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Disaster ... Hurricane Preparedness ... Emergency Medicine ... Disaster... Hurricane Prep

Hurricanes Preparedness: Be Ready for the Irregular

Memories are still fresh After the mandatory their term. It was important they come to Employee focus
as meteorological experts evacuation order to the hospital because ambulances don’t Our people are our focus always, not
warn of another above- accommodate patients run when winds are high. In all, 18 just during emergencies and their dedi-
average hurricane season from the two Keys hospi- babies were born in the days surrounding cation makes the difference in how our
less than a year after tals, we immediately the storm. system weathers the storm. Let your
Hurricane Irma left devas- organized rooms at our For the first time, we accommodated employees know how much you value
tation all over Florida. Miami-Dade hospitals and national and local media at our hospitals. them and their expertise. Provide expec-
Mariners Hospital and created an emergency plan It proved to be the quickest means to get tations before, during and after the emer-
Fishermen’s Community to reopen those two hospi- important communications out to the gency so they can prepare personally and
Hospital in the Florida tals. One hospital, rest of the city, state and nation. professionally.
Keys in Monroe County, a Fishermen’s Community Six months ahead of this hurricane
vulnerable area, were Hospital in Marathon, was season, we are once again ready for what- Engage physicians in emergency plan-
under a mandatory evacu- damaged beyond repair. ever comes our way. Supplies are stock- ning
ation order from the gov- BY BO BOULENGER Within days, our med- piled. Generators are triple-checked. Develop a plan for having the appro-
ernor during this storm. ical personnel were work- Annual disaster drills complete. Here are priate medical staff members on site
For the first time in our ing out of a field hospital simple lessons that have helped us before, during and after a storm or disas-
50-year history, Baptist Health South in Fishermen’s parking lot, surrounded through difficult times: ter. During Irma, we did 14 surgeries at
Florida stopped service at those hospi- by swamped boats and other debris. one of our hospitals.
tals. Combined, those hospitals are Today, the field hospital continues to Organize
responsible for an area with a population provide care and will soon be replaced The Department of Emergency Develop partnerships
of 78,000. with an interim modular hospital this Preparedness at Baptist Health was estab- Know where you will evacuate patients
Experience with Hurricane Andrew summer until we can fully rebuild lished after Hurricane Andrew, and it is if your building isn’t hurricane proof.
and subsequent storms has made us cer- Fishermen’s. the central point for care coordination Seek assistance from hospitals at least 75
tain about one thing: mastery of basic At the second hospital, Mariners for our 10 hospitals and 50 outpatient miles away. Coordinate with your com-
emergency preparedness enables us to Hospital in Tavernier, we transported a centers. From there we collate all infor- munity’s disaster response departments.
act with confidence when faced with the team of clinical and environmental staff mation, set plans in motion and initiate Retain suppliers and distributors to
unknown. It’s our duty as healthcare in the days following the storm to get the our messaging to the public. deliver emergency supplies.
providers to ensure top-notch medical hospital open on Sept. 12 to treat walk-
service around the clock, no matter the ins with storm-related injuries. Three Practice, practice, practice
forecast. days later, the hospital was up and run- Our emergency plan goes beyond natu- Bo Boulenger is executive vice president
Hurricane Irma tested our resources ning, able to treat all emergencies. ral disasters to include man-made disasters, and chief operating officer of Baptist Health
and plans, and I’m proud that we came In addition, our four Miami-Dade hos- such as bioterrorism. Rigorous drills and South Florida. In addition, he serves as area
through for our patients, employees and pitals with maternity wards housed 200 training are important to ensure everyone commander of the Baptist Health
their families. pregnant women at 36 weeks or more in knows their role in an emergency. Disaster/Emergency Preparedness Program.

Gulfstream Petroleum Services 'Evolving' with Health Care

BY LOIS THOMSON thing that was revealed in the investiga-
tion. And you can trace a lot of it back to
Mark Watson believes that, just as the the loss of power – to make sure those
health care industry is constantly evolv- types of facilities had the capability to
ing with new medications and new provide an increased amount of their
methods of patient treatment, the same own stand-by power for an increased
type of "evolution" is occurring in his amount of time."
line of work, particularly when it comes Now, Watson said, rather than just
to health care. having enough power for emergency
Watson is president of Gulfstream lighting, a facility basically needs
Petroleum Services (GPS), which has enough to be able to run the whole oper-
been in business since 2005 and handles ation as it normally does, including with
everything associated with fuel tanks, air conditioning. Unfortunately, hurri-
including installation, removal, servic- cane season in South Florida occurs at
ing, repairing, and cleaning. the hottest time of the year. "If you lose
He explained the comparison to the power and don't have air conditioning,
health care industry by saying that while it's one thing for healthy people to say,
hospitals' demands for stand-by power 'Oh it's a little hot but we can fan our- Brothers Sean Watson and Mark Watson with father John Watson.
have continued to increase over the selves or we can go outside.' But if you're groups that own multiple facilities. tions, and having worked with other
years, the need went to a whole new bed-ridden or you're elderly or your We've even done work for health care facilities that have been looking into
level when Hurricane Irma hit Florida health is already compromised, that lack provider clinics. In today's world, espe- doing some upgrading. He said the
last September. Previously, Watson said, of air conditioning can lead to more cially in a health care facility, a lot of important thing to remember is that
sufficient power during a storm might medical problems." things are temperature controlled, there is a lead time, because all fuel tanks
simply have been enough to make sure a However, Watson was quick to empha- whether it's medications that must be – based on the needs and preferences of
certain number of safety lights remained size, "This is not my area of expertise, refrigerated, or just a temperature-con- the customer – are built to order. "You
on and, if the building had elevators, and I try to stay away from telling cus- trolled issue with humidity in the room." don't go into Home Depot and get one
make sure the elevators operated. tomers what their obligations are, He said having backup generators has off the shelf. The time between when
However, Watson pointed to an inci- because everybody falls into a different become critical even though it's not you place the order and when that tank
dent that happened during last year's category. What's important is that they always a life-safety issue. In a doctor's will be ready for delivery can run eight to
storm that may have raised the bar. know what their obligations are, and office, for example, it's not life or death 12 weeks, depending on the size of the
"There was a nursing home/rehabilita- then I can help them meet those require- if the power goes out, but a lot of damage tank. So even if you have the most ambi-
tion center in Hollywood that lost ments. When they say 'I need this could be done to medicines or electronic tious of goals to get something done, it
power, and a number of people passed amount of fuel or I need fuel for this records or physical records. "People have can only be done so fast. I think the goal
away in the facility. I'm sure there were amount of time,' then we can design and just found it to be to their benefit to have is to get everybody pro-active and have
different causes, but a lot of it seems to install those systems for them." a backup system." them get started."
have been linked to the loss of power. GPS is able to meet the needs of clients Because of such issues, GPS has been
Changes were made to the regulations, of all sizes. "We've done work for every- busy since Hurricane Irma, but Watson For more information, call
so you kind of presume that those thing from the single facility to large has been able to handle the additional (305) 281-7240 or visit
changes were made because of some- hospital groups, for nursing home work, having already done four installa- www.GPSfuel.com.

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