“Taken during the great blizzard of 1888, when New Yorkers tunneled through snowbanks with nothing but harsh language and boot straps.”

And here we are, folks, in the midst of what meteorologists are calling Winter’s Last Hurrah: a nation-wide snow storm expected to dump another 8” of snowfall in New York City, complete with icy sidewalks and sideways-blowing flurries.  No wonder these commuters look so happy.

While looking for another round of articles about safely digging out your car, or which de-icer won’t damage your brownstone,  I came across a great tool for home health care patients, their families, and care providers, compliments of ConEd: a combination power outage and weather map for their entire NYC service area.

This interactive map is a great way for home care providers to keep tabs on the neighborhoods where their clients live, breaking down the number of accounts experiencing power outages, estimated repair times and detailed snowfall forecasts for each segment of the city. Even better, maps and outage counts are updated every 15 minutes.

As home health care providers, SelectCare understand that our patients and their loved ones, especially those living out-of-state, deserve to be kept in the know during winter storms. The need for reliable, unbiased information has grown in recent years, especially as outlets like The Weather Channel have become increasingly sensational in their storm coverage.

To that end, I hope this black out map sheds some light (pardon the pun) on new ways to keep your patients informed.

If you, a loved one, or a client needs the help of a home health care agency that makes patient safety and satisfaction a priority, call SelectCare today to schedule a free home health and safety assessment from one of our RN Nurse Supervisors.