ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. During Hurricane Katrina, at least 139 residents of nursing homes became storm fatalities, many because they were not evacuated.

Nursing home leaders from eight Southeastern states have issued a new report, vowing to avoid a repeat of the Katrina transportation debacle.

The primary finding of the report is that nursing homes must be incorporated into disaster response systems at all levels of society and government national, state and local.

That would be in sharp contrast to the events of Hurricane Katrina when nursing homes did not receive the same early calls to evacuate as hospitals.

And nursing home administrators found agreements with transportation providers worthless as state and local emergency operations centers commandeered their buses for use in hospital evacuations.

The report is the result of two years of research and two planning summits where state, federal and local emergency planning teams, including representatives from key federal agencies, including FEMA, shared information and ideas with nursing home leaders.

The top two elected leaders of the United Motorcoach Association, plus a key staff member, participated in the most recent planning summit held in May.

The contributions made at the summit by UMA Chairman Brian Scott of Escot Bus Lines in Largo, Fla.; Vice Chairman Godfrey LeBron of Paradise Trailways in Hicksville, N.Y., and Ken Presley, vice president of industry relations at UMA, are mentioned prominently in the report.

For example, in the section on "promising transportation practices," it cites recommendations from the UMA team that prior to a disaster nursing homes develop personal relationships with their contracted motorcoach provider and make that operator part of the nursing home team.

"The relationship will be an important asset during an emergency," the UMA recommendation said.

On the national level, UMA suggested that nursing home associations establish a central coordinating unit to work alongside national representatives from motorcoach operators so available transportation can be immediately identified when needed for an evacuation.

Presley and Bob Watkins of Consolidated Safety Services proposed that nursing homes purchase retired transit buses for use during emergency evacuations. The idea generated a great deal of interest during the summit.

Relatively cheap to buy, the buses could be maintained and driven for a fee by private bus companies, Watkins told the nursing home administrators.

The biggest advantage, he said, would be assurance that rides would be available when needed.

The report issued by the nursing home leaders is called Caring for Vulnerable Elders during a Disaster: National Findings of the 2007 Nursing Home Hurricane Summit.

"We all agree that integrating the needs of the elderly into regional emergency planning processes can save lives," said LuMarie Polivka-West of the Florida Healthcare Association, which convened the Hurricane Summits of 2006 and 2007 that led to the development of the report. "Now, with a greater understanding of everyone's needs, we have developed better solutions to care for our most vulnerable citizens."

Other critical recommendations include ensuring that all emergency operations centers designate nursing homes as "healthcare" facilities, to assure they receive priority status for restoration of utilities.

The recommendations also hold long-term care providers accountable for knowing the capacity of their facility to withstand hurricane winds, knowing the storm surge/flood zone, and developing viable plans for evacuation or sheltering in place. Other recommendations address critical issues such as communications.

To read the complete report, go to www.fhca.org.