Although the state made homes update their emergency plans following Hurricane Katrina, many plans depended on power being available at alternate care facilities.

With power out in so much of the state, some of those plans fell through.

Federal requirements for emergency plans at nursing homes are so general that residents can be left shivering in the dark in large-scale disasters such as the ice storm.

The rules do not require generators, stating merely that the care home must have “detailed plans and procedures to meet all potential emergencies and disasters,” said Dorya Huser, the chief of long-term care for the state Health Department.

Failure to plan adequately for natural disasters can have deadly consequences for nursing home residents.

At a New Orleans-area nursing home that failed to heed warnings before Katrina struck, 35 residents died when floodwaters poured into the home.

A federal Office of Inspector General study of 20 Gulf Coast nursing homes found that their staffs did not always follow the emergency plans and some plans lacked important components.

Transportation contracts fell through, alternate centers were unprepared for the influx, and supplies of food, water and medicine were not adequate in some cases, the study found.

It recommended stronger federal requirements for nursing home emergency plans.

Of 65 Oklahoma nursing homes and care centers for the mentally retarded that lost power last week, 44 used generators for emergency power and 11 relocated residents.

It’s unclear what happened at the other 10 homes, although some residents clearly spent days in the dark.

State inspectors warned the owner of one home after temperatures inside dipped to 58 degrees. The home purchased a generator within hours, Huser said.

Carol Curry, a taxi driver for Yellow Cab in Tulsa, said she was sent last week to pick up a resident of one Tulsa nursing home that was without power.

When she arrived, she said, several residents were outside in the dark, apparently waiting for family members.

Curry said her fare had a difficult time remembering the address of her husband’s trailer home, which also appeared to be without power.

“What happens to these people who are evacuated out of these nursing homes if nursing homes are distributing their medications? What happens when they go t o a shelter or to a family member’s home?” Curry asked.

The state’s long-term care industry hopes to avoid such problems through possible legislation next year.

Brett Lessley, the past president of the Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers, said the industry may ask the state to create a pool of funds for generator purchases at long-term care centers. He added that he hoped federal matching funds could be located.

The association may base its request on a program in Arkansas, which paid for 85 percent of the cost of generators for nursing homes.

Lessley said a commercial generator to power his 118- bed nursing home in Claremore would cost $70,000.

Some operators may be able to afford that, but smaller rural homes could not, he said.

“You think of smaller rural facilities, a generator is a big, big expense, and maybe once or twice a year you use it,” he said.

Although Huser said the idea was worth examining, ultimately providers are responsible for ensuring that residents are safe.

“Obviously, I am interested in the residents having everything they need for their comfort and safety. I think that’s part of the obligation to this population, to try to ensure what they need is in place,” she said.

Ziva Branstetter 581-8378
ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.com