http://www.finanznachrichten.de/...-tips-for-hurricane-season-004.htm After responding to a busy hurricane season in 2008, Fresenius Medical Care North America, operator of the nation’s leading network of dialysis facilities, is gearing up for the start of hurricane season on June 1, and urging all kidney failure patients to begin making hurricane preparations now. About 20 million people in the United States have kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation, and approximately 355,000 of them are on dialysis. Most of these patients need dialysis every two days, so any substantial delay in dialysis care can be life-threatening. During natural disasters, dialysis patients are vulnerable because storms can disrupt electrical power and make routine travel to treatment facilities impractical. ”Last year, Fresenius Medical Care (News/Aktienkurs) responded to five significant storms, making sure our patients could receive dialysis right before and after the severe weather hit,” said Bill Numbers, vice president of Operations Support and incident commander for Disaster Response and Planning at Fresenius Medical Care. ”It’s important that patients know what to do and where to go during a hurricane or tropical storm. We encourage them to follow the advice of their local facilities, and not to wait until a storm is approaching, but to start planning now |