Cathy Cress

Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management

  • Home
  • Products
    • GCM Manual New 5th edition
    • Books
    • Geriatric Care Management – 4th Edition
    • Mom Loves You Best
    • Care Managers
  • Online Classes
    • Recommendations
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Past Webinars
  • Speaking
  • About
    • Recommendations
    • Interviews
  • Blog
    • Aging
    • Geriatric Care Manager
    • Siblings
    • Webinar
  • Contact

Rural Living Elders Greatest Risk to Perish in Massive Western Fires

September 17, 2020

ELDERLY 2XMORE LIKELY TO DIE IN FIRES

The U.S. Fire Administration estimates that older adults are more than twice as likely than the general population to die in fires. One-quarter of the Paradise residents, in the devastating fire that burnt down an entire California town in 2018, through PG&E Malfeasance had a disability which is double the statewide statistic. One geriatric care manager who lives there, lost his home and practice trying to rescue a local older client.

Decades of research confirm that the physical limitations that accompany advanced age make it much more difficult to escape disaster, but so do the social isolation and stubbornness that experts say are common among the elderly.

BREATHING PROBLEMS FOR SENIORS UBER RISK IN FIRES

The elderly are at the greatest risk for fire-related breathing problems according to the CDC.So if they just live in fire-prone areas and do not lose their home the very air they breathe can make them ill or actually kill them. Wildfire smoke can in the worst cases be deadly, especially among older people. Studies have shown that when waves of smoke hit, the rate of hospitalizations rises, and patients experience respiratory problems, heart attacks, and strokes.

In 23 counties, older Californians overwhelmingly choose to live in fire-prone areas. Including in San Luis Obispo County, where 82% do live in rural areas.

That means nearly 2 million older Californians live in areas where wildfire is a formidable threat. It is not only the elderly who are losing homes in these rural Forest fires but those in facilities.

According to NPR in San Francisco, there are more than 10,000 long-term care facilities in California, from six-bed assisted living homes to large nursing centers.

Their analysis found that 35% of these facilities are in risky areas. With as many as 105,000 residents to safeguard if fire comes, these care home operators must now consider how to evacuate during a pandemic, a more complicated and difficult task.

California is aging faster than the rest of the country. In 10 years, the state projects the number of people over 65 will grow to 8.6 million.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FIRES TURNED REDWOODS INTO INFERNOS 

In my county, Santa Cruz, wildfires in our Santa Cruz mountain forest burnt down 25 % of our county in the past month. Among the many senior facilities damaged was Brookdale Senior Living which was evacuated due to smoke damage and inhalation by residents, along with the Kaiser facility. Both had to send patients to the Bay area, where the Brookdale case, frail confused elders were sleeping on cots close to each other, risking COVID -19 and exacerbating their confusion, according to one daughter who moved her mother to her home in Santa Cruz permanently.
ELDERS COLLIDE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

“There is absolutely a colliding of the events of both population aging and climate change,” said the University of South Florida gerontologist Kathryn Hyer.

TRUMP ANSWER CA MANAGE FOREST- YET FEDS CONTROL 57%- CA 3%

President Trump claimed when he came to California a few days ago that the problem with wildfires was forest management. Governor Newsome agreed but pointed out that 57% of California forests are managed by the federal government and 3% by the state of California. When it was pointed out in that state meeting that the problems with the forest were rooted in climate change, Trump’s answer was, it will get colder, you’ll see..

Trump has rolled back regulations, like auto emissions that prevented climate change- now ravaging our forests .“As a historic figure, he is one of the most culpable men in America contributing to the suffering and death that is now occurring through climate-related tragedy,” Jerry Brown, the former California governor who made climate change his signature issue, said in an interview on Sunday

It seems that it is only getting hotter, harder to breathe more dangerous for all Western residents

but radically  more so for elders, who are number 1 in health problems, number 1 risk in COVID and breathing problems and live at home or in facilities in the middle of these mammoth forests, turned into infernos  of death

 

 

Filed Under: Aging Families and Disaster, aging family crisis, Aging Life Care, ALCA Disaster Plan, Assisted Living Crisis, Blog, COVID-19 & Wildfire, Disaster, Disaster 2020, ELDER FIRE RIsk, Elderly Disaster Plan, FIRES, GCM Disaster Plan, Home care disaster plan, Home Care Emergency Coronavirus Plan, Nursing Home disaster plan, Paradise Fire, Rural Elder Fire Risk, Santa Cruz Fires, Trump Administration, Trump's lack a federal response, Trust Departments, WESTERN FIRES, Wildfire Tornados Tagged With: aging parent care, aging parent crisis, Breathing Problems in fires, California wildfires, care manager, case manager, crisis with aging parents, Elder risk in fires, Long Term Facilities Risk Fires, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, preparing for a disaster, Rural Aging & Wildfires, Rural Fires in West, Rural Risks in Wildfires, Santa Cruz Wildfires, Trump response Ca Wildfires, Western fires & Elders, wildfires in west

Do You Have Emergency Procedures For Coronavirus For Your Agency?

March 20, 2020

 

 

Do you have procedures for an emergency at your agency?

 

The coronavirus has put home care and geriatric care management agencies in a terrible bind. Most GCM ‘s or home care agencies had no emergency procedure in place for any disaster but even if they did a pandemic was not anticipated by almost anyone in the catalog of emergencies.

AGING LIFE CARE ASSOCIATION HELP WITH CORONAVIRUS

Now that it is upon us geriatric care managers can benefit from the Aging Life Care Association’s webinars on Zoom to help their ALCA and geriatric Care Management agencies. The ability of any care management agency, serving frail elders, to function despite an emergency is critical. For example for members the have an upcoming Webinar through Zoom-TAKING ON NEW CLIENTS WHILE BEING “QUARANTINED”, which is incredibly valuable

They offer a daily blog for geriatric care managers with updates on an ALCA of GCM Practice under the coronavirus threat and are much-needed resources in these highly traumatic times. With agencies unable to directly see clients in states where like California have imposed at Stay at Home order where geriatric care manager cannot see their clients except virtually and on top of that both care staff and care management staff may have come down with the virus, information about how to keep your agency going is invaluable. Membership in ALCA could be very valuable to geriatric care managers. If you join tell them I sent you.

 

NEED FOR AN EMERGENCY PLAN FOR EVERY DISASTER

An emergency plan for all emergencies is necessary for all geriatric care management and ALCA agencies. With massive hurricane Dorian lasting 2 weeks last year and the west once again facing massive wildfires, tornados already wreaking devastation this season and the polar vortex perhaps coming again next year-do you have emergency procedures?

Informal agency emergency procedures work in a start-up care management business but what if the solo practitioner is ill and out?

 If illness, accident, some other unforeseen event overtakes an owner or man­ager, no emergency procedures can be suicide in an emergency, not to mention liabil­ity to your elderly clients.

You could be like these two GCM’s who lost their businesses in weather events that knocked them out.

PARADISE FIRE DEVASTATION OF A GERIATRIC CARE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

GCM Jim Boyd of Paradise, California lost everything in the catastrophic fire in the town of Paradise, where he lived and practiced. He was trying to check on an aging client in Paradise, located in the midst of the Sierra forest when the huge forest fire immolated the entire town. Although a Go Fund Me started by the Aging Life raised almost $10,000 for Jim, he did not have enough to rebuild his home where he had his home-based GCM business. Then he and  90% of the residents of Paradise never returned.

 Every geriatric care professional needs a formal, written backup plan that dictates action, should a disaster or emergency arise.

It ‘s necessary to assess your company’s risk of temporary or permanent service disrup­tion if a disaster or emergency is experienced. This may seem an overwhelming task at first, but when you break it down into pieces, it becomes workable.

Learn about preparing for emergencies how you can prepare you, your clients and staff for disasters and absences of key personnel.

 

With pandemic’s, global warming’s effects causing floods, larger hurricanes, and the specter of more catastrophic weather events, you need to prepare now. Get the new Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4th edition now– or out in Kindle or hardback with an excellent chapter on how to prepare your agency for disasters, plus forms to use, by GCM President Liz Barlow.           

 

 

SIGN UP FOR MY LATEST FREE WEBINAR

Filed Under: Aging, aging life business, Aging Life Care, Aging Life Care Assocaition, aging life care manager, ALCA Beneifits, ALCA Disaster Plan, CAREGIVER RESOUCES, Coronavirus emergency plan, Elderly Disaster Plan, Emergency Plan, GCM Disaster Plan, Geriatric Care Management Business, geriatric care management emergency proceduress, Geriatric Care Manager, geriatric care manager, geriatric social worker, Home care disaster plan, Home Care Emergency Coronavirus Plan, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, Private Duty Home Care Tagged With: aging life care manager, care manager, case manager, coronavirus, coronavirus and seniors, Coronavirus disaster plan, disaster plan, elder emergency preparedness, GCM disaster plan, geriatric care management, global warming, hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, Medicare & coronavirus, nurse advocate, nurse care manager, pandemic disaster plan, Paradise, preparing for a disaster, wildfires in west

Contact

Use the form on the
Contact page to email Cathy.

Email

Connect with Cathy

Get Cathy’s “10 Critical Success Steps to a Profitable Aging Life or GCM Business”

  • Home
  • GCM Manual New 5th edition
  • Books »
  • Services »
  • About
  • Recommendations
  • Blog »
  • Contact

Copyright © 2012–2021 CressGCMConsult & Cathy Cress - Expert in Aging Life and Geriatric Care Management | Site Designed by Kissa's Kreations