Police are investigating what led to the deaths of six people in a sweltering hot Florida nursing home left powerless by Hurricane Irma.
Authorities were called to the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills early Wednesday where they found a scene so horrific, a hospital just down the street from the nursing home declared it a mass casualty incident.
Three people were found dead inside the facility, while three others were declared dead at the hospital, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez said at a news conference.
Emergency personnel rushed a total of 115 people to safety from inside the "extremely hot" nursing home, Sanchez said.
"Right now, this is a criminal investigation," the police chief added. "Our investigation has revealed that it was extremely hot on the second floor of the facility."
It was not clear which floor of the nursing home residents were on when authorities reached them, or how long it took for police to get there. City officials initially said police responded to a call from the facility shortly after 4 a.m. ET, while Sanchez said officers did not get there until receiving a call after 6 a.m. ET.
Officials were trying to nail down "when the call actually came out," he said.
The victims' identities were not immediately made public. Their deaths were believed to be heat-related.
Dr. Randy Katz, medical director for emergency services at Memorial Healthcare System, which has a hospital down the block from the nursing home, said there were at least a dozen patients still hospitalized.
"Most of the patients have been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related issues," Katz said, adding that the death toll could "potentially" rise.
Katz said so many patients needed assistance at the nursing home that his hospital activated a mass casualty incident, mobilizing more than 50 health care providers to help with evacuations and treatment.
"This was a terrible incident. The scene was chaotic when I arrived," he said. "I've definitely seen mass casualties and things to that extent, but this is something unique, something extremely sad and unfortunate for these patients and their families."
Police would not comment on whether the nursing home had a generator or whether investigators had ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a contributing factor. The building was sealed off as investigators from the Hollywood Police Department, along with the Florida Attorney General's office, began their probe.
A nursing home employee told NBC Miami that the building was cool as of Tuesday, but that he returned Wednesday morning to an overheated facility.
The nursing home, located about 20 miles north of Miami, has been in the dark since Irma struck over the weekend, officials said earlier Wednesday.
Temperatures in South Florida this week have been in the 80s, and the low in Hollywood on Tuesday was 79 degrees.
Irma cut power to millions of Floridians and killed more than 54 people across the Caribbean and southeastern United States as it rampaged across the Atlantic. As of Wednesday, nearly 60 percent of customers had electricity restored, according to Florida Power & Light.
Sharief said she had asked the utility company to prioritize getting power back for assisted living, nursing home and senior care centers.
As a precaution, officials were checking on all of the other 42 assisted living facilities in Hollywood on Wednesday, NBC Miami reported.
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/h...rsing-home-after-irma-cut-power-mayor-n800931
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If there was a Hospital that close by... why didn't they evacuate the residents at the nursing home facility to the Hospital?
This is just so tragic.
Authorities were called to the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills early Wednesday where they found a scene so horrific, a hospital just down the street from the nursing home declared it a mass casualty incident.
Three people were found dead inside the facility, while three others were declared dead at the hospital, Hollywood Police Chief Tomas Sanchez said at a news conference.
Emergency personnel rushed a total of 115 people to safety from inside the "extremely hot" nursing home, Sanchez said.
"Right now, this is a criminal investigation," the police chief added. "Our investigation has revealed that it was extremely hot on the second floor of the facility."
It was not clear which floor of the nursing home residents were on when authorities reached them, or how long it took for police to get there. City officials initially said police responded to a call from the facility shortly after 4 a.m. ET, while Sanchez said officers did not get there until receiving a call after 6 a.m. ET.
Officials were trying to nail down "when the call actually came out," he said.
The victims' identities were not immediately made public. Their deaths were believed to be heat-related.
Dr. Randy Katz, medical director for emergency services at Memorial Healthcare System, which has a hospital down the block from the nursing home, said there were at least a dozen patients still hospitalized.
"Most of the patients have been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related issues," Katz said, adding that the death toll could "potentially" rise.
Katz said so many patients needed assistance at the nursing home that his hospital activated a mass casualty incident, mobilizing more than 50 health care providers to help with evacuations and treatment.
"This was a terrible incident. The scene was chaotic when I arrived," he said. "I've definitely seen mass casualties and things to that extent, but this is something unique, something extremely sad and unfortunate for these patients and their families."
Police would not comment on whether the nursing home had a generator or whether investigators had ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a contributing factor. The building was sealed off as investigators from the Hollywood Police Department, along with the Florida Attorney General's office, began their probe.
A nursing home employee told NBC Miami that the building was cool as of Tuesday, but that he returned Wednesday morning to an overheated facility.
The nursing home, located about 20 miles north of Miami, has been in the dark since Irma struck over the weekend, officials said earlier Wednesday.
Temperatures in South Florida this week have been in the 80s, and the low in Hollywood on Tuesday was 79 degrees.
Irma cut power to millions of Floridians and killed more than 54 people across the Caribbean and southeastern United States as it rampaged across the Atlantic. As of Wednesday, nearly 60 percent of customers had electricity restored, according to Florida Power & Light.
Sharief said she had asked the utility company to prioritize getting power back for assisted living, nursing home and senior care centers.
As a precaution, officials were checking on all of the other 42 assisted living facilities in Hollywood on Wednesday, NBC Miami reported.
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/h...rsing-home-after-irma-cut-power-mayor-n800931
________________________________________________________________
If there was a Hospital that close by... why didn't they evacuate the residents at the nursing home facility to the Hospital?
This is just so tragic.