Health, Medical & Mental Health

You do not have to be suicidal to call 988. If you are overwhelmed, panicking, cannot stop shaking, or cannot think straight after what happened, that is exactly what this line is for.

• Call or text 988 from any phone
• Chat online at 988lifeline.org
• Press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line
• Spanish-language support available

Free and confidential.

If your medication was destroyed, left behind, or is spoiling without refrigeration, do not simply go without — particularly for insulin, heart, seizure, psychiatric, blood-thinning or HIV medication.

What to do:

1. Call any pharmacy in the chain you normally use. Major chains share records nationally, so a store in Oshkosh or Green Bay can usually see your prescription even if your home store is destroyed
2. Explain that you were affected by the July 27 tornado and need an emergency refill. Wisconsin pharmacists can dispense an emergency supply during a declared disaster
3. If you do not know the drug or dose, the pharmacist can often find it from your name and date of birth
4. If you have no pharmacy or no insurance, call 211

Insulin and refrigerated drugs: most insulin stays usable at room temperature for up to 28 days. Do not throw it out because the fridge went off — ask a pharmacist first.

Oxygen, dialysis or other powered medical equipment: call 211 now, or 911 if you are running out. Do not wait until the last cylinder.

Useful when you cannot find privacy to talk — in a shelter, in a car, with children nearby — or when speaking feels impossible.

Text HOME to 741741. Free, confidential, 24/7.

Nearly every post-tornado injury is a cut or puncture from nails, glass, sheet metal or splintered wood, picked up during cleanup rather than during the storm.

• Wash any wound with clean water and soap immediately
• Tetanus: a dirty or puncture wound needs a booster if your last one was over 5 years ago. For a clean minor wound, 10 years
• Go to urgent care or the ER for anything deep, gaping, spurting, numb, or containing embedded debris you cannot flush out
• Watch for spreading redness, warmth, swelling, pus, red streaks or fever — get seen the same day
• Wear thick gloves, boots with a puncture-resistant sole, and eye protection while working in debris

Do not put off a small wound because the hospital seems busy. An infected hand a week from now is a far bigger problem.

This is the crisis line built specifically for people living through exactly this — a tornado, a flood, a fire. The counselors are trained in disaster response, not general crisis work.

• Call or text 1-800-985-5990
• Multilingual support available
• Free, confidential, 24/7

What people commonly feel in the first weeks: trouble sleeping, replaying it, jumping at wind or sirens, numbness, irritability, guilt about having less damage than a neighbor. All of that is a normal response to an abnormal event. Talking to someone early genuinely shortens it.

Children often show it differently — clinging, regression, stomach aches, or refusing to be in a room alone. Keeping routines and letting them tell the story in their own words helps a great deal.