Transcription:

Evo Terra (Host):   Severe weather can strike at any time. For those living in hurricane prone region like ours, having a hurricane prep kit and an evacuation plan is common practice. Have you considered your own unique medical needs and how they will impact the contents of your kit and your plan? To help us think through this, today I’ll chat with Katie Lomax, a certified family nurse practitioner with Wrightsville Beach Family Medicine part of the NHRMC physician group. This is Health Conversations podcast, the show by New Hannover Regional Medical Center. I'm Evo Terra. Katie, can you tell us what kind of medical supplies we should have in our hurricane prep kits?

Katie Lomax, RN, BSN, MSN, FNP-C (Guest):   Yeah. So the average person should ensure to have at least one week—ideally two weeks—of their prescribed medications. Another important thing to have on hand is just a basic first aid kit containing some band aids, topical antibiotic ointment, some over the counter medicines such as Tylenol, ibuprofen, and Benadryl. It’s also important if a medical device is being used—such as a glucometer or a nebulizer machine—that deice is available as well as adequate supplies for us of that device.

Host:   Right and probably any batteries or power cords or other things like that necessary so that we can continue to use the things we need to keep us healthy.

Katie:   Correct. So it’s kind of non-medical supplies, but flashlight, extra batteries, water, canned food, and paying attention to diet restrictions so that appropriate food choices are available. If a weather radio is there, that’s a benefit. Sometimes having some extra cash or a full tank of gas is a good thing.

Host:   Always a good idea. Let’s say that the person we’re talking about—and you mentioned some of this—has some special medical needs. Perhaps diabetes. You mentioned breathing problems with those kits or heart disease. What sort of additional measures should they take to prepare for a hurricane?

Katie:   Sure. So, again, I think the most important emphasis is on adequate supply of medications. For specific devices—For diabetics having their glucometer, having plenty of test strips and lancets and a way to keep their medication refrigerated if it needs to be refrigerated. Oxygen is a big thing to consider and contacting your oxygen supplier or durable medical equipment supplier in advance of a hurricane is important to make sure that you have a supply of tanks and portable tanks so that if the power goes out you have a way to have your oxygen. Consideration for patients on ventilators that are at home. It’s not super common, but that would be important to make sure that there’s a backup power method such as a generator or something to provide power to that if the power went out. Also it’s helpful to have an updated medication list and an emergency contact list of your doctor’s office and your pharmacy.

Host:   Great advice there. Now, as you mentioned, trying to prepare ahead of a hurricane is a good idea, and we typically have plenty of advanced notice when they're headed our way. Then getting out of the way is often the best idea. For those with special medical needs who are able to evacuate, what sort of arrangements should they make for their potential medical needs while they're away from their home and probably from their regular care providers.

Katie:   Thankfully, most patients are able to evacuate anywhere, again, as long as they have their own medications in a two week supply on hand. For patients that have special needs, I think it’s important that there's a plan discussed in advance with their healthcare provider of exactly where they're going to go to ensure that the resources that they need are available there. An example would be a dialysis patient. That they need to make sure where they're going to evacuate to is an area that has a dialysis center. Another example would be a patient that’s getting chemotherapy treatment. They need to make sure that they're going to a hospital facility that has oncology services. So that would just need to be planned out and discussed with your provider in advance.

Host:   Earlier you mentioned making sure you have plenty of medications and supplies on hand, but how does one do that? It’s kind of uncommon to ask a doctor for a multiple week plan or many months. How exactly should someone go about that process to make sure they have enough of the supplies necessary to get them through a hurricane or an evacuation?

Katie:   During kind of emergency situations, which would be considered if a hurricane was headed towards your location, the pharmacies and the insurance companies allow for extra refills and availability of medicines in those circumstances. So contacting your pharmacy. Again if you have medical equipment, contacting your medical equipment supplier to make sure you have all the resources and devices that you need. It’s important to communicate with your provider’s office about those extra refills. That can be through contacting us on the phone. We have this MyChart patient portal where you can message us through that.  

Host:   Let’s talk more about that for a moment. The idea of talking with your doctor or healthcare workers about hurricane preparedness. Is that something everyone should be doing? When is the right time to do it?

Katie:   We are more than happy to talk with our patients about any of their concerns at any time. For patients with special needs or those certain extenuating circumstances, that should be a plan that’s in place prior to hurricane season. The patients should be involved, their provider should be involved, and their caregiver. So a lot of times if you have an annual physical, that could be a good time just to have that conversation and say, “Hey, we talked about this last year. Nothing’s changed. Or hey there are some changes that are happening.” Our resources, the New Hannover website, has a blog that was posted in September of last year that has some information similar to what we’re discussing today. There are county registries, or a website called Ready North Carolina that has helpful information about preparing for hurricanes.

Host:   Last question Katie. Is there something or anything new we should be considering during our hurricane preparations this year specifically due to COVID-19 and the pandemic?

Katie:   Great question. So I think the most obvious answer is you need to have a mask. Unfortunately, that’s part of our world now. So I do recommend if you can have access to disposable masks, that would be more beneficial as cloth masks need to be washed and that wouldn’t be possible if power was lost. Another consideration is to ensure that you have adequate toiletries. The big thing with toilet paper. Make sure you have plenty of toilet paper. It’s helpful to have gloves and soap and hand sanitizer available. A storm shelter is definitely an option, but because of COVID I think social distancing would be difficult. If possible, that’s a last resort. Having other available places to stay is ideal.

Host:   All great and common sense things that it’s always helpful to have a reminder of. Katie thank you for your time today.

Katie:   Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. I appreciate it.

Host:   Thanks again to Katie Lomax for joining me today from Wrightsville Beach Family Medicine. Visit nhrmcphsyiciangroup.org to learn more about the practice or call 910-344-8900 to schedule an appointment. If you’d like to learn more about hurricane preparedness, please visit readync.org or your county’s emergency management website for helpful tips, evacuation routes, and ongoing updates before, during, and after a hurricane or other weather event. Thank you for listening to this episode of Healthy Conversations podcast, the show by New Hannover Regional Medical Center. I am Evo Terra. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out our entire library of past episodes, which you can find at nhrmc.org.