(A227) Tension between Emergency Management Policy Decisions and Aged Care Facilities in Australia: A Case Study

Abstract

This paper considers the impact that a number of Australian emergency management policy and operational decisions are having on residential aged care facilities located in the community. For example, all residential aged care facilities applying for new federal government funded aged care places are required to demonstrate a plan for environmental disaster threats such as bushfires and floods. Another example is the adoption of new fire danger rating scale, with the inclusion of an extreme level called “catastrophic”-code red. This inclusion requires all services and community members, living in bushfire-prone areas to decide whether or not to evacuate the day before or morning of a Bureau of Meteorology fire danger index indicating a code red. There is evidence that these policy and operational decisions have been made without fully examining the practical implications, particularly for aged care facilities. While many of the facilities on which these decisions impact see the rational for such decisions, they argue that these decisions have serious implications for their services and patients. Many residential aged care facilities, which are privately operated, historically have not been involved in any state or local government emergency management planning. Therefore, the whole concept of risk assessment, preparation, and planning to increase the absorbing, buffering, and response capacity of their facilities against extreme weather events has become quite overwhelming for some. This paper presents a case study that demonstrates the tension between emergency management policy decisions on an aged care facility, and outlines their issues and response.