When a winter storm hit Texas in February 2021, many of the state’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities did not have running water and no backup generators on hand to protect residents from the frigid temperatures. One of the nursing homes in Texas had only a few portable heaters to warm dozens of residents because its backup power could not operate its heating system. An assisted living facility with 32 residents had no backup generator and no heaters.
There have been over 400 Texas facilities reporting weather-related emergencies, including over 100 facilities relocating or evacuating residents. The reports include an assisted living facility in Austin had no power with no backup generator on site. In order to keep the 50 residents warm, they were “bundled up” and served warm beverages. Due to the poor road conditions, the facility could not immediately get a generator delivered. Their water was shut off, and they resorted to melting snow to fill the toilet tanks.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General warned almost a year ago about holes in Texas nursing homes emergency plans. In inspections of 20 nursing homes across the state, the inspector found that 18 had life-safety and emergency-preparedness violations that put residents at increased risk of injury or death during an emergency, including issues relating to emergency water supplies and backup power.
The Texas long-term care ombudsman is asking for Texas and other states to consider that all long-term care facilities be required to have generators capable of powering their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In 2018 Florida passed a law requiring all facilities to have generators after hurricane Irma in 2017 caused over 430 residents’ deaths, including some who died in sweltering temperatures after the storm knocked out their facilities’ air conditioning.
Issue:
The time to review your emergency preparedness plan is now and not during an emergency. If an emergency does happen in your facility, it is critical that all are prepared and ready to take appropriate action. A satisfactory emergency preparedness plan can really mean the difference between life and death of residents and staff.
Discussion Points:
- Review your Emergency Preparedness Plan. Compare your plan to requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Emergency Preparedness Actions, Appendix Z at State Operations Manual Appendix Z- Emergency Preparedness for All Provider and Certified Supplier Types Interpretive Guidance | Technical Resources | ASPR TRACIE (hhs.gov). Update your Emergency Preparedness Plan as needed.
- Train all staff on the Emergency Preparedness Plan. Conduct drills for the various disaster response plans to ensure staff competency with each. Document that these trainings and drills occurred and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Ensure that every unique potential disaster for your geographic region is addressed in the Emergency Preparedness Plan. Audit staff knowledge to ensure that they are aware of their roles during an emergency per your Plan.
