Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 6:17 pm | Updated: 6:24 pm, Wed May 27, 2015.

Urgent help available for dialysis patients affected by flooding Community report Houston Community Newspapers

While storms and other natural disasters are inconvenient and can be life-threatening for entire communities, they pose an especially serious health threat to dialysis patients, whose treatments are delayed by electrical power outages or an inability to access their normal treatment locations.

Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) typically need dialysis treatment every two days to clean waste products from their blood, remove extra fluids and control their bodies’ chemistry after their kidneys have failed.

Patients seeking help with emergency plans or more information about arranging access to alternate dialysis clinics should call Fresenius Medical Care North America's (FMCNA) toll-free Patient Emergency Hotline: 1-800-626-1297.

FMCNA dialysis clinics are equipped with emergency backup generators to ensure that critical patient care continues in the event of a power outage. If necessary, dialysis treatments also can be provided at alternate FMCNA facilities, – including for those patients who dialyze with other companies, but whose regular clinics are temporarily unavailable.

For more information on Fresenius, go to http://www.freseniusmedicalcare.us.

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Posted in Health, Living on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 6:17 pm. Updated: 6:24 pm. | Tags: Fresenius, Dialysis

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DIALYSIS patients in the Northern Division will soon be able to use a fully operational dialysis centre scheduled to open next month, says Ministry of Health media liaison officer Sunil Chand.

Dialysis patients are being catered for within the Labasa Hospital at a temporary location with space constraints.

Patients in the North will benefit from the centre as this will prove to be time and cost efficient instead of travelling to Suva for the treatment.

Kidney Foundation of Fiji nursing manager Saten Sharma said, "In the West, North and Central Division, there are a few patients who are still with us. Patients who come to Suva say that the Labasa centre doesn't have the equipment provided in Suva."

Mr Sharma explained that Labasa needed to extend its facilities. "You can't run a place with only two dialysis machines in Labasa," he said.

He explained that each patient needed to use the dialysis machine for four to five hours a day and if the Labasa centre was going to cater for the patients, they needed to have the proper equipment and less than ten dialysis machines.

Assistant Minister for Health and Medical Services Veena Bhatnagar said they were grateful for the private public partnership which complemented the ministry's work.

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