Nursing homes place a major strain on the emergency
medical system when they are forced to evacuate to hospitals. When winter and
summer storms hit last year, facilities in the St. Louis area without backup
generators turned to hospitals for shelter, according to a report in the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
"We almost collapsed the EMS system," said Rob
Wylie, chief of the Cottleville Fire Protection District and president of the
Greater St. Louis Area Fire Chiefs Association.
Nursing homes in the St. Louis metropolitan area are not
required to have backup generators and, as a result, need to evacuate when
power is lost. With the cost of retrofitting a nursing home with backup
generators in the six-figure range, many providers are unable or unwilling to
the investment. Fire officials have suggested at least wiring facilities so
they are able to accommodate borrowed generators.