While many Florida residents evacuated in the wake of Hurricane Matthew, physicians and hospitals are taking necessary precautions to prepare for the hurricane's fallout, according to Medscape.
Here are six things to know:
1. Many physicians are closing their offices and hospitals are going into lockdown mode and getting their generators ready. Some clinicians are preparing overnight backpacks if they have to take on emergency cases.
2. Cocoa Beach, Fla.-based Cape Canaveral Hospital has been transferring patients to other hospitals in its system since Oct. 5, due to its geographical positioning making it vulnerable to damage.
3. Classified as a category four hurricane, Hurricane Matthew isn't projected to reach Georgia's coast until later tonight. In preparation for the hurricane, nearly 30 Medical Association of Georgia volunteer physicians and the state public health department will help hospitals treat evacuees and hurricane victims.
4. Medical Association of Georgia and the public health department also have capabilities to set up an inflatable field hospital in two hours, if needed.
5. Linda Landesman, DrPH, MSW, author of Public Health Management of Disasters: The Practice Guide, offers the following advice for physicians:
• Tell your patients about a temporary office closure and where they can receive care.
• Ensure the practice has updated contact information or each staff member. Have staff members share their availability for providing emergent care at a different location.
• Secure clinical and billing data.
• Relocate important business documents to a safe location.
• Remove medications and vaccines in the office and keep them at the right temperature when transporting them.
6. Following a storm, physicians should prepare for an influx of patients. Prepare for certain conditions such as complications from mold, which makes patients sick.
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