Write down your CI details and emergency contacts.
- Charge a power bank and keep it with the kit.
- Add any spare CI parts you already have.
- Put a label on the outside: “Add processor, batteries, charger, phone and medication.”
That is a good start.
Check it every few months
Every few months, check:
- power bank charge
- charging cables
- medication dates
- emergency contacts
- audiology clinic details
- processor or programme information
- spare parts
- communication card
A good time to do it is when you check smoke alarms, update your household emergency kit, or change clocks for daylight saving.
Final word
Emergency readiness for cochlear implant users is about staying connected when things go wrong.
Keep your gear easy to find. Have a way to charge it. Write down the information others need. Tell someone where your kitis.
It does not need to be perfect. It just needs to work.
