When electrical companies shut off electricity for wildfire prevention, nursing homes can be caught unaware

As climate change worsens extreme weather, some electric companies are opting to cut power as a wildfire prevention tool. The loss of electricity to entire regions, sometimes with little notice, has left some nursing home facilities scrambling for power during inclement weather. 

With the increasing prevalence of preemptive power cuts, "nursing homes are being forced to evaluate their preparedness," reports Kate Ruder for KFF Health News. "But it shouldn't be up to the facilities alone, according to industry officials and academics: Better communication between utilities and nursing homes, and including the facilities in regional disaster preparedness plans, is critical to keep residents safe."

In the country's western half, nursing homes are particularly vulnerable and less likely to be prepared. "More than half of the nursing homes are within 3.1 miles of an area with elevated wildfire risk, according to a study published last year," Ruder explains. "Yet, nursing homes with the greatest risk of fire danger in the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest had poorer compliance with federal emergency preparedness standards than their lower-risk counterparts."

While the federal government mandates that nursing facilities have disaster preparedness plans, those plans don't always "include contingencies for public safety power shut-offs, which have increased in the past five years but are still relatively new," Ruder reports. "And nursing homes in the West are rushing to catch up."

Debra Saliba, director the University of California's Anna and Harry Borun Center for Gerontological Research, said "making sure nursing homes are part of [broader] emergency response plans could help them respond effectively to any kind of power outage," Ruder writes. "Too often, nursing homes are forgotten during emergencies because they are not seen by government agencies or utilities as health care facilities, like hospitals or dialysis centers, Saliba added.'"