With Hurricane Dorian gaining power and reaching Category 4 force Friday evening as it approaches the southeastern United States, some nursing homes are still waiting for critical, potentially life-saving equipment to arrive for the safety of the residents and staff.
About one in five nursing homes is waiting for a temporary generator to be delivered in their preparations for the storm.
The urgency for these preparations come after Hurricane Irma led to the failure of power generators in a nursing home, contributing to the deaths of some of the patients.
On Tuesday, four staff members of the rehabilitation center at Hollywood Hills were arrested on charges of felony aggravated manslaughter after their alleged inaction lead to 12 elderly patients passing away from heat stroke after the facility lost power during Hurricane Irma two years ago, according to ABC News.
A family member of one of the victims of a nursing home death cries while hearing the names read aloud at a news conference on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, in Hollywood, Florida. Additional arrests are expected in the case against the Rehabilitation Center of Hollywood Hills, a Florida nursing home where 12 patients died in sweltering heat after Hurricane Irma knocked out the facility's air conditioning in 2017, Hollywood Police said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Florida has since created a website to monitor generators at nursing homes as Dorian approaches. According to Florida law, nursing homes are required to maintain "safe indoor air temperatures" and not exceed 81 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 96 hours after losing power.
Only 41.5% of nursing homes have fully implemented permanent generators, and 36.9% have temporary generators on site, according to the generator status map.
About 147 providers, or 21.4%, which hold 17,754 beds between them, have temporary generators that will be delivered to the facilities. That's about one out of five providers in Florida who are waiting on generators to be delivered.
Another three providers with 338 beds between them plan on evacuation in the event of a power outage, according to the site.
"The Agency for Healthcare Administration is making site visits or calls to all facilities where the state does not have updated info about generators," Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference on Friday. He estimated that there were about 120 facilities that the government did not have updated info for statewide.
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The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is also making preparations for the possible scenarios Dorian might bring.
Inmates from Brevard County were filling and distributing sandbags to motorists on Thursday as counties along Florida's east coast brace for the storms. The sand and bags were provided by the Brevard County Public Works Department.
The FDC is also preparing its own facilities for the storm's impact.
"In response to hurricanes and any state of emergency, the Florida Department of Corrections' highest priorities are public safety, the security of the institutions, and the safety of our staff and the inmates under Department supervision," the FDC said in a press release from Thursday.
UPI/JOE MARINO
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In preparation for Hurricane Dorian, inmates from Brevard County Jail fill sand bags and place them into the vehicles of waiting motorists near Melbourne, Florida on Thursday, August 29, 2019. Central Floridians are making preparations for the storm which is anticipated to grow into a Category 4 system as it approaches the area sometime on Monday. (UPI/Joe Marino)
The facilities have brought in extra water and food supplies, and the decision to evacuate will be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to the release. Probation officers will be instructing offenders on community supervision what to do in the case of an evacuation.
Should an evacuation be necessary, the FDC will post inmate locations on its website about 24 hours after relocation. Updates can be found on the FDC's Facebook, Twitter and website.
Immediately after Dorian was upgraded to a Category 4 storm, Brevard County, Florida, issued a mandatory evacuation order ahead of the storm.
The first update since the press release was the cancellation of weekend visitation for correctional facilities statewide over Labor Day weekend in preparation for Dorian.
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