‘Mother Nature is a beast’: Wildfires create ‘massive surge’ in calls

LOS ANGELES – HME providers in the Los Angeles metro area have had to manage mandatory evacuations, power outages and other challenges, all the while handling a surge in demand for their services by patients who have also been impacted by recent wildfires. 

“We have many patients throughout that area and multiple facilities to which we provide equipment and service,” said Chris Rice, president of Diamond Respiratory in Riverside, Calif. “In fact, one in Altadena burned to the ground. The LA fire became the top news story, but there have been many other smaller fires throughout Southern California that have caused concern and panic among patients. So, we're delivering a lot of extra oxygen, equipment and supplies to patients in impacted areas.” 

Since early January, wildfires, driven in part by dry conditions and fierce Santa Ana winds, have caused widespread devastation. At press time, the fires, which were still burning in some areas, had scorched tens of thousands of acres, damaged more than 16,000 structures and caused 29 deaths. 

SuperCare, which is based in City of Industry, saw a 400% daily increase in patient calls during the height of the wildfires, says CEO John Cassar.  

“It was a massive surge,” he said. “Oxygen tank deliveries increased significantly, especially as the power outages continued and the evacuations continued. Triaging the calls was absolutely critical to ensuring the right support for all the patients.”  

SuperCare kicked its emergency plans into high gear early on, creating a dedicated landing page on its website; auto dialing, texting and emailing patients; and working extended shifts, Cassar says. 

“Whether it was driving through hazardous conditions or delivering equipment working extended shifts for oxygen, they were working 24/7 to get all the equipment out,” he said. “That really just was a commitment to our patients and really, quite frankly, was unwavering.” 

Nationwide Medical, located in Calabasas, lost power for two weeks and had already sent employees home to work when it received a mandatory evacuation order for its offices, says CEO David Seigel. 

“You can see the burnt hills less than a mile away from our office, but the winds kept it in a direction that prevented it from coming in directly to our office,” said Seigel, who said he and his employees were fortunate in that no one lost their homes. “We did have a number of patients who were directly affected and, of course, all of us I think have at least some somebody in our circle that lost a home or was severely impacted.” 

While the emergency preparedness plans of providers stood the test, with such disasters seemingly increasing in scale, there’s only so much communities and government officials can do to prepare, says Siegel. 

“There’s always room where FEMA or government officials could have done more but there's also a point where you just say Mother Nature is a beast,” he said. “No matter what we would have been prepared for there was going to be massive devastation.”