Disaster Response in Emergencies

At Fresenius Kidney Care, our priority is providing quality care every single day—not just when the sun is shining.
When a natural disaster strikes, we ensure that people living with kidney disease receive the life-sustaining care they need, and our employees are safe and supported.

How do we handle disasters?

Members of the Fresenius disaster response team.

Inside a local Fresenius command center.

Disaster response team duck boat vehicle.

We come prepared

Our Disaster Response Team has relationships with federal, state and local governments, first responders, volunteer organizations, businesses and utility companies to ensure that people needing dialysis, get dialysis.
We routinely conduct mock disaster training sessions to make sure our team knows its roles and responsibilities. This ensures that disaster operations will run as smoothly as possible.
Once mobilized, our local Command Centers are the backbone of our operations. Our Command Center staff members account for patients and employees, plus arrange distribution of food, personal generators and other supplies.

We support your needs

Ahead of a significant storm, we provide emergency packets including a 3-day renal diet, a care transition report, a list of labs and medications and our emergency 24-hour phone number.
Ahead of a disaster, such as a hurricane or wildfire, our clinics extend hours and add extra shifts to provide dialysis treatment before the disaster strikes
We prepare clinics in impacted regions for an influx of people needing dialysis treatment.
We directly contact each person who gets dialysis at one of our centers to ensure their safety and continuity of care, including home visits if necessary.
We repair or replace dialysis machines and equipment as needed, process lab work and ship medications and supplies.

You can count on us to do whatever it takes

After Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, we evacuated 89 people from St. Thomas and Puerto Rico to receive dialysis in Florida. We partnered with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to open a new dialysis center in a matter of days—a process that typically takes 90 days.

After flooding ravaged Houston during Hurricane Harvey, we partnered with a duck boat (amphibious vehicle) company from Alabama to transport flood-stranded people to dialysis centers for treatments.

We were able to provide life-sustaining dialysis to more than 7,000 displaced people after Hurricane Katrina, including more than 1,000 people who had not been under our care before the storm.

After Hurricane Harvey, we established and funded a special program with Amazon to provide eligible employees—who lost household essentials—with replacement items.

See how fresenius medical care conquers the challenges of disaster to provide care for every patient

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How we support our employees

We are there for our employees when a disaster strikes.

Housing and transportation: We provide campers and other temporary housing as well as vehicles for employees. Command Center staff also helps provide our employees with necessary fuel and generators.
Supplies: Command Centers are stocked and open to employees from dawn to dusk with necessities including bottled water, diapers, food, clothes, toiletries and repair items.
Financial support: We offer necessary financial support including salary continuance, day care stipends for children, family members or pets and up to $2,500 in assistance to impacted employees and their families.

See our disaster response team in action in Houston, TX

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You can call our 24-hour toll-free Patient Emergency Line at any time for assistance.

Always be prepared for an emergency

Not all disasters are predictable. Update your emergency kit and emergency contact list every 6 months, as necessary.

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We care for everyone

During a natural disaster, our doors are open to anyone needing dialysis, regardless of where you usually get your treatment.