Are you
-
for the storm? by k r i s t i n q u i r k
Preparation for Hurricane Season: Everyday Our state is especially vulnerable to tropical storms and hurricanes, which means it is vital for your community to have an emergency plan in place. Before hurricane season even starts, creating your plan is essential for having a safe hurricane season. As members of FSLA, we can help ensure your community, residents and employees are safe. FSLA understands the importance of safety, proper planning and communication, and our members can rely on us to be a resource when faced with a disaster. Our relationship with AHCA allows us to track down information and answers to any questions you may have as well as provide your community with advice and instructions. To understand the measures your community must take to ensure safety and avoid great liability, FSLA attended the Pre-Hurricane Season Association Meeting at AHCA. These are the points our team gathered that from the meeting: Hurricane Season Checklist: • Verify your comprehensive emergency management plan (CEMP), including your emergency environmental control plan (ECCP) and other plans. • Make sure your contact info in AHCA’s HFRS is up to date, and you have all necessary log-in information. • Know your mandatory evacuation zones and comply with evacuation orders. Unsure? FloridaDisaster.org allows you to search by address. • Verify your evacuation location(s). • Future plans are vital. Don’t wait until a storm is being tracked to start yours. • All facilities are required to have generators, and they should be tested and retested. • Make sure you have the required amount of fuel for your generator, and double check your fuel contracts.
• •
Focus on your residents and staff. We understand turnovers and ownership changes happen, but you should still be prepared, and have instructions set in place. - FLSA recommends having training/retraining in place, so all new and existing staff know what to do when faced with a hurricane. • Understand the types of residents and staff your community has. - This will help when ensuring you have enough supplies on site and that your supplies are specific to your community. • Reach out to your county emergency management office. - Tell the county emergency management office that your community is an assisted living facility (not a nursing home).
Tell the county emergency management office what types of residents/individuals are in your community. - Get contact information, including cell phones, so you can reach appropriate persons immediately. • Reach out to transportation companies and get contracts in place for potential evacuations. • Staff members should know who is in charge when faced with hurricanes, crises and emergencies. • Staff members who are in charge should: - Be in contact with FSLA and AHCA. - Know your CEMP. - Know who to reach out to: county emergency management first, then the state and/or FSLA. When Evacuating: • If your community evacuates, you must reach out to your local AHCA field office. - Your community will need to be examined, especially if there’s damage, before you return. • Recap: Know what the mandatory evacuation zones are. • Recap: Verify your evacuation location. • ACHA will investigate failing to evacuate or not implementing emergency management plans! - As a member of FSLA, we can help prevent you from having any of these issues with AHCA. Post-Hurricane Wrap Up: • Continue coordination and communication post disaster. • Understand lessons learned from previous storms: - What worked? - What did not work? - What can we do differently this time to improve our plan?
Communication. Collaboration. Coordination = KEY! FSLA cares about the safety of your community, residents, and staff. For us to communicate with you when faced with a disaster, we have to have your emergency contact information. Please provide your emergency contacts (cell phone) to Kristin Quirk, our Director of Membership & Partners. You can reach her at membership@floridaseniorliving. org or 850-708-4972. Advice from FSLA: 1. Send FSLA your emergency contact information. 2. Take another look at your plans, and practice them with your staff members. 3. Do not just have plan A and plan B in place. Have plans C and D just in case – the more options the better. 4. Re-test generators! Test! Test! Test! 5. Ask an FSLA team member about updates from AHCA. 6. Stay Alert! Keep a lookout for any hurricane updates and hurricane preparation updates from FSLA. We want your community to feel prepared for hurricane season. FSLA is your trusted senior living resource, and we are always here to help!
kristin quirk, ms
Director of Membership & Partnership Florida Senior Living Association
YOUR TRUSTED SENIOR LIVING RESOURCE | 23
