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Storm Exposes Problems in Emergency Senior Care Services
Focus
Taiwan
Taiwan
September 26, 2010
The evacuation of people with limited mobility poses a challenge for rescuers during natural disasters and is problem in Taiwan that needs to be addressed.
The problem was highlighted on the night of Sept. 19 when Typhoon Fanapi hit southern Taiwan and some 10 wheelchair-bound elderly people were left stranded on the flooded first floor of the Pude Elders Home in Gangshan Township in the southern county of Kaohsiung.
Later, the only three staff members on duty at the care center that night called the emergency 119 line for help.
The incident exposed a series of problems at the senior care facility, including inadequate staffing. According to the relevant regulations, the ratio of caregivers to seniors at such centers should be 5:29.
After the incident, Kaohsiung Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing said he was considering revoking the center's operating license.
However, some seniors who are heavily reliant on the center because its affordable services said they hope the government would not force the facility to close, while others asked for government subsidies to help pay for care services.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has ordered local governments to look into whether social welfare organizations under their jurisdiction have proper disaster prevention and response plans in place.
Such incidents are likely to recur in the future because the demand for seniors care centers like Pude Elders Home is high in Taiwan's aging society.
Statistics show that as of 2008, Taiwan's elderly population had reached 10 percent of the total. Under the circumstances, it is of deep concern whether Taiwan is well prepared to manage its rising aging population by formulating and revising relevant laws and regulations and putting appropriate mechanisms in place.
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