Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112270

Kathryn Hyer, PhD, MPP¹, Lisa M. Brown, PhD², Jennifer Bond, PsyD², LuMarie Polivka-West, MSRP³, and W. Michael Reid, PhD, MBA⁴. (1) School of Aging Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida, Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612, 813-974-3232, khyer@cas.usf.edu, (2) Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Department of Aging and Mental Health, 13301 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, 1441, Tampa, FL 33612, (3) Director of Policy and Quality, Florida Health Care Association, 307 West Park Avenue, Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32301-1427, (4) Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, College of Public Health, MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612

For a six week period from August –October 2004, Florida experienced four major hurricanes. While virtually all Floridians were affected by one of these hurricanes, this study of 300 nursing home providers' (45% response rate) provides insights into: 1) the effectiveness of pre-planning emergency efforts, 2) the impact of the storm on providers, residents and staff and, 3) the responsiveness of the local emergency operations centers and state emergency offices to long term care providers' needs during the recovery period. Lessons learned over the course of the hurricanes, especially in the State's ability to facilitate and coordinate preparation for long term care providers, will also be presented. Since over 71,000 Floridians live in approximately 700 nursing homes (NH), Florida's experience provides other states with insights into how to improve the preparation for, and coordination of emergency operations for NH providers and their frail and vulnerable residents. Specifically, this study reports on what aspects of emergency preparation were helpful and which systems, such as contracts for transportation of residents across county lines, failed. We then present data on the ability of Florida NHs to respond to power, water and telephone outages, what lessons were learned about communications systems, and how these have translated into proposed legislation. Finally, we will discus how a prior relationship with local emergency operations center (EOC) influences providers' perceptions about the helpfulness of the EOC before, during and after the disaster. Implications of these findings for policy makers, regulators and public health officers will be discussed.

Learning Objectives: After attending this session, participants will be able to

• Identify effective emergency preparedness regulations that help long-term care providers;
• Recognize the importance of including long-term care providers on local emergency operations planning committees.
• Create an emergency response system during recovery that is flexible enough to recognize the vulnerable populations in NH and helps providers receive priority during restoration of power and water.

Keywords: Public Health Administration, Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation