For most households a hurricane means water, batteries, and boredom. For a household caring for someone on oxygen, insulin, dialysis, or a powered bed, it is a clinical problem — and the arrangements that matter take days or weeks to set up, which is why they have to be made before a storm is on the forecast.

Register early

Florida counties maintain a special needs registry for residents who require assistance during an evacuation, including people who depend on electricity for medical equipment. Registration is handled by your county emergency management office, generally opens well before the season, and is not something to attempt once a warning is issued. Ask us and we will point you to the right office for your county.

Also notify your electric utility if someone in the home is dependent on powered medical equipment, and contact your oxygen or equipment supplier to ask specifically what their storm protocol is.

Medication and supplies

• Keep an emergency supply of every medication where your plan allows it, and ask the pharmacy about early refills ahead of a storm
• Keep the written medication list, allergy list, physician contacts, insurance details, and a copy of the plan of care in a waterproof bag — and photograph all of it
• For refrigerated medication such as insulin, arrange a cooler and ice packs in advance and confirm the storage guidance with your pharmacist
• Stock wound care supplies, incontinence supplies, glucose testing strips, and nutritional supplements for at least seven days
• Keep a manual blood pressure cuff and a non-powered thermometer

Power-dependent equipment

Make a written list of everything in the home that needs electricity — oxygen concentrator, nebuliser, CPAP or BiPAP, feeding pump, hospital bed, lift, suction machine, powered wheelchair — and for each one answer two questions: how long does the battery last, and what is the backup? For oxygen, that usually means confirming how many full portable cylinders are in the house. Generators must run outdoors and well away from windows, never in a garage; carbon monoxide kills people after storms every year.

Evacuation

Decide in advance where the client would go, and how they would get there. A car journey with a walker, oxygen, and a cooler of medication takes planning. Confirm that the destination can accommodate the equipment and the mobility limits. Pack a go-bag now: medications, supplies, documents, glasses, hearing aid batteries, phone chargers, a change of clothing, and comfort items — for someone with dementia, familiar objects matter more than people expect.

Heat is the risk people forget

After the storm passes, the danger in Florida is often days without air conditioning. Older adults, and anyone on diuretics, beta blockers, or anticholinergic medication, are far more vulnerable to heat illness. Watch for confusion, dizziness, headache, nausea, rapid pulse, and hot dry skin. Keep fluids up unless a fluid restriction says otherwise, and plan somewhere cool to go.

What we do

Every client of ours is assigned an emergency priority level based on how dependent they are on skilled care, oxygen, or powered equipment. Before the season we review evacuation plans, supply stockpiles, and emergency contacts with each household, and our on-call nurse line stays staffed. If your plan has gaps, call the office and we will work through them with you — well before the first named storm.