Efforts Underway to Protect Seniors From Florence

With Hurricane Florence predicted to hit the North Carolina coast on Friday, health officials are scrambling to keep older adults, seen as the most vulnerable demographic, out of harms way, reports Kaiser Health News . In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an analysis of 986 Louisiana residents who died showed the mean age of victims was 69, and nearly two-thirds were older than 65. And last year, after 12 residents overheated and died at a nursing home in Hollywood Hills, Fla., in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the state passed legislation requiring nursing homes and assisted living communities to have backup generators capable of keeping residents cool. Studies suggest, however, that the lessons may not have been learned countrywide. A study from the National Academy of Sciences found that "we are only marginally more prepared to evacuate vulnerable populations now than we were during Hurricane Katrina," according to Lauren Sauer, director of operations at the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response in Baltimore. Meanwhile, states are taking steps to ensure older adults are protected from Florence. For example, about 204,000 Medicare recipients in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina rely on home ventilators, oxygen concentrators, intravenous infusion pumps, and other electrically powered devices, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The CMS has created a tool called emPOWER 3.0 to help states check up on them. Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina will open emergency shelters for people with special medical needs. These shelters provide "limited support," but not medical care, for people with special needs, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.