Katrina deaths highlight dangers of evacuating nursing homes

NEW ORLEANS - The first victims of Hurricane Katrina never felt the raging winds, never saw the floodwaters. They were two elderly nursing-home residents who died on a school bus that took three hours to load and five hours to travel from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.

A third resident of the Ferncrest Manor Living Center died later at a hospital, and 21 others were treated for dehydration after riding buses that officials said were not air-conditioned, lacked water and had no certified nurses aboard. Authorities blamed the deaths on the stresses of the evacuation.

The tragedy illustrates the dilemma facing nursing home operators: Hurricanes can kill, but evacuating frail and elderly people can prove deadly, too.