Alot of this depends on what the emergency is.The NH are required to have on file an emergency preparedness plan. For isolated emergencies like fire or tornadoes or contamination if the facility has a plan and does drills regularly for staff, it seems to work. But for larger regional disasters like floods or cat 4 & 5 hurricanes, it's all chaos. It takes the feds or red cross usually 3 days to come in - that's a deadly eternity to a intensive care patient or others with critical conditions.
We went thru Katrina, my MIL was in a LTC facility in NOLA and many friends who had parents in NH all along the coast; friends who were health care providers at the time (Memorial, Tulane & Touro) and worked the storm and I had a client who died on the tarmac at MSY after evacuation from Tulane where he was doing well and recovering from gall bladder surgery the Friday before. Everyplace was chaos. The facilities who had plans in place, did practice scenarios and had phone chains established, etc. were just as bad off as those who didn't.
All the "planning" was moot. This was because the plan assumed that staff would show up to work. Well that just flat didn't happen. Many were at 50% staff and alot of those left when they saw a way out. You can't make people come into work. The Sunday before the storm most were leaving and work schedule was someone's else's problem. The next time there is a major hurricane, I bet the % goes even lower the next time around.
Because of the post Katrina litigation and vilification of Dr Anna Pou and other brave doc's, nurses and staff who stayed and worked at Memorial Baptist and other hospitals and NH in the Katrina zone in LA & MS, the majority of the health care providers we know are not going to show up the next time there is a major emergency.I can't blame them. If you plan on having elective surgery, you wait till hurricane season is done. What happened to Dr Pou has huge ramifications for health care providers everywhere. Not worth the risk to stay to work.
If your worried about your folks in the NH when there is a major disaster, then you need to get them and their medications. Otherwise pray & hope for the best.
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Many Nursing Homes Not Prepared for Emergencies
We went thru Katrina, my MIL was in a LTC facility in NOLA and many friends who had parents in NH all along the coast; friends who were health care providers at the time (Memorial, Tulane & Touro) and worked the storm and I had a client who died on the tarmac at MSY after evacuation from Tulane where he was doing well and recovering from gall bladder surgery the Friday before. Everyplace was chaos. The facilities who had plans in place, did practice scenarios and had phone chains established, etc. were just as bad off as those who didn't.
All the "planning" was moot. This was because the plan assumed that staff would show up to work. Well that just flat didn't happen. Many were at 50% staff and alot of those left when they saw a way out. You can't make people come into work. The Sunday before the storm most were leaving and work schedule was someone's else's problem. The next time there is a major hurricane, I bet the % goes even lower the next time around.
Because of the post Katrina litigation and vilification of Dr Anna Pou and other brave doc's, nurses and staff who stayed and worked at Memorial Baptist and other hospitals and NH in the Katrina zone in LA & MS, the majority of the health care providers we know are not going to show up the next time there is a major emergency.I can't blame them. If you plan on having elective surgery, you wait till hurricane season is done. What happened to Dr Pou has huge ramifications for health care providers everywhere. Not worth the risk to stay to work.
If your worried about your folks in the NH when there is a major disaster, then you need to get them and their medications. Otherwise pray & hope for the best.