How, where to move patients plays big part in preparations
Rose Glamoclija, who owns Boca Nursing Services, started planning for hurricane season months ago, such as by listing which of her nurses and aides can do what and for which clients as a storm approaches. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
Related: Getting prepared for storms
By Charles Elmore
The contingencies, the calculations, the human factors start turning over in Rose Glamoclija’s mind long before hurricane season starts each June 1.
Her company, Boca Nursing Services, cares for scores of patients in their own homes, many set along a seascape capable of delivering both startling beauty and abrupt catastrophe.
“Some of the clients live alone,” Glamoclija said. “They live on barrier islands. Some can feel helpless.”
Once a storm takes an ominous turn, often at what seems like the last minute, there’s no calling time out, no asking for a little breathing space to start preparations then. This takes earlier planning for individual needs and possible evacuations.
People who receive in-home health care — or depend on others for their daily care — represent one strand of a wider story of the preparations taking place each year for when the tropics start roiling.
“Experts are predicting a very active hurricane season, so whether you are a longtime resident, or new to the city, it is critical to prepare now and be ready for a potential storm,” said Boca Raton’s emergency manager, Christine Mucci.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30, with peak storm activity expected between mid-August and late October.
Plans in place
State regulators require in-home care providers — among others — to file comprehensive emergency management plans. Those must include “how services will continue to be provided to clients who must evacuate their homes in an emergency,” according to instructions from the Florida Department of Health.
Large senior facilities, such as the Carlisle in Lantana, also have plans for their residents should a hurricane approach. The Carlisle, for instance, has reciprocal agreements with facilities in other areas that it can turn to in a crisis if residents need to be evacuated.
Glamoclija’s privately owned company also prepares, as need be, to evacuate clients north or south or west, away from the projected path of a storm. Because her company offers to handle relocations, it’s important for her to develop relationships with hotels, nursing homes and hospitals so she knows who can take people in crunch time.
Sometimes it can fall on others, not the in-home care agency, to handle the actual evacuation details. In those instances, the relocation decisions might be in the hands of family members or a patient’s designated caregiver. An agency then coordinates with them to ensure that their services continue to be provided at an evacuation location, says Geiselle Surette, owner of Seagrape Concierge Home Healthcare based in Boca Raton.
“Each staff member would be assigned a client, before during and after the storm,” Surette says.
“We have reached out to all of our clients and gone through all of these details with them. It takes time to make sure we have all of the key elements in place,” Surette says.
Government can also play a role.
Palm Beach County offers special needs sheltering during hurricanes for people who cannot be without electricity because they depend upon life support equipment, have special medical needs, or require assistance with activities of daily living, allowing them to evacuate with their caregivers. Space in a special needs shelter is limited and is prioritized based on need. An online application is available at discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/dem/SpNS/SpecialNeedsApplication.pdf.
County Commissioner Marci Woodward, whose district includes South County’s coastal communities, urges people to be aware of the resources available.
“Take a moment to review the county’s comprehensive hurricane guide,” she advised.
That can be found at discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/PDF/Hurricane-Guide.pdf.
Managing care
Seagrape is only three years old and Surette said the company has not yet had a client needing its help to coordinate an evacuation, but she said such care would fall under the concierge services it provides if the situation arose.
For Glamoclija, whose company has been around for three decades, there’s a practical side to the preparations that amounts to more than just a plan on paper. For example, she employs about 100 nurses and aides at any given time. She takes the time in meetings before hurricane season to establish which of them can handle certain duties in a storm.
That means knowing who can accompany a patient inland to a temporary refuge on short notice. Some workers need to tend to their own families in such a moment.
“By May, we have updated every patient’s home chart,” she said. “That involves calling every doctor and updating their medication lists.”
A common priority is securing at least a two-week supply of all medicines.
With the help of aides, patients might prepare a suitcase in advance of possible evacuation. Supplies at the ready typically include water, nonperishable food and battery-operated lamps, among other things. It’s also good for them to have their IDs and medical information in waterproof bags to include with their other items.
Depending on the patient’s needs, an evacuation could take place by way of a private vehicle or by ambulance. Conditions such as whether patients receive oxygen can affect how they are transported and where they take up temporary residence.
There are usually twists. Glamoclija says one client — a guy in his 90s on Palm Beach County’s southern coast — simply refused to leave with a hurricane coming. She pleaded with him personally. Police said they could not remove him forcibly from his home. The power went out for two hours, but he survived.
The majority of patients tend to fall toward the other end of the spectrum, worrying they might get cut off in the confusion.
Client considerations
Relocation is not limited to people in recommended, voluntary or mandatory evacuation zones, which typically denote high winds or a storm surge.
Just losing electric power can be a very big deal. Thanks to feeder bands, gusts and tornadoes, that can happen in places outside tidy cones or colored spaces on a forecast map.
No power almost certainly means the air conditioning goes out in sweltering conditions, except in a few places with powerful generators. It can also mean elevators don’t work, a serious issue for someone with limited mobility who may live, say, 15 stories up. Or it can be life threatening for someone relying on electrically powered medical equipment.
A big part of Glamoclija’s job involves staying in touch with patients’ families and loved ones, letting them know what is happening each step of the way during a relocation.
And once a storm has passed, the job is hardly wrapped up and done.
“We have the phone numbers for every building,” Glamoclija said. “Is your electricity back? Are your elevators working? Are there power lines down on the street?”
The overarching goal remains the same.
“We’re trying to lift the worry and burden off them,” she said.
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
2025 hurricane details, forecast
• Season started June 1 and ends Nov. 30, with the heaviest storm activity expected from mid-August through October.
• Florida, the state with the highest risk, stands a 92% chance of encountering at least a tropical storm in 2025, and a 65% chance of a hurricane, according to experts from Colorado State University.
• AccuWeather predicts between 13 and 18 named storms in the Atlantic region. That includes seven to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes that reach Category 3 strength or higher (meaning wind speeds of at least 111 mph).
• The first storm names were Andrea and Barry (short-lived tropical storms that formed in June and have already dissipated), to be followed by Chantal, Dexter and Erin.
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