Image of nurses' hands at computer keyboard

The deadly tornado that destroyed a Missouri nursing home three years ago showed that long-term care facilities need to have specially designed shelter areas, says a recently released government report.

Of 95 occupants at the Greenbriar Nursing Home in Joplin, MO, 19 died. The one-story, wood-frame Greenbriar structure — built in the mid-1960s — was totally leveled, according to a new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Workers and residents futilely followed protocol by sheltering in inner hallways, the NIST found.

“The damage survey indicated that there were no areas in the interior of the facility that were structurally hardened and therefore more suitable than other areas for use as designated safe or refuge areas,” the report states. 

Specifications for tornado shelters should be developed, and these shelters should be installed both in new and existing nursing homes and similar buildings in tornado hazard zones, the NIST recommends. 

In the interim, operators should locate the best available tornado shelter areas in their structures, the report urges.