During Hurricane Harvey, our facility had staff spend the night the whole week, the DON and administrator were readily available as they spent the night in their offices. Staff brought their dogs or cats if they had to.
The timing of these deaths are concerning. These calls seemed to have come all at once in the early morning. Ongoing assessment is important, but I wonder how many of these residents were showing signs of distress before they expired. When stuff hits the fan, everyone is going to protect their license. I had a patient who's air conditioner broke, I got there and she was sweating, I called the senior apt. complex maintenance, made sure they came to fix it, called her son, and called back to check if it was working. I know from experience that heat is unbearable, it comes down to making a decision that the DON or someone may tell you not to do. Maybe the facility DON or administrator didn't want to get cited or in trouble for some reason. Surely they knew the temperature guidelines.
