If you have to get your elderly parent in another location to a medical facility for a procedure or treatment in an urgent or time-sensitive situation, and you worry about their health condition, you want to explore medical transportation options. When you can't be there yourself, you need to feel confident that your parent will be there safely.

Your parent's physical condition will be taken into account when they assign the staff for transport. Here are things to ensure that everything goes safely and as needed.

Schedule an Ambulance Transport

Call and let the medical professionals know that you will need medical transport. This can be one of the easiest ways to ensure that your parent arrives at their destination safely and without complications and that they have all the resources that they need to get from the hospital to their surgery location. Get the cost for this from a couple of local hospitals and ambulance transport companies.

If your parent will be leaving the facility and going home to the care of an in-home health care professional, you want to be sure the ambulance can transfer them home as well. Have both dates scheduled and verified to avoid confusion.

Check-in With Facility and Staff

Be sure that the medical facility and all the staff know who is to be notified before, during, and after the procedure. Make sure that your parent's primary care physician and the surgeons or medical professionals treating them at the hospital have your:

• Cell phone and work or house phone numbers
• Home and work address in case someone has to be sent to get you
• Power of attorney information

You want to know that if anything happens you will be notified and that the hospital has all the information that they need before your parent is set to arrive.

If you know that you can't get to your parent to be there with them when they need immediate medical treatment, you want to arrange an ambulance to get them to and from the hospital for that day, and you want to be sure that the medical staff will keep you updated every step of the way.

With technology today, you should be able to have an appointment with your parent's medical team afterward to go over everything. The more prepared you are for the procedures or work needed, the smoother everything should go. If you have further questions, reach out to a medical health professional.