emergency preparedness

Every facility needs to have an emergency plan because disaster does not schedule their events. We had a facility with a fire in which residents were evacuated. The facility staff were prompt in responding and the facility nurse developed a care plan to address resident needs related to being moved. Some of the issues she addressed included watching the residents for respiratory stress due to potential exposure to smoke, stress of moving from familiar surrounding to a different location, how to provide a calm safe environment and respond to potential behaviors. This professional nurse also included directives on how to deal with questions from family members and the media. Resident were found to be calm and dealing with the changes.

My a year goes by pretty fast. There have been multiple changes to state resources and staff reassignments. We continue to have the 1-800 number for the complaint resolution hot line and for individuals to report abuse. This year appears to be gearing up to spotlight financial exploitation of seniors and what it looks like. Please return to this blog for additional information. Changes have settled down for the time being so hopefully posts will be more regular and timely.