Deep Freeze

In January, Kentucky was hit with what Gov. Steve Beshear described as the “worst natural disaster to hit Kentucky in modern times.” A severe ice storm left more than 770,000 people without electricity for days, and failing pumping stations even left some without water.

Most local businesses hung “Closed” signs on their windows, but Deom Home Health Options/Optioncare kept its doors open despite the harsh conditions.

Deom is headquartered in Radcliff, 30 minutes south of the Louisville metro area. An HME and home infusion provider, the Optioncare franchise serves 22 counties in Kentucky and southern Indiana.

The company has approximately 390 oxygen patients on service, and Deom delivered oxygen to 115 of those patients during the ice storm, keeping them supplied and comfortable during the extended power outage.

With ACHC accreditation, RRT Carrie Ray, one of four respiratory therapists at Deom, credits the company’s emergency preparedness plan with the ability to identify and contact at-risk patients during the massive deep freeze.

“Some of these patients were seen daily as we dispensed 24 hours’ worth of oxygen at a time so as not to deplete our inventory.” Ray says. “In addition to servicing our own patients, we also supplied local shelters with oxygen concentrators and other durable medical equipment. The ability of our staff to work together as a team in the face of adversity was crucial to our successful handling of the situation.”

According to Deom’s Alan Laslie, “Our own office was without power all day Wednesday and Thursday (Jan. 28 and 29), and had no water pressure on Thursday. Roads were covered with a very slick layer of ice, making travel extremely dangerous. The local hospital, Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown, was operating on their emergency plan for a week, and local shelters were full.”

However, says Laslie, Deom’s vice president of purchasing and management, “Throughout this entire crisis, the needs of our patients were met … A representative of the hospital fielded dozens of calls from oxygen patients asking what to do about replenishments for their oxygen cylinders, but not a single one of our patients was among these callers.

“Everything is just about back to normal,” Laslie told HomeCare in mid-February. “We are bringing in more empty O2 cylinders than we are taking out, as patients no longer need the extras. We spent the better part of a week in ‘recovery’ mode, where we were rushing to enter transactions into the computer to record activity that had transpired while our power was off. At the same time, we were working to meet the current requirements of our patients.”

Laslie said company efforts are now centered on capturing “thoughts on what we could have done better” and creating an action plan to address those areas. While there’s always room for improvement, Laslie says, he is proud of the company’s achievements.

“I believe what we were able to do during the storm and its aftermath was nothing short of remarkable,” he says.