TAMPA, Fla. — Just a few weeks into the hurricane season, numerous residents of Florida are still contending with the repercussions of last year’s storms, from devastated homes to lives tragically lost. At AdventHealth Tampa, the staff begins their preparations well in advance of the hurricanes. 

“A significant amount of organization and readiness occurs beforehand with each approaching storm,” stated Dr. Alex Waldman, the associate medical director in the emergency department at AdventHealth Tampa. 

When discussing the types of patients seen during hurricanes, Waldman mentioned, “Before the complete closure of roads, there’s often a surge of patients seeking last-minute care for any conditions they find worrisome. Then, typically, there’s a period of calm when the storm arrives, as roads become too dangerous and closed, preventing anyone from venturing out.”

“And then in the moments after the storm and kind of after conditions are seemingly starting to improve, that’s when there’s a huge surge of patients seeking care,” Waldman added.

We obtained dozens of Medical Examiner Reports from medical examiners’ offices across the state of situations where someone went to the hospital with a hurricane-related injury which included:

• A man fell down the stairs while trying to move his car from flooded waters.
• Another man fell from a ladder while clearing hurricane debris.
• One man contracted Vibrio after walking through flooded waters.

“Then as people are either wading through standing water, maybe getting scraped up and cut on debris that may be under the water surface, they’re vulnerable to developing those kinds of infections,” Waldman said.

Others never made it to the hospital. Some died from inhaling carbon monoxide while running generators.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission created a rule back in 2007 requiring manufacturers to inform consumers that using a generator inside can kill you in minutes because the exhaust contains carbon monoxide which is a poison you cannot see or smell.

Emergency Management Operations Section Chief at Hillsborough County Katja Miller says there were many people who had ground-level falls.

“It doesn’t take much,” Miller said.

Fallen tree limbs and debris were often factors. She says it’s important to watch out for localized flooding. One of the medical examiners’ reports showed a Navy veteran fell on his personal knife while running through floodwaters in Milton.

“I mean, we saw people being on the Pinellas side after everything was done, like two days later, we saw people being carried out in body bags,” Dr. James Lefler said.  “Yeah, yeah. So it’s — it’s real.”

Dr. James Lefler is an interventional radiologist at AdventHealth Tampa. He said the hospital saw a sharp increase in stroke patients during the storm.

“Is that something that can be triggered by high stress during a hurricane?” he was asked.

“Stress, dehydration and stuff like that,” he replied.

“We treated five patients within a 24-hour period,” Lefler added. “That’s pretty significant because normally we see probably two to three a week.”

That’s why both doctors emphasize preparation.

“We see a lot of patients who unfortunately run out of their necessary prescriptions during these hurricanes,” Dr. Waldman said. “So preparation is the biggest thing people can do ahead of the storm.”

Miller agreed it’s a good idea to stock up. During a state of emergency, pharmacies are able to give you a refill earlier than you might normally receive one. She also says to make sure you either have a generator if you are dependent on medical equipment or go ahead and evacuate even if you’re not in a critical zone if you are concerned about losing power. You’ll need to register ahead of a storm for a special needs shelter. You can also note whether you need transportation to get there.

Following evacuation orders can be lifesaving. During a storm, there may come a time when ambulances can’t get on the road, and in a medical emergency, time is critical.

You can check out resources to prepare for medical emergencies on the state’s website.

Miller says they found people trying to get out after the storm had passed were also hindering the response for clean up. She emphasized it’s important to stay put until evacuation orders have been lifted.