10/11/2023 0 Comments 15 reflection bay drive“But we're still going to bring the bottled water,” Pasteur says. Tampa General recently finished building an emergency well, so that water can be pulled from the ground, treated through reverse osmosis, and used to supply the hospital. In advance of a major storm, Tampa General brings in enough extra water to supply the hospital for five days, he says. “There's things people don't think about like water or sewage, air conditioning, of course, food, all of these things … You might have a plan, but what happens if that plan doesn't succeed? What's your backup? So we try to build in all kinds of levels of redundancy.” “I think redundancy is the key,” Pasteur says. They need to have a contingency if that plan doesn’t work. Hospitals need to do more than have a plan to preserve critical systems. When asked for key lessons for other hospitals in preparing for hurricanes or other severe weather events, Pasteur cited one word repeatedly: Redundancy. Part of the fence will remain standing into October, Pasteur says. It took a lot of prep.”Īfter Idalia, the hospital only removed part of the AquaFence barrier. “But the severity of it, and the fact that we were going to have a direct hit until the very last minute, was very stressful. “We ultimately didn't get a lot of impact from that storm,” he says. Pasteur called Ian the most challenging event he has encountered in his 14 years at Tampa General. In the end, Hurricane Ian claimed 149 lives and produced heavy damage, including to some healthcare facilities. While Idalia dealt a blow to Florida’s Big Bend, Ian moved much more slowly and did far more damage to the more populous Fort Myers region. Ian looked to be headed directly at the Tampa area, but with a late shift in direction, the hurricane moved south and hit the Fort Myers area. “If the path is uncertain and we're anywhere near the cone, then we just have to proceed as if we're going to get that storm, which is exactly what we had to do with Idalia,” he says.Ī year ago, Hurricane Ian demonstrated the unpredictable path of these powerful storms. With Idalia, the hospital still had around 900 patients, “which is a huge amount,” Pasteur says.Īs storms begin to develop, Tampa General begins preparations for serious weather four days before the expected landfall, Pasteur says. When heavy storms have potential to hit the Tampa area, Pasteur says the hospital aims to discharge as many people as possible. In Tampa, the peak of hurricane season typically runs from late August through early October. Hurricanes can strike along the Atlantic from June through November, according to the National Weather Service. In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, Pasteur talks about planning for Idalia, the hospital’s plans for storms and severe weather, and he shares insights for other health systems in preparing for weather emergencies. “And ultimately we just had enough time.” “But we knew that it only had a couple of days to get to us and we had to get started,” Pasteur says. Pasteur said the hospital made the decision to start installing the fence when Idalia was still “a weak tropical storm with an uncertain path.” “It took a lot of long hours to get it up.” “It was tough,” he tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. Typically, he prefers to have three days to set up the fencing and other flood protection measures, but they only had two days with Idalia. The AquaFence barrier is designed to prevent surges of up to 15 feet above sea level.ĭustin Pasteur, Tampa General’s vice president of facilities and construction, breathed a sigh of relief that Idalia didn’t deliver a serious blow to the hospital. While the hurricane did more damage further north, Tampa Bay and surrounding communities saw some flooding, but Tampa General’s fences prevented serious issues. The hospital, which has more than 1,000 beds, utilized a temporary barrier from AquaFence during Hurricane Idalia just over a week ago.
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