The word natural disaster quite rightly conjures up a lot of negative thoughts but experience has taught us the value of preparation and these are well described in those volumes of Disaster Plans that sit on the book shelves of every nurse station. Often our first thoughts are about those poor people that are affected by the disaster. Of course in aged care we are most often thinking about the residents who are often plucked from the facility and temporarily housed elsewhere till the threat subsides.

If however, all goes to plan, and there has been no injury or loss of life to consume our thoughts we might just get to understand that the threat of disaster can be just a part of the rich tapestry of life. In the mid 1990’s the northern outskirts of Sydney were ravaged by the area’s worst ever bush fires. A flight over the northern beaches revealed thousands of hectares of scorched earth. During this bush fire disaster several aged care facilities had to evacuate their residents and the hospital I was managing at the time opened up two old wards to temporarily accommodate these people. I remember being terribly concerned that we were putting old folk into two disused wards and subjecting them to a clinical environment and even worse …..hospital food! What could we do to entertain them, how could we allay their fears of a foreign environment. Continue reading →