Fresenius Medical Care Responding to Winter Storm Hercules in the Northeast
Nation’s
Leading Dialysis Provider Activates Disaster Response Team to Ensure Continued
Patient Care in Areas that May Be Affected
WALTHAM,
Mass. – January 2, 2014 – 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.