Hospitals and healthcare facilities are gearing up for the potential surge in patients that may arise if Hurricane Lane makes landfall in the state during the next several days, Hawaii News Now reports.
Here are four things to know:
1. Hurricane Lane is expected to remain a hurricane for the next 12 to 24 hours and pull away from Hawaii by Aug. 25. However, weather experts expect increasing wind shear to potentially weaken the storm more quickly during the next few days, ABC News reports. The Category 2 storm has already dumped more than 31 inches of rain on the state's main island, bringing severe flooding and potential landslides or mudslides.
2. Hospitals across the state are taking precautionary measures to ensure they are able to provide care to patients if the storm hits the islands. Hawaii Department of Health Director Bruce Anderson, PhD, said maintaining enough hospital space is crucial, but said a natural disaster like Hurricane Lane may pose a significant challenge for the state's health system.
"Basically, our healthcare system is very fragile in that respect. Our hospitals are full. They can't afford to keep beds open for people in the event of storms like this. Fortunately, in this case we actually have a federal agency that has sent two teams here, 30 people on each team, with resources to help support establishing medical facilities if need be," Mr. Anderson told Hawaii News Now.
3. The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu and its associated facilities have postponed all elective procedures Aug. 24 and Aug. 25, and the facilities are stocked with supplies and generators to prepare for the storm.
"We're a level 1 trauma center, the only one in the state, and we're really prepared for that. Then there's after the event, if it's really catastrophic, you see things such as dehydration, exhaustion, infections," an executive with the hospital told the publication.
4. Several other facilities, including Kailua, Hawaii-based Adventist Health Castle, have activated their incident command centers and readied supplies for staff and patients.
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