I don't know about you but I'm a little freaked out over the weather patterns in the last couple of years. Tsunamis, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, floods, fires - I mean, what is going on? I'm in California so I, of course, am waiting for "the big one" - the big earthquake that will send my house crashing to the ground. I'm already storing water and non-perishable food in crush proof containers and I make my husband remind me every so often how to shut of the main gas line to prevent us all from blowing up if it's punctured.

Okay, I know I'm being a little melodramatic and perhaps a bit paranoid, but a healthy fear of mother nature is always a good thing. It's what keeps us on our toes and prepared for the worst. So, I'm pretty prepared, but what about the elderly, the infirm, and the dying?

Hospice agencies and caregivers have the responsibility of not only making sure their personal disaster plans are in place, but must also have a plan for their patients. A recent blog on Caregiverlist.com reminds us all that we should have a plan in place in case the worst happens and includes a list of things health care agencies need to know to formulate the plan.

Pallimed, another hospice and palliative care blog, posted an interview with David Wensel, DO, a hospice & palliative medicine physician for Hospice of North Iowa in Mason City, IA about the recent floods in that area and what challenges they faced. Here is just a small excerpt from that interview:

Pallimed: What are the important lessons learned from the flooding to share with other hospice agencies as they look at their own disaster planning?

Dr. Wensel: The greatest lesson learned is to plan for the worse case scenario. As a hospice think about if you lost half your staff, some of your patients had to be evacuated, and you had no safe water. You can never plan for every possible problem that might come up, but it would be very helpful to talk through different disaster plans with your staff. You never realize how wonderful it is to wash your hands, brush your teeth or take a bath until you can't. I had never thought about all the things we do to care for patients that require water.

Do you live in a disaster-prone area? What steps have you or your agency taken to implement a disaster plan?