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During A Disaster, Relocating Dialysis Patients Is A Race Against The Clock

Published October 4, 2017 at 9:13 AM PDT

Alvin Joseph of St. Thomas made it through the path of a hurricane and two evacuations without missing a dialysis treatment. (Sammy Mack/WLRN)

People whose lives depend on dialysis are especially vulnerable during a hurricane: The machines that replace their kidneys need reliable electricity and water to operate.

That’s part of why 89 dialysis patients from St. Thomas had to be airlifted to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma. And then they had to be moved again — this time to Miami — when Hurricane Maria threatened Puerto Rico. WLRN’s Sammy Mack (@sammymack) has the story.