|
|
 |
email this
print this
reprint or license thisHurricane evacuation talks fail
S.C. can’t reach deal on how to move nursing home patients from coast
By WAYNE WASHINGTON
wwashington@thestate.com
Despite a month of discussions, the state has been unable to broker a deal changing how residents of coastal nursing homes will be evacuated if a hurricane threatens the S.C. coast.
That has coastal emergency officials worried that some nursing homes — many of which have signed evacuation contracts with the same transportation companies — won’t be able to get their residents out of harm’s way.
That threat was reinforced last year when 34 residents of a nursing home in New Orleans drowned after they were not evacuated as Hurricane Katrina tore into the Gulf Coast.
Also, the typically quiet first couple months of South Carolina’s hurricane season are just about over, and the more active stretch is only weeks away.
“I think we’re where we were months ago, with all the nursing homes contracting with the same transportation providers,” said Lewis Dugan, emergency management director in Georgetown County. “That’s still a concern.”
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control, which licenses nursing homes, had hoped to have a deal with the Motorcoach Association of South Carolina in place. The agreement would have allowed nursing homes to go through the state agency to get the buses or vans needed to move residents away from danger zones.
But the Motorcoach Association cannot bind its independent members to an agreement with the state, officials say. And some bus operators worried about being sued if anything went wrong in their attempt to move frail or ill residents.
A bus evacuating nursing home residents from Houston as Hurricane Rita approached last year caught fire, killing 23 people.
Instead of working through the Motorcoach Association, DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said the state now will look to work with the National Guard and the S.C. Emergency Medical Services Association to make sure nursing home residents are evacuated safely.
Those options bring potential problems, too.
The Guard is expected to help with traffic control and public safety if it is mobilized to help deal with a storm.
Capt. Michelle Story, a Guard spokeswoman, said they would have a hard time evacuating nursing home residents.
“Some of these residents need oxygen,” Story said. “We are very limited in that capacity. We have a few vehicles, military ambulances, that have oxygen. But (the number of vehicles) wouldn’t really touch even one nursing home to tell you the truth.”
Chris Cothran, secretary of the Emergency Medical Services Association, said advance notice will be a key factor in determining how much help ambulance companies in the Midlands and the Upstate could give.
“We have plenty of resources as long as we have enough time,” Cothran said.
‘WE’VE GOT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE’
Randal Lee, president of the S.C. Health Care Association, a nursing home trade group, had welcomed the prospect of a deal between the state and the Motorcoach Association.
Not only would it boost emergency preparedness, Lee argued, but it also would protect nursing homes from exorbitant fees some transportation providers charge facilities forced to comply with mandatory evacuation orders.
Lee said Friday the absence of a deal does not mean nursing home residents will be stuck on the coast if a storm approaches.
“It would have possibly been more efficient, but we’ve got agreements in place and we’ll move forward with those,” Lee said.
For instance, a Myrtle Beach bus company has agreed to help evacuate five nursing homes in Horry County and another in Georgetown County, state records show. Meanwhile, a North Charleston company has agreements to evacuate five nursing homes in Berkeley and Charleston counties.
But emergency officials question whether those agreements can all be honored simultaneously by the same companies.
Lee said nursing homes take seriously their responsibility for their residents’ safety. He also said it’s important to remember an evacuation would not affect all S.C. nursing homes.
“You’re not talking about all nursing homes,” he said. “You’re talking about coastal facilities.”
Some nursing homes in South Carolina evacuated residents during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and many residents were moved without significant problems. However, a few overbooked ambulance companies could not meet their evacuation agreements with nursing homes.
“We have many more ambulance resources than we’ve had in the past,” Lee said. “That’s what’s important to us. Nursing home residents don’t travel well on buses.”
Evacuating nursing homes can be a complicated, time-consuming process even when things go well.
DHEC requires nursing homes to establish emergency plans, which have to be refiled each year before a facility can have its license renewed.
While the state agency requires nursing homes to come up with a plan, state officials have no control over which bus or ambulance service a facility chooses to use if it must evacuate.
Lee said he is confident nursing home residents will be evacuated out of harm’s way if a storm threatened the state. “We’ve done it before, and we would do it again if we had to.”
‘DO SOMETHING TO SQUEEZE ’EM A LITTLE’
Even with no formal deal in place, Linda Morris, executive director of the Motorcoach Association, said members of that organization will do all they can to help nursing homes evacuate. Many already have independent agreements with nursing homes.
However, a comprehensive deal with the state was troubled from the start, Morris said.
“They didn’t have a clue what they were stepping into,” said Morris, adding that liability worries and the association’s inability to compel bus operators to agree to a deal made it all but impossible to reach.
When motorcoaches would be pulled from regular business to help with evacuations was a key stumbling block, Morris said.
“The nursing homes cannot commit to make an arrangement until the governor issues a state of emergency,” she said. “(Motorcoach owners) can’t just turn down business thinking a storm might come.”
Georgetown emergency director Dugan said he’d like the Department of Health and Environmental Control to keep looking for ways to beef up nursing home transportation plans.
“I’m not sure what DHEC should be doing, but they’re the ones that sign off on nursing homes being able to operate,” he said. “They ought to be able to do something to squeeze ’em a little to do something about this.”
Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.
