Special Need Individuals and Hurricane Preparations

9.24.2007

Special Need Individuals and Hurricane Preparations

NOW is the time to start to prepare for next year when it comes to issues of Special needs loved ones. I know it seems crazy when we still have two months left in THIS hurricane season to be talking about preparing for next year season. But frankly this IS the time to be preparing.

This is especially true when you need to consider the medical care concerns of loved ones with special needs. Many families don’t realize that in a disaster situation, the companies they contract with to help in the transporting of their loved ones with special transport needs may also have VERY large and profitable contracts with medical facilities that will get priority over the individual contracts for transport. This can mean that you mother or father, brother or sister wife or husband who is in frail condition be ‘accommodated as necessary’. The question then is: ‘Accommodated as necessary” BY WHOM? -- The transport company or the patient / loved one? NOW is the time to find that answer.

A way to help deal with such a situation is to join together with other families in your area and do a collective bargaining with a transport company concerning your loved ones with disabilities in a hurricane situation. The price may be reduced if 3-4 families join together to negotiate a price. Also if the need should arise then there are many more in the group who will be calling for necessary assistance at one time. Additionally if the group can get together and do the research of where to stay in the possibility of a hurricane disaster the research task will go much more swiftly. Better plans can be collectively made and there will be additional helping hands to be of support.

An example of his would be to have 2-3 families join up together and reach and agree on a motel at a safe distance from the general hurricane paths. If the family makes arrangements with the motel a head of time then the handicap rooms will be reserved when needed for their frail – special need loved ones with necessary bathroom supports and barrier free access. The transport company will know that all the families are going to one location so the price will be cheaper and there will be family support for each other during the evacuation process.

One of the great tragedies of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy was the Sunrise Living Services Inc of McLean, VA. The family and others thought they were doing the best for their loved ones in the hurricane transportation arrangements that were made. It’s a shame such a tragedy occurred.

As a result of that incident and the nursing home death in another Gulf Coast nursing home, many families are determined that it is best for them to make their own personal arrangements and provide the necessary care that will be needed during a hurricane situation.

If this is the case for you and your family then it is important to start now to prepare for a hurricane. Also it is best to negotiate the price including the fuel or mileage charge at current prices or current estimated prices before the fuel prices hit the roof later. True you may have to put down a deposit but it is well worth the piece to have peace of mind that can bring later on. It is also wise to see if a family member can transport with the loved one as a means of reducing anxiety forr everyone concerned, provide more individual attention and care to your loved one as well as help to reduce the staffing necessary in an emergency situation. This helps to free the company up to be of assistance to other and cut their costs as well. This is a win-win-win situation for all concerned. The patient/loved one gets the love and attention they need and want, the company gets more help and support while reducing costs and the family attending care loved ones have made the best plans they can under difficult circumstances of helping the handicapped in a hurricane disaster.

I hope all who have special needs family members / loved ones will start now to prepare for a hurricane situation whenever it should occur.

COMMENTS WELCOMED!

Are you or have you been in a hurricane disaster? Do you know someone who is recovering or has been affected by a hurricane in the past?

Please share your thoughts and stories here on this blog.

All I ask is that everyone be respectful and sensitive of each other and that identifying information about a person who is not the author be limited to protect their privacy.

Pease, Blessings & Be Safe!

Terrie

Web Site: http://www.trainforahurricane.com/

Web Site http://trainforahurricane.blogspot.com/

Dr. Terrie Modesto, Critical Incident Thanatologist

She is an international expert in dying, death, loss and critical incident individual and community disaster preparation and response, with over 60 courses, books and training manuals to her credit. Her latest book is: Train For A Hurricane. She has 20+ years experience in assisting those in need. Dr. Modesto is available for consultations, lectures media interviews.

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All writings here are copyrighted by Terrie Modesto and Train For A Hurricane.com. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

Nursing Home, Relatives Settle Rita Suit

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jK518EkzDL0HQN7Bdiri_aZU1jlw

2 hours ago

HOUSTON (AP) — The families of all 23 nursing home patients who died in a bus explosion as they fled Hurricane Rita have settled their lawsuits against the nursing home that evacuated them, lawyers said.

Lawyers for the families and for Sunrise Senior Living Services Inc., of McLean, Va., said terms of the settlement were confidential.

Brighton Gardens, a Houston-area assisted living community owned by Sunrise, bussed residents north as Hurricane Rita approached the Texas coast two years ago. A rear wheel of the bus caught fire in the early morning of Sept. 23, 2005, on a freeway near Dallas. Within minutes the vehicle was engulfed in flames and smoke.

Those who died in the fire were too frail to escape the bus on their own. Fourteen passengers survived.

"I would say our differences have been amicably resolved, and both sides are happy to put those issues behind them," said attorney Randy Sorrels, who represents some of the victims' families.

Spokesman Jamison Gosselin said Sunrise Senior Living had settled all claims against it. "This has been a heart-wrenching time for many people, and we certainly share their sadness," he said.

A federal investigation found the bus fire started when poorly lubricated wheel bearings overheated in the right rear well, igniting a tire. The fire spread to oxygen canisters in the bus's cabin, causing them to explode.

Victims and relatives of victims last year reached an $11 million settlement with the bus company, Global Limo Inc., and BusBank, the travel broker that hired it.