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Report: Hospitals struggled to stay open during Hurricane Sandy

Hospital Safety Insider, September 18, 2014

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A new report from the Department of Health and Human Services says hospitals in the tri-state New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut struggled to stay operational during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, according to a story on the website fireengineering.com.

The report, released Sept. 17, estimates that about 89 percent of the 172 hospitals in the hardest-hit areas of the tri-state area experienced “critical challenges” such as electrical and communication failures or problems getting enough fuel or beds to meet their needs. It also said that community emergency plans did not do enough to plan for worker shortages or alternate routes to workers in during an emergency.

Also according to the report, many of the hospitals that experienced problems during the storm were cited for deficiencies such as not properly testing generators, or having workers that were not properly trained or experienced in working in no-power environments, leading to some nurses being trained “on the fly” to do certain tasks such as counting IV drips manually rather than relying on machines.

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