Fresenius Medical Care Prepared to Provide Uninterrupted Care for Dialysis Patients with the Onset of an Active Storm Season
With construction crews still repairing damage from last year’s
catastrophic Hurricane Sandy and residents of Moore, Okla. just starting
to deal with the tragic aftermath of yesterday’s devastating tornado,
the importance of being prepared for natural disasters has never been
more apparent. That’s especially true with the 2013 hurricane season
beginning next week, and weather forecasters predicting another busy
year for hurricane activity.
Emergency preparedness is critically important for dialysis patients who
depend upon regular blood filtering treatments to remove waste products
and extra fluids from their blood after their kidneys have failed.
Fortunately, Fresenius
Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation’s leading network of dialysis
facilities, has years of experience in preparing for hurricanes,
tornados, floods, severe thunderstorms and other emergencies that could
potentially interrupt life-sustaining treatments for its more than
167,000 U.S. patients without kidney function.
FMCNA has invested heavily in a sophisticated, nationwide disaster
response system and maintains emergency supplies and trained staff all
over the country. When disaster strikes, the company’s Incident
Command Team is ready to quickly deliver fuel, water, food – even
generators and motor homes – to affected areas, or to transport
employees and patients to alternate locations for treatment if
facilities are temporarily damaged or closed.
FMCNA works closely with local governments and community organizations
to ensure that, during any emergency situation, it can continue to
provide patients with dialysis treatments, as well as medical supplies,
medicines, and lab services. Although most of its activity takes place
during storm season, the task force works year round to anticipate
potential problems and develop strategies to safeguard patients’
well-being.
“Our disaster response team’s preparations allow us to hit the ground
running when severe storms and other emergencies occur,” said Bill
Numbers, FMCNA vice president of operations support and incident
commander for disaster response and planning. “Patients’ welfare is
always our main concern, and our advance plans, along with the
extraordinary efforts of our dedicated staff in the field, allow us to
maintain the same high level of patient care, even when disasters occur.”
FMCNA recently expanded its emergency planning efforts beyond its
dialysis facilities to include its network of more than 40 Fresenius
Vascular Care outpatient centers, which provide fistulas, vein grafts
and other vascular access procedures that make it easier for patients’
blood to be removed and returned during dialysis. “We now provide the
vascular care centers and their staff and patients with the same high
level of disaster preparedness and support that all FMCNA facilities
receive,” said Numbers.
While FMCNA does its best to ensure continued service in the event of
disasters, it recommends that dialysis patients prepare themselves
during storm season by following this emergency checklist:
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Phone numbers. Keep an emergency contacts list, and
contact your dialysis facility when bad weather threatens.
-
Disaster plan. Talk to your dialysis care team and family ahead
of time about what to do in a disaster. Monitor local weather
forecasts.
-
Emergency supplies. Pre-pack a first-aid kit, flashlight and
batteries, blankets, radio, cell phone, food, can opener and
medications.
-
Transportation. In-center patients should arrange with a
friend, neighbor or family member for backup transportation to their
clinic.
-
Power outages. Home dialysis patients should follow the
directions given during home training for continuing dialysis in an
emergency.
-
Adjust insulin. Diabetics should ask their doctor how to adjust
their insulin dosage if severe flooding or storms are forecast for
their area.
FMCNA’s natural disaster response plan has been tested and validated
many times in recent years, from Hurricanes Sandy, Ike and Katrina, to
last year’s series of severe thunderstorms, which left a trail of
property destruction and power outages stretching from Illinois to New
Jersey. As part of its business plan for continuous quality improvement,
the company has incorporated the lessons learned from each of these
events to improve its processes, resulting in very effective disaster
response capabilities.
For more information on FMCNA’s disaster response efforts and important
tips to help patients prepare for any emergency, visit FMCNA’s
Disaster Response website.
About Fresenius Medical Care North America
Through our leading network of more than 2,100 dialysis facilities in
North America and our vascular access centers, laboratory, pharmacy and
affiliated hospitals and nephrology practices, Fresenius Medical Care
provides renal services to hundreds of thousands of people throughout
the United States, Mexico and Canada. We are also the continent’s top
producer of dialysis equipment, dialyzers and related disposable
products and a major supplier of renal pharmaceuticals.
For more information about the company, visit www.fmcna.com;
for information about patient services, visit www.ultracare-dialysis.com.
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