Durable Medical Equipment Providers In Areas Struck By Midwest Ice Storm Mobilized To Ensure Safety Of Home Oxygen Patients

Home oxygen providers in the Midwest prepared for
the deadly ice storm that struck earlier this week and responded with extra visits and contacts with
patients receiving home oxygen therapy.
An oxygen patient who uses an oxygen system that runs on electricity must have a back-up supply of
oxygen that will last until power is restored. Oxygen therapy is critical to more than one million
Americans who suffer from respiratory illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD).


Responses in Missouri


Tim Moore, a regional manager at Wilkinson Home Care Equipment in Nevada, Missouri, noted that
in two of the communities the company serves, more than half the population is without power. Today,
he commented about his company's activities: "We have filled and delivered well over 100 tanks in the
last three days to keep our current patients, nursing homes, and some of our competitors (who had no
power, but had customers in need) in a constant supply of oxygen. We have made daily runs 65 miles
south to Joplin [Missouri] to ensure that our store there had enough tanks to handle the needs that
might arise. We have made these runs regardless of weather and what might happen, because these are
our customers. Just because the roads are bad, or the power is out, we still have an obligation as
providers. I drove to Joplin on Sunday and delivered about 30 tanks to a nursing home without power,
and to our own store. We have employees without power in their own homes, who are working to
meet the [patient's] needs. We had one store without power for about 48 hours, but we had the
manager stationed there in case customers came by to get tanks or supplies. These are the things that
make this industry different from so many other healthcare entities."


Responses in Oklahoma


Maria Lucas is chief executive officer of Asthma & Respiratory Services of Oklahoma (Tulsa) which
covers most of northeast Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City and Enid areas. The company cares
ventilator patients as well as oxygen patients. "I have to say our team has done a remarkable job of
planning for this storm. We were hit last year with several major ice storms and we learned from that
experience. We started midweek last week contacting our patients and making sure they were stocked
up before the storm hit??¦. We have a break now in between storms, and we are again rushing to get our
people covered for the next storm that is moving in on Friday. We do ground our fleet when the
weather is at its worst as we do not want to have our employees in danger, but we are out again just as
soon as possible."


Family Medical Equipment in Altus, Okla. has oxygen customers in the southwest part of the state,
some of whom were affected by the recent ice storm. Josh Drake, of Family Medical, noted, "We used
the time available prior to the storm to contact each customer who may be affected. We spent many
extra hours in service calls and mileage, above our budget, to deliver extra oxygen to each patient in
our service area." While Family Medical will not receive any extra reimbursements for its efforts, they
note with satisfaction that, "not a single customer had a shortage of oxygen while electricity was off."















Responses in Iowa


In Iowa, Long Term Medical Supply has seven locations serving home patients and nursing facilities,
three of which were severely affected by the storms that hit Southern Iowa earlier this week. Mari
Banse, who works in the corporate office in Hampton, Iowa, described one phone conversation from
the week: "When I received a call from one of our store managers down in Osceola, IA today sharing
his feelings and stories with me about the amazing effort he was putting into his job, it almost brought
me to tears. In the earlier hours of the morning this man started out in the pitch black, eerie town that
got around three inches of rain turning into ice that took out all of the power and was taking down
trees. Concerned about the safety of his patients, he began to travel from home to home to insure that
they were safe and not afraid of their lack of power and inability to get to a safe place. He shuttled
people to shelters that were set up at the local hospital and Casino, even going above and beyond his
job description he took hot meals and blankets to elderly patients. This was an area that some streets
were not even passable due to downed trees. When he couldn't get down roads he made sure that he
got in contact with them some how to make sure that they were ok just to get a cheerful response that
everything was ok."


About Oxygen Therapy


The typical Medicare home oxygen beneficiary is a 73 year-old who suffers from late- stage COPD
with associated severe low levels of oxygen in the blood (hypoxemia). COPD is the only leading
cause of death for which both prevalence and mortality are rising. COPD is a chronic, debilitating
disease characterized by severe airflow limitation resulting from chronic inflammation of the airways.
Approximately 12 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD, and an estimated 12 to 15
million more remain undiagnosed. Use of medical oxygen equipment is imperative to the overall
well-being of patients on oxygen therapy.


The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) represents providers of durable medical
equipment and related services and supplies as well as equipment manufacturers. AAHomecare
members serve the medical needs of millions of Americans who require home oxygen equipment,
wheelchairs and other mobility products, hospital beds, medical supplies, inhalation drug therapy,
home infusion, and other medical equipment, therapies, services, and supplies delivered in the
patient's home. AAHomecare's provider members operate more than 3,000 homecare locations in all
50 states.


American Association for Homecare