Storm season starts June 1, and experts are predicting a busy season with 13 to 20 named storms, five potentially major. 

As we have noted many times in this blog, what really matters is not the predictions, but whether your community gets a serious storm.  Certainly the wild and unpredictable weather across the United States this year has us a little more on edge than normal.

We stayed busy sharpening our preparation during the off season through active participation in Miami- Dade County, South Florida and Florida exercises.  Director of Baptist Health’s Emergency Preparedness Division Jean Arias, R.N., and Medical Director John Braden, M.D., served as co-chairs of the Miami-Dade County Hospital Consortium on Emergency Preparedness.  Chris Kilroy, also from our Emergency Preparedness division and Barbara Russell, R.N., from Baptist Hospital Infection Control, both chair committees from this same organization.

We continue to maintain and upgrade the system-wide Emergency Response team.  Thanks to the following individuals for continuing to serve, train and be available on a moment’s notice:  Eleni Alvarez, R.N., Julio Arellana, Jorge Benitez, Ester Birchall, R.N., Ron Burke, R.N., Jorge Cardenas, Melanie Diaz, R.N., Miguel Diaz, Josue Erzo, R.N., Antonio Exposito, Edgar Fandino, Chuck Farias, Joel Fleitas, Daniel Gonzalez, Jonathan Gonzalez, R.N., Rene Gonzalez, Janniree Gutierrez, Donna Hastick, Elmer Loaiza, Luis Lopez, David Mahabir, Rajesh Maragh, Lyndsay Mesh, R.N., Andrew Miller, R.N., Ross Miller, Marion Mooney, R.N., Martin Nariznis, R.N., Luis Osorio, Rodolfo Perez, Zachary Perez, Marie Pestana-Garcia, R.N., Rafael Rivera-Lopez, R.N., David Rodriguez, R.N., Luis Rodriguez, Thomas Rotondi, Renato Solera, R.N., Stephen Tessier, R.N., Israel Vasquez, Fernando Vega, Rick Whitehurst, R.N., Chris Whitt, and Emilio Xiques.  Again, thanks for staying ready.

We have done much more to keep ourselves at a high level of readiness, including live training in international hot spots, local full-scale exercises centered on a terrorist scenario, and education for staff and physicians on hazmat life support, mass trauma care, and fundamental disaster management.  As we have seen this year, no scenario can be ruled out and as much as we are focused here in South Florida on hurricane activity, we train for all hazards.

So, it is time to review your plans, both your hospital department, outpatient center, and personal home readiness plan for this season.  Mayor Gimenez said today in The Miami Herald, “All of us hope for a quiet storm season, but just hoping things will go well really isn’t a plan.”  The Mayor makes an excellent point and therefore we train, practice and execute our plans, (hope too!). 

“The Heat was hot and the ground was dry, but the air was full of sound”
A Horse With No Name –  America

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