It’s been hurricane season for less than 48 hours, and we already have Tropical Storm Cristobal churning in the Gulf of Mexico. While we’re certainly blessed to have access to real-time emergency management messaging, emergency planning, hurricane preparedness checklists, and hurricane readiness resources, the administrative and medical teams at Matagorda Regional Medical Center (MRMC) would like to call your attention to a very important question:
“In the event of an evacuation, am I prepared to protect my health and the health of my loved ones if services at MRMC and nearby hospitals are disrupted?”
While MRMC has been actively preparing for the 2020 hurricane season since the last hurricane season, it’s important to know that things don’t always go as planned. To that end, we’d like to re-share with you the warning message we produced after experiencing evacuations during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
When ordered to evacuate in the event of inclement weather or any other emergency situation, healthcare services in our county will be disrupted. Disruption may range from longer response times and/or reduced services to no healthcare services at all.
We strongly encourage all residents to evacuate when ordered – especially those who need continuous access to uninterrupted healthcare services. Below is just a partial list of patients who may be at significantly higher risk during times of healthcare disruption. If you or someone in your care needs timely access to medical attention, following local orders to evacuate is always the right thing to do.
Here is a partial list of high-risk patients who should become and remain prepared for potential evacuation during hurricane season:
- Expectant mothers
- Dialysis patients
- IV Therapy patients
- Anyone currently receiving Home Health services
- Anyone discharged from the hospital within the past 30 days
- Anyone who visited the Emergency Room within the past 30 days
- Anyone with home equipment requiring electricity (oxygen, ventilator, etc.)
Rest assured that MRMC’s medical and administrative teams are prepared to serve our community in the event of a hurricane or evacuation to the greatest extent possible. But since we cannot predict the future or the scope of disrupted services during an evacuation, we strongly advise all Matagorda County residents to follow local evacuation and preparedness orders.
