National Criteria for Evacuation Decision-making in Nursing Homes

This document has been shared with CMS by The Florida Health Care Association. It is available online. 

 Preparing for and Responding to Excessive Heat Events

With excessive heat blanketing many parts of the country, it is important to be aware that, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more people die from heat waves each year than from hurricanes, lightening, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined. Older individuals are particularly vulnerable to the effects of heat stress. Because heat-related deaths are preventable, people and communities need to be aware of who is at greatest risk and what actions can be taken to prevent a heat-related illness or death. The following resources outline important steps that can be taken to respond to excessive heat events:

• http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/emergency/naturaldisasters/heat/index.html
• http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/factsheets/index.htm#itdhpfehe

Source: Department of Health and Human Services

HHS' New AHRQ Resources Can Help States and Local Communities with Disaster Planning and Response Involving Nursing Homes

HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just released Emergency Preparedness Atlas: U.S. Nursing Home and Hospital Facilities, which is intended to help local communities identify the health care facilities (hospitals and nursing homes) that could be available and prepared to provide assistance under emergency conditions in their communities. The Emergency Preparedness Atlas includes six case studies in North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, southern California, Washington, and Utah that each include a series of maps depicting the locations and capacity of nursing homes and hospitals as well as their geographic relationship to a variety of emergency management and bioterrorism preparedness regions, such as HAZMAT response regions, emergency management regions, and Red Cross chapters. The Atlas includes maps for all 50 states with the location of hospitals and nursing homes in each state, and it displays the locations relative to the distribution of the elderly population in the case study states. Also see: Nursing Homes in Public Health Emergencies, Focus Group Discussions of Disaster Planning at Nursing Homes.  Both can be found online at http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/nursinghomes/atlas.htm and http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/nursinghomes/report.htm [posted on Kansas Rural Health Information Service].

Resources for Families and Residents

NCCNHR Consumer Fact Sheet - Questions to ask facilities about emergency preparedness.

Consumer Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home - This guide can be used by family members who are searching for a facility and are concerned about emergency preparedness.

Geriatric Nursing

Here is a mnemonic to help people know about basic care for older adults provided by Eileen M. Sullivan-Marx, PhD, CRNP, FAAN; associate Professor, Associate Dean for Practice & Community Affairs; University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing  "ELDER CARE"

          Elders should:

• Eat small meals often– they will provide regular calories for energy and healing.
• Laugh with you – if elders do not laugh easily, consider grief or depression
• Drink often – water, juice or any liquid
• Exercise all muscles and joints several times a day
• Rest enough

Caregivers should:

• Consider confusion a sign of disease or infection – seek treatment.
• Ask about the elder’s life stories, you will learn and the elder will be uplifted.
• Reposition frequently to prevent pressure sores
• Ease the elder’s pain

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