Association of Power Outage With Mortality and Hospitalizations Among Florida Nursing Home Residents After Hurricane Irma

Abstract

Key Points Question What is the association of a power outage after a hurricane with hospitalization and mortality among nursing home residents? Findings In this retrospective cohort study of 54 095 nursing home residents in Florida, more than half of residents experienced power loss when Hurricane Irma landed in 2017. Power loss was associated with an increased odds of mortality within 7 days and 30 days after the storm. Meaning The study results suggest that further research should assess the benefits and costs of policies that require nursing homes to have emergency alternate power sources.

Applying the age‐friendly‐health system 4M paradigm to reframe climate‐related disaster preparedness for nursing home populations

“…However, recent studies and reports continue to raise questions about NH preparedness and integration within the infrastructure envisioned by the NRF, and to suggest regulatory compliance is not enough to protect NH residents in disasters. [22][23][24][25][26][27] To improve overall NH disaster preparedness, a framework that combines key concepts of resident care and coordination with critical resources outside the NH is required. 6) Improve and sustain care.…”

Association of Nursing Home Exposure to Hurricane-Related Inundation With Emergency Preparedness

“…2,3,16 These preventable deficiencies heighten the risk of resident morbidity and mortality following exposure to severe weather events. [6][7][8]17 In this study, we estimate the prevalence of nursing homes that are subject to severe hurricanerelated inundation within Coastal Atlantic and Gulf Coast states. We then evaluate whether exposure status is associated with adherence to emergency preparedness standards by nursing homes across regulatory regions overseen by 5 CMS regional offices.…”

Hurricanes and Anomalous Heat in the Caribbean

“…Moreover, HI values in the Caribbean rarely exceed 35°C and, nonetheless, there is evidence that excess mortality occurs under elevated heat conditions (Méndez‐Lázaro et al., 2021) and that heat is a main public health concern (Méndez‐Lázaro, 2015; Méndez‐Lázaro, Muller‐Karger, et al., 2018; Méndez‐Lázaro, Pérez‐Cardona, et al., 2018; Méndez‐Lázaro et al., 2021). Additionally, tropical cyclones can leave society more vulnerable to heat (Kozlov, 2021; Skarha et al., 2021), a risk that is increased by anthropogenic climate change (Feng et al., 2020; Gasparrini & Leone, 2014; Lin, 2019; Matthews et al., 2019).…”