🏥Imagine... Safeguarding Our
Kupuna in Long-Term Care During Disasters🏥
💡 Imagined Endstate:
A future where the safety and well-being
of our Kupuna (seniors) in long-term care facilities are prioritized during
disasters, ensuring they receive timely and comprehensive support.
🔗 Link:
https://www.domesticpreparedness.com/articles/long-term-care-facilities-in-emergency-preparedness-planning
📚 Source:
Scherr, T. M., & Scherr, D. (2023,
July 19). Long-Term Care Facilities in Emergency Preparedness Planning.
💥What's the Big Deal:
Long-term care facilities play a vital
role in caring for our Kupuna (seniors) in the Pacific, but they face unique
challenges during disasters. 👵Older adults are more vulnerable and
require specialized care during emergencies. 🌟 This issue intensifies
for those in long-term care facilities and it is incumbent to have be
well-prepared to safeguard our Kupuna during disasters.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) mandates these facilities conduct risk assessments and establish
comprehensive emergency plans to address potential hazards, care-related
emergencies, communication interruptions, and power failures. 🌟Evacuation
and shelter-in-place strategies must be developed to handle various scenarios
like hurricanes, mass infections, and more.
🛡️Past disasters have revealed
critical safety failures in some nursing homes, leading to preventable
fatalities. To address this, CMS, FEMA, and state agencies are providing resources
and guidelines to enhance emergency preparedness in the hopes that establishing
response standards, and facilities can improve response capabilities and reduce
risks during disasters.
#Kupuna, #LongTermCare,
#EmergencyPreparedness #Resilience #ElderCare