HHS prepares for Ike to hit Gulf Coast

WASHINGTON More than 1,600 workers from the Department of Health and Human Services have been activated to help Gulf states prepare for and respond to Hurricane Ike, Secretary Mike Leavitt announced Thursday.

Preparations include medical evacuations of Corpus Christi, Texas, which began Wednesday night and continued Thursday.

The department is working with the defense and veterans affairs departments to evacuate about 200 patients by air and more on the ground from healthcare facilities in Texas to locations inside the state but outside Ike’s path. Locations in Oklahoma and Arkansas have been prepared to receive evacuees as well.

Five Federal Medical Stations with 250 beds each are being set up in Texas to provide basic care for evacuees from hospitals and nursing homes, with two in College Station and three in San Antonio. More than 400 workers from HHS remain in Texas and Louisiana to assist with recover from Hurricane Gustav and preparation for Ike.

Rx Response—a coalition set up by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, the American Red Cross and other groups to help ensure the continued flow of medicine to patients in a severe public health emergency—has also been activated, according to NACDS. To help residents in areas potentially impacted by Ike, Rx Response leaders are urging individuals to go to www.RxResponse.org to review preparation tips and to fill out a printable, wallet-size medication card. The medication card includes information about current medications, medical conditions and contact information for doctors, pharmacists and emergency contacts.