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Long-Term Care Providers Need to Look at Their Disaster Plans

What the Kirkland verdict means for emergency preparedness.

One of the first places in the United States that felt the impact of COVID-19 was the Life Care Center of Kirkland. This is where two residents died very early at the beginning of the pandemic.

See this article: “What the Kirkland verdict means for emergency preparedness.”

The center was not held responsible for the deaths, but in my estimation they dodged a bullet. Being early in the process when little was known about the virus likely aided them tremendously in not being held responsible for the negative outcomes.

Yet, as the author of the article explains, it is a “shot across the bow” of such facilities to ratchet up their emergency preparedness readiness for all forms of disasters.

We have an aging population in the USA and there will be many more elder care facilities popping up. As you look to place a parent, grandparent or other loved one into a facility, remember to investigate, just like for a school, what their disaster plans are.

The continuum of care is a really big deal. You are not picking them up and taking them home with you.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.