Wildfires threaten a large number of inpatient health care facilities in California.
- 50% of total inpatient capacity (107,290 beds) is within 0.87 miles of a high fire threat zone.
- 95% (203,665 beds) is within 3.7 miles of a high fire threat zone.
- 50% of total inpatient capacity is within 3.3 miles of a very high fire threat zone and 15.5 miles of an extreme fire threat zone.
IMPACTS & EVACUATIONS
- Wildfires account for 18.4% of hospital evacuations in the United States during the 21st century.
- Wildfires pose a threat to the structural integrity, operations, and accessibility of heath care facilities.
- Inpatient facility evacuations are a complex process and often require coordination across health systems and jurisdictions.
FEDERAL REGULATIONS & REQUIREMENTS
- Federal regulations require nursing homes to maintain specific types of information in order to respond to disasters, such as procedures for evacuation, sheltering in place, tracking residents and staff during and after emergencies, and communicating with relevant authorities, medical personnel, and families.
- Other requirements include having plans in place to secure and maintain the availability of records…
- Nursing homes are required to…maintain primary and alternate means of communication, a way to communicate residents’ condition and location and away to share emergency plan information with residents and their family members.
SIMPLE TRACKING SYSTEM
A novel, inexpensive, and intuitive app for tracking assisted living residents and staff during and after an emergency evacuation.
- Meet CMS Emergency Preparedness requirements
- Integrate with pertinent resident medical information
- Automated alerts to emergency contacts and family members
- GPS location/timestamp
Assurance for family members and loved ones during and after emergencies and disasters.
Neil Singh Bedi, Caleb Dresser, Akash Yadav, Andrew Schroeder, Satchit Balsari, “Wildfire Threat to Inpatient Health Care Facilities in California, 2022”, American Journal of Public Health 113, no. 5 (May 1, 2023): pp. 555-558.