Last week, we discussed that Hurricane Season starts June 1st and we offered some suggestions to jump-start your agency’s preparations. Of course, sometimes we see or hear a good idea and pledge to implement it, only to get swept up in pressing business and forget to follow up on it. As motivation to begin or continue your preparations for hurricane season, let’s review a few more issues to keep in mind.
Become knowledgeable with your local emergency management resources. Part of your emergency management plan should include the contact numbers and locations of local emergency response personnel. The emergency management offices in the counties in which you provide care should already be on your contact list and quickly available, but if they’re not, Florida Disaster.Org has a list of all county emergency offices with links to their web sites.
Stock up on supplies. Remember trying to buy toilet paper when Covid-19 first came upon us? Do you try to buy bottled water two days before a hurricane is predicted to arrive? Order the supplies that your organization needs now and do not waste your time, in vain, trying to procure PPE, etc., when the next hurricane is named and aimed at you!
Know the location of flood zones in your service area. Plan routes around them now, not as your RN is floating across the highway after he got caught in a low spot. Knowing this information can assist you in preparing your clients and patients. If they live in or on the other side of a flood zone, you may warn them that service to them may be untimely or limited. Neither you nor your personnel are required to risk your health or safety to reach a patient. However, planning well in advance on how best to provide the scheduled care is required. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides information on flood prone areas, and your local officials will be helpful on this point, as well.
Know how to monitor the weather. More than one resource should be quickly at hand to determine the status of hazards. Along with local television and radio broadcasts, state and Federal resources are plentiful. Here is a link to a current radar picture produced by the State of Florida’s “Florida Disaster.Org”. This organization provides a wealth of information and opportunities for planning, especially on subjects such as training opportunities, access to flood maps, hurricane risk zones and contacts to each Florida county’s Emergency Management offices and personnel.
We hope these suggestions orient you in the right direction for your hurricane preparations while you still have the time to do so thoughtfully and carefully – not in a panicked rush when a hurricane is on the radar with your agency in its sights! Spending time planning and concentrating on this issue will make it more familiar and easily operationalized when an emergency is pending or happening and practice will make you more effective at delivering care to your vulnerable patients.