Florida Hospitals Make Hurricane Preparations

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --

Although the official peak of the Atlantic hurricane season has passed, local hospitals continue to prepare for a possible major disaster.

Storm development hits a high point in the second week of September, but it is always important to prepare for hurricanes.

A group of employees of Broward General Medical Center took part in an emergency response exercise so that if a disaster strikes, the teams can go into action.

"Every position has a specific job action they have to follow through," said Jeanne Eckes.

Eckes is the emergency preparedness coordinator for Broward Health, the nation's fifth-largest public hospital system.

"A hospital, just like any other business, has to prepare for any type of critical incidents, and hurricanes are probably the No. 1 we face in our community just based on our location within the state of Florida," Eckes said.

About half of the district's nearly 10,000 employees will be called in to work if a hurricane threatens South Florida.

"We immediately go to 12-hour shifts once we go into lockdown, as we call it, once we have identified to the staff what time they have to be in and where there is no other movement, internal or external to the facility. They can move about the facility but they can't come and go," Eckes said.

The emergency departments stay open until police and fire crews are off the roads, typically when wind speeds hit 40 mph.

By then, the maternity wards may be full. High-risk patients or those in their last trimesters are often instructed to come to the hospital, where space is set aside for immediate family members.

"That individual is told what to bring in, what supplies to bring in, what recreational games -- as if they were going to a shelter, but they're on hospital premises," Eckes said.

All five of the system's hospitals have rooms full of emergency supplies, as well as contracts with outside suppliers.

"We have unleaded fuel contracts where we actually have individuals not only to supply our fuel tanks on site, but so we can fill up our employees' tanks if necessary," Eckes said.

Preparing for and dealing with an emergency is an enormous undertaking in manpower and money. For hospital emergency planners, the real bottom line is being able to provide care when it is needed most.

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