Fresenius Medical Care Responding to Winter Storm Hercules in the Northeast
January 02 2014 - 3:46PM
Business Wire
Nation’s Leading Dialysis Provider Activates
Disaster Response Team to Ensure Continued Patient Care in Areas
that may be Affected
In anticipation of Winter Storm Hercules Fresenius Medical Care
North America (FMCNA), the nation’s leading network of dialysis
facilities, has activated its Incident Command Team to begin
implementing plans to ensure continued patient care in the
Northeast, which may be affected by the storm.
While storms and other natural disasters can be inconvenient and
even life-threatening for entire communities, they pose an
especially serious health threat to dialysis patients whose
treatments are delayed by flooding, electrical power outages or an
inability to access their normal treatment locations. Patients with
end-stage renal disease (ESRD) typically need dialysis treatment
every two days to clean waste products from their blood, remove
extra fluids and control their bodies’ chemistry after their
kidneys have failed.
The Fresenius Medical Care Incident Command Team, assisted by
divisional, technical and regional employees, works closely with
local governments and community organizations such as the Kidney
Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition to prepare for and
respond quickly to a variety of disasters. FMCNA and its partners
are ready to deliver a variety of supplies including generators,
fuel, and bottled water to facilities and employees affected by
this storm. FMCNA staff are also providing extra treatment shifts
for patients at clinics anticipated to be affected by the storm,
including clinics that may be required to close.
Patients seeking help with emergency plans or more information
about arranging alternate dialysis clinics should call FMCNA’s
toll-free Patient Emergency Hotline: 1-800-626-1297.
FMCNA recommends that dialysis patients have the following plans
in place:
- Phone numbers. Keep an emergency
contacts list, and call your dialysis facility when bad weather
threatens.
- Disaster plan. Talk to your
dialysis care team and family ahead of time about what to do in a
disaster. Monitor local weather forecasts.
- Emergency supplies. Pre-pack a
first-aid kit, flashlight and batteries, blankets, radio, cell
phone, food, can opener and medications.
- Transportation. In-center
patients should arrange with a friend, neighbor or family member
for backup transportation to their clinic.
- Power outages. Home dialysis
patients should follow the directions given during home training
for continuing dialysis in an emergency.
- Adjust insulin. Diabetics should
ask their doctor how to adjust their insulin dosage if severe
flooding or storms are forecast for their area.
FMCNA dialysis clinics are equipped with emergency backup
electrical generators to ensure that critical patient care
continues in the event of a power outage. If necessary, dialysis
treatments also can be provided at alternate facilities for
patients – including those from other dialysis companies – whose
regular clinics are temporarily unavailable.
“Advance preparation helps us to ensure uninterrupted dialysis
treatments for our patients,” said Bill Numbers, Senior Vice
President of Operations Support and Incident Commander for Disaster
Response and Planning. “FMCNA’s resources and national partnerships
give us the ability to coordinate the delivery of resources from
across the country to any locale within hours of a disaster.”
FMCNA’s natural disaster response plan has been tested and
validated many times in recent years, from Hurricanes Sandy, Ike
and Katrina, to last year’s series of severe thunderstorms, which
left a trail of property destruction and power outages stretching
from Illinois to New Jersey. As part of its business plan for
continuous quality improvement, the company has incorporated the
lessons learned from each of these events to improve its processes,
resulting in very effective disaster response capabilities.
For more information on FMCNA’s disaster response efforts and
important tips to help patients prepare for any emergency, visit
FMCNA’s Disaster Response website.
About Fresenius Medical Care North America
Through our leading network of more than 2,150 dialysis
facilities in North America and our vascular access centers,
laboratory, pharmacy and affiliated hospitals and nephrology
practices, Fresenius Medical Care provides renal services to
hundreds of thousands of people throughout the United States,
Mexico and Canada. We are also the continent’s top producer of
dialysis equipment, dialyzers and related disposable products and a
major supplier of renal pharmaceuticals.
For more information about the company, visit www.fmcna.com; for
information about patient services, visit
www.ultracare-dialysis.com.
Media contact:Full & ByBrooks Toombs,
1-617-638-0022toombsb@fullandby.coorCompany
contact:Fresenius Medical CareRosemary Heinold,
781-699-4171rosemary.heinold@fmc-na.com
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