When the Unexpected Happens: Emergency Preparedness in Senior Living

Emergency preparedness can make all the difference when the unexpected happens. In this episode, Joe Hessley is joined by Lynn Moore, Vice President of Clinical at Pines Senior Living, to explore the key differences between senior living communities and living alone during emergencies—from structured Emergency Management Plans and generator-backed power to continuous clinical care and communication. Together, they highlight hidden risks, the importance of renters insurance, and what families should consider to ensure their loved ones stay safe, supported, and connected in any situation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Welcome back to Into the Pines podcast. Last month we talked about romance, love, and just relationships in senior living. This month we're going to focus in on something much more serious. Being prepared in the event of an emergency. And what happens during that emergency and how is your loved one cared for during an emergency? I am joined here with my senior vice president, Lynn Moore, who heads up not only our clinical, but is actively involved in all EMPs, which is what we call them emergency manual procedures. And so we wanted to dive into what exactly happens during that event and give some peace of mind about that, but also share with others that maybe are not as educated in this field of what do we do when there's an emergency. First off, there are state requirements that we look at and work with, and we can dive into that during the conversation. So there are certain things that are required by the state, but then there's the reality of what do we really do? And there's reality versus our state requirements, as we know. And both Lynn and I have been in the industry for a long period of time. And I think one of the things that happens, Lynn, is that we train to the procedures, but what happens if a tornado comes in and wipes out those procedures, right? Then we pivot. And you know, the teams do such an amazing job. I can think of like five occurrences in the last five years that were pretty serious where the teams just prevailed and worked together and collaborated. So what I want to do is talk a little bit about as we think about an emergency plan, Lynn, you know, we really are not only prepared, but there are drills, they know where to go to find the manual, some of those things and kind of walk through that with our teams.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Like you mentioned, we each state has their own requirements. So we start out with the plan. And the plan has to be approved by the licensing agency. So if there is something in there, they might make recommendations and we have to make alterations to that plan. We take that opportunity when we do have maybe just a tornado warning and something that's not so severe to learn from those. We take credit for that being a drill. And like we had snow in South Carolina, which was very unusual this year. And luckily, uh not a lot of power outages, water outages, frozen pipes, so forth. But then we take those experiences and we build on it. What did we do good according to our plan? And what could we do better? And what do we have to prepare even more? Uh we might find an area, a small area that, hey, we didn't think about this, and we have to have uh a plan for that as well. Um lots of contracts are involved with making sure uh we have the ability to either shelter in place or when we shelter in place, contracts to get our staff uh to the community to take care of them, making sure their families are safe, but also uh providing that care for our residents.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah, and great example. So shelter in place, we can have an active shooter, we can have a blizzard, we could have a hurricane, we could have a fire, and we're we're sheltering one wing of the community to be safe. Correct. So really important aspects that when we use these terms for everybody to know is like, what do we think about that and and how we think about that? Um, seven years ago, we had an active shooter come in to one of our communities, which is the ultimate you know, scare. And it was between a husband and a wife, and she happened to be an employee there. He wasn't, there was some marital dispute, and he came in with a gun. And the teams did such an amazing job of just making sure one, we separated the residents from the situation. Then two, as that was happening simultaneously, they called 911. By the time the police got there, he was already contained in one aspect of the building, and everybody remained safe. And so these are our realities today in 2026, is things are gonna happen, but it's how we respond to them. Right. And you know, it always fascinates me during each one, you know, to your point earlier, what do we learn?

unknown 4:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

And then how do we take that back and make it better?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

And I think that's you know, we're we're dealing with humans, we're dealing with human error and human expertise. Exactly. And you combine that, you're gonna keep learning from it. One thing I wanted to talk about is, you know, what's the biggest difference between a senior living community and security? Meaning, what is where do we draw the line? So if it's a memory care community versus independent living, very, very different in your secure security measures. So maybe you can explain to us a little bit more of that. Let's start with memory care. What does a secured neighborhood mean?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Our secured neighborhoods obviously have the in it is enclosed, it is locked, and it is uh a maglock system that is attached to a keyboard that we can punch a code into. Those codes can be changed. Those codes can even have assignments to different personnel. Whenever we go in, we have a different code so that you can even track like who's coming in and out. As well, uh those units are designed for the residents that need that safety. And they're in one area of the community, they have a courtyard area that's secured as well. Um, and there's there is extra staff, there's extra care. Sometimes when we uh transition a resident from assisted living into memory care, it is so they, it's because they're showing those signs of dementia and a potential to maybe just go out because they are used to going out on their own and they need that extra oversight. The other thing with memory care units though is that they're not imprisoned. We do take them out of the neighborhoods and we take them on outings and we want them to go see their loved ones, interact with uh assisted living residents and so forth when it's safe for them.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

That makes so much sense. You know, the other thing I got thinking about too is in our memory care neighborhoods, as secure as they are, we have safety features in the vent of a fire, right? So a memory care resident can come up to a bar if needed, right, and there is a fire, and they can hold that down and it will release and then there's doors that during an actual evacuation that shut to keep them protected.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

So there's all kinds of safety measures. Or windows. Or windows.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Or windows will only open a certain uh certain distance to to prevent any elopement through a window.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

It's been amazing to see the technology. For our followers, you probably remember the Sage conversation. One of the things that Lynn and I love is with our Sage technology, we've been able to even track it more timely, call responses, all those safety measures that really matter in an emergency. We now have ways to track that even more efficiently, which 20 years ago they didn't even exist. So that's really exciting. One of the things Lynn, we were talking about is really thinking through. We talked about memory care now. Let's talk about independent living. Often people think, well, they're independent, there's no plan for them, they have their own apartment just like they would at home. It's up to them, right? But the reality is there's a lot of thought that goes into the safety between the design of the community, the fire system in the community, the sprinkler system in the community, to how we evacuate a community, to fire doors. I mean, there's so much technology now. It's not about just being a community, it's about the features we instill before they even move in, right? And then there's the operations side. So maybe you can touch upon like once they move into a community, how does that all work if you're in an independent living community for safety?

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Independent living is no different than it's their own home, as you know. And it's just like an apartment complex. Uh, and we call their apartments their apartments, as we call it that in their in assisted living as well. Assisted living just requires a little bit more assistance. Everybody has the the ability to make their own decisions. Um, when they're in independent living, they may be completely independent, can administer their own meds, can make their own appointments. They may even have their car at the community out in the parking lot, and they're driving to and from. Some independent livings offer meals, and some do not. It just depends. And they have uh kitchens in the apartments. But most of the ones that most independent living communities we have, we supply meals. We also have some services, and they're services that are available in the community. A lot of people know the key terms like home health or physical therapy or outpatient therapy. But the other services that are available are personal assistance services, and those can be accessed in your actual home, in a loved one's home that that might have them living with them, or independent living. And that encompasses maybe, maybe medication reminders where you're reminding them their medications are set up in a pill planner and you're reminding them to take their medications. You may even set up an automatic automated uh pill planner for them. And you're coordinating care if they have hospice or or home health. They're privately paying, and some uh of our elderly, our senior population have long-term care policies, and they will pay for the long-term care policies, they will pay for those personal assistance services as well, because they're trying to keep them in a home environment for as long as they can.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

And they have the right to do that. I think that's the really important message, right? Independent living, you can have cognitive impairments, challenges with health, just as they would in their own home, as long as you have the personalized service with them. Exactly. I think you know, senior living is going to continue to evolve and change and be challenged. And this old perception about nursing homes, right? It's so ironic because people still think every retirement community is a nursing home. Right. It's the furthest thing from the truth. Right. But that's what's great about our industry. It continues to evolve from what it was 60 years ago, 30 years ago, even 10 years ago. So you know, I often ask, you know, what are some of the risks families may not think about when a loved one is living alone versus in a community? Lots of times we're challenged to say, oh, someone eloped, or oh, this person was found here, or whatever it might be. But I think it's really important to note that when a loved one is left at home, how do you track all that? Sure, you can have a nanny cam or a camera system installed, but it's way too late if they do leave or they fall or something happens, or God forbid there be a fire. In our communities, it's just the opposite. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Um, living alone, some people that's that's their fit. I think you always need to, especially when you're needing those increased care uh areas, you need to trial the assisted livings, uh the independent living either, even, because the socialization is extreme for those people. And they you may say, well, mom or dad wasn't really social prior to. Well, that was because they were working a full-time job, raising a family, being a husband or a wife. Now they don't have those things to fill their time. And so socializing with other residents uh helps as well as keeping them safe in the event of an emergency. For instance, South Carolina, when we had those snowstorms, that was very unexpected. Nobody really is prepared on Hilton Head Island to have snow to the level that they may not know how to drive. So if mom or dad are is on or off the island, you may not have been able to get to them. Whereas if they were in a community, we ensure that there is, even if the electricity goes out, we have backups. If the water goes out, we have backups. So you have that reassurance that your loved ones being taken care of until you can get to them. Yeah. Um, and it's so important. It is. It is uh definitely uh helps your your ability to take care of your own family. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

You know, I think the other thing too is the community, we prepare in so many ways for every type of disaster. So for a tornado, we have certain designated areas that we know are safe for that. For a blizzard, you know, which communities have generators, which do not? If you do not, what's the hotel we can send to? There's a constant plan, and the logistics of all this that happen right here at the headquarters become even more important. And Lynn plays an instrumental role in that and where we go, what we do, even from afar. It's it's down to science which gives a lot of people peace of mind. You know, one of the things that I always think about too is what should families be asking for? Whether they choose our community, a competitor, when they're out there, it's not something we think about quality care, activities, dining, socialization, but we don't often ask about what happens in an emergency. So maybe you can give some advice to families that are looking for senior living and and and why that's important to ask questions about emergencies.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Well, I ask them what their plan is. You can also even look at anything that we file with the state regulatory agency is public record. Um, we keep a binder of those of those items as well. You can ask what our experience is, what the current staff's experience is. Uh, you can ask if the community has those contracts. We have contracts with other communities so that we can evacuate to them if we need to. And we have contracts for the transportation to get them there safely. Um, communication devices, being able to communicate with the families to ensure that they know what the plan is for their loved one and how that's going to be executed. And then once their loved one is safe and secure, how you would communicate with them. Um looking to see what the longevity is of the staff and uh just the experience they have managing those types of uh events.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

That's great. Well, thank you, Lynn. It's been a pleasure to spend time with you as always. And you know, to our followers, we're really excited to have you dive deeper into this. But as Lynn mentioned, if there's ever any questions or concerns or anything you'd like to learn more about, please always feel free to reach out to me or any member of our team. The April episode, we're excited we have another technology firm. So we've talked about our Sage technology from a safety response system. And in April, we're gonna be talking about analytics and how that plays a role, not only in senior living, but everything we do. So Luke is going to be joining us from Senioralytics, and he'll be our guest in April's show. So stay tuned. So many more great leaders ahead to speak with, and we appreciate all of your support. Have a great day.