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Letter to the editor

Special needs? Seek special storm shelter

By Saundra Amrhein
Published June 15, 2007

With the start of hurricane season, emergency workers are reminding Sun City Center residents with certain medical problems to register with the county so they can be placed in a special-needs shelter during a hurricane.

Residents must meet criteria to be admitted to one of three special-needs shelters - requiring more care than what's provided at the Red Cross shelters but not severe enough to need hospitalization.

Qualifying conditions include respiratory problems requiring monitors or oxygen, the need for dialysis treatment, an inability to take medicine without help, terminal illness, being under the care of professional nursing personnel and more.

Residents with an immediate emergency or an acute infection should not go to a special-needs shelter, according to Hillsborough County emergency management officials.

Residents who haven't already registered for a special-needs shelter can download the form from www.hillsboroughcounty. org/emergency/. Click on the link for "hurricane information" and then the link on the left for "shelter information." The form should be filled out and faxed to 276-8689.

Residents can also fill out a form at the Sun City Center Emergency Squad center at 101 Ray Watson Drive, said Chief Mike Anderson. The center staff will send the forms to the county.

The entire Sun City Center area is not an evacuation zone, Anderson said. Residents should prepare for a storm and a possible power loss by storing water, ice, nonperishable food and medicine. The ice could be kept in a cooler to keep medicine chilled in case of a power outage, he said.

Caregivers for incapacitated loved ones can learn more about how to prepare for a storm during a seminar next month sponsored by the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute.

The seminar will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. July 14 at the Westshore Senior Center, 4102 W Spruce St. in Tampa.

The seminar will cover basic safety, how to get neighbors involved, how to use material in the house to prepare for a storm, and psychological tips on preparing an ailing loved one for the trauma of a storm, said spokeswoman Jennifer Whelihan. To RSVP, call Whelihan at 319-4115.

Saundra Amrhein can be reached at 661-2441 or amrhein@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 14, 2007, 07:10:13]