Emergency preparedness is a necessity for assisted living in San Antonio, TX, and in fact is mandated by law. Below are some ways in which community administrators can evaluate their preparedness to ensure residents are always protected from the unexpected.
Consider Your Overall Emergency Plans
What specific emergency plans does the community already have in place? Are the team members and personnel trained and regularly updated on them? You’ll need a way of continuously providing water, medication, shelter and food if normal lines of supply are suddenly severed. There should always be someone on hand that can take charge in emergency scenarios, along with a backup leader in case they become sick or incapacitated.
Contingency Planning for Specific Threats
Common threats which retirement communities face include but are not limited to:
Power Outages
A power outage can result from natural or manmade causes. Every retirement community should have multiple backup generators on hand which can be used to restore power during such incidents. These generators should be situated in safe locations which are well ventilated yet not in close proximity to residents. In addition to traditional generators that use fuel, there are solar models which generate their power from sunlight. Using a combination of the two is advised.
Theft and Vandalism
Criminals often perceive aging adults as being weak, frail and vulnerable yet loaded with cash or valuables due to the decades they’ve had to amass it. As a consequence, high end retirement communities may be subject to attack, especially in a situation where law and order breaks down due to a natural or manmade emergency.
As such, every retirement community should retain a professional security team that is available 24 hours a day to prevent unauthorized visitors or trespassers from accessing community grounds, and security personnel themselves should be subject to extensive background checks to ensure they have no criminal record. In addition to screening and physically preventing criminals from accessing the community itself, the security team should also be prepared to stop cyber criminals and hackers from accessing community computer networks.
Some associations also provide insurance which protects residents in the event of theft, the exit and entry doors are always locked and monitored, and there are cameras and motion detecting sensors all over the community grounds.
Flood and Fire Safety
Every retirement community should have an evacuation plan in place that can be used in the event of floods or fire. Ideally, the buildings and dwellings should also be constructed with materials that are fire retardant, and fire extinguishers should be situated in key locations where community caretakers know how to quickly find and use them.
Federal Recommendations
The federal government has made a number of general recommendations that every retirement community should follow. These include:
- Having a minimum of three days’ worth of food and water storage
- Having a plan to procure more food and water in the event existing supplies are depleted
- Increasing water and food storage when a natural disaster or storm is approaching
Setting aside freezers which are used to hold frozen bags of food, medication or water can be used to assist residents who are overheated during summer.
