Hurricane and Disaster Preparedness for Long-Term Care Facilities

Grant Summary

The John A. Hartford Foundation has made a grant to the Florida Health Care Association to develop a new Disaster Planning Guide, support the development and testing of disaster training exercises, and disseminate these tools across the country to nursing homes and assisted living facilities in order to reduce the deaths and suffering of frail elders during hurricanes and other disasters. The inadequacy of planning for the evacuation and care of nursing home residents was clear in the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005, which resulted in the death of approximately 70 elders in 12 or more nursing homes during or in the days following the hurricane. This grant builds on prior support to the Florida Health Care Association, which organized a Gulf Coast Hurricane Summit for long-term care facilities to promote the incorporation of nursing homes into state and national emergency preparedness plans. This grant will provide funding to develop a new Disaster Planning Guide and software, which will contain role-specific guidance for nursing home staff as well as guidelines for administrators on decisions to evacuate. Funding will also support the development and testing of training exercises to increase the readiness of nursing home staff in the event of an emergency. Finally, funding will also help disseminate these important tools across the country, beginning with the 2007 Gulf Coast Hurricane Summit, and will promote the incorporation of nursing homes and assisted living facilities into state emergency planning efforts so that authorities may adequately recognize and respond to the unique needs of nursing homes during disasters. The 2005 hurricane season revealed the complexity of disaster evacuation of frail elders in nursing homes and the inadequacy of prior planning. Nursing homes, unlike hospitals, were not incorporated into existing emergency response systems, were left with inadequate training and resources to care for their aged residents, were not incorporated into evacuation plans, and were not prioritized for restoration of utilities such as electrical services. This resulted in deaths and suffering for many elderly nursing home residents. This grant is one of two authorized in September 2006 to support the care of elders in Louisiana and the Gulf States region following Hurricane Katrina.