Fire, Flood, and Fragility: Disasters Through a Geriatric Lens

About this episode

Dr. Stephen Gamboa discusses the impact of natural disasters on frail older patients and innovative solutions in emergency care.

Dr. Stephen Gamboa is an Adjunct Associate Professor at UNC and medical director of UNC Health Pardee's emergency department in Hendersonville, North Carolina. In today’s GEMCast episode, he shares his first-hand experiences from two major natural disasters: the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Northern California and Hurricane Helene, which hit Western North Carolina in 2024. As he joins host Dr. Christina Shenvi, the two talk about how these events have a disproportionate impact amongst our frail older patients, which can be attributed to age-related comorbidities, reduced mobility, and higher care needs. Tune in and hear a variety of innovative solutions brought about by the various challenges that these major events can pose. The immediate impacts of natural disasters, such as smoke inhalation and needing to rapidly evacuate homes and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), are just the tip of the iceberg. Older patients with decompensation or exacerbations of chronic conditions made up a large proportion of the increased demand on EDs following these disasters. Coupled with power outages, electricity shortages, no internet connectivity, and pharmacies closing, Dr. Gamboa describes how his team…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Christina Shenvi

Guest: Dr. Stephen Gamboa

Topics covered

• natural disasters
• geriatric care
• emergency medicine
• healthcare challenges
• older patients
• disaster response

Keywords

• natural disasters
• geriatric patients
• emergency department
• Hurricane Helene
• Tubbs Fire
• healthcare challenges
• older adults
• disaster response

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UNC Health Pardee

Places: North Carolina, Northern California, Hendersonville

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