A Hospital System's Response to a Hurricane Offers Lessons Including the Need for Mandatory Interfacility Drills

This case study explores the lessons learned when the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System evacuated three hospitals at high risk of flooding from Hurricane Irene in August 2011. The event resulted in the evacuation, transport, and placement of 947 patients without any resulting deaths or serious injuries. This case demonstrates the utility of having a functional evacuation plan in place, such as the one North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System developed through its own full-scale exercises in the years following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.