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> as traffic lights and life-support systems fail. Has anyone on life support ever died from the power going out ? I've worked at a hospital and the life suppo

> as traffic lights and life-support systems fail. Has anyone on life support ever died from the power going out ? I've worked at a hospital and the life support machines have internal battery backups, they're plugged into a separate outlet that is (at least) got an instant-on backup generator and possibly another battery backup. Plus, the ventilators I saw have rubber balloons on them that can be manually squeezed to breathe the patient if the machine dies. I also thought ventilated patients are also staffed by critical care nurses that have at most 2 patients per nurse. I've never heard of a ventilated patient set off in a room alone without adequate supervision. Not saying there's no risk elsewhere in a city from power loss, but I thought hospitals had this situation covered.

berberous 10y ago
Probably multiple in New Orleans during Katrina. Of course, that was more than just a power outage, with flooding water destroying backup generators, more critical needs patients than non-evacuated staff remaining to support them, multiple days for support to arrive, etc.
- slouch 10y ago
  This podcast contains a horrifying story about how life-supporting services and resources were managed when one hospital in New Orleans lost power during Katrina: http://www.radiolab.org/story/playing-god/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/playing-god/
esmi 10y ago
Things are not always properly maintained, human error happens, back-up equipment fails, etc. In hospitals I am sure it's very rare but I'll bet it happens. But not all people on life support are in hospitals... http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Nursing-home-death-during-outage-prompts-5538012.php http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Nursing-home-death-d...
jpollock 10y ago
People die when the power goes out. :) It can be both accidentally and when people's power is cut off due to non-payment. They also die from heat exhaustion when the AC goes out. http://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-new-zealand-herald/20160810/281681139267143 http://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-new-zealand-heral...
msisk6 10y ago
If we fail at the grid management level and the entire grid collapses, it's a non-trivial process to get it back up. It can take hours to days to get everything up and running. It's a process called blackstart. In the meantime hospitals and other facilities with backup gensets will quickly run out of fuel. Those fuel delivery contracts everyone has will go out the window once the entire grid is down and everyone needs fuel.
DrScump 10y ago
Your backup-electricity strategy has to be decently thought out. The Fukushima disaster would have been avoided had all of the switching stations for the backup generators been located in safe, or even elevated, structures[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster#Backup_generators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disa...

berberous 10y ago

Probably multiple in New Orleans during Katrina. Of course, that was more than just a power outage, with flooding water destroying backup generators, more critical needs patients than non-evacuated staff remaining to support them, multiple days for support to arrive, etc.

slouch 10y ago
This podcast contains a horrifying story about how life-supporting services and resources were managed when one hospital in New Orleans lost power during Katrina: http://www.radiolab.org/story/playing-god/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/playing-god/

esmi 10y ago

Things are not always properly maintained, human error happens, back-up equipment fails, etc. In hospitals I am sure it's very rare but I'll bet it happens. But not all people on life support are in hospitals... http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Nursing-home-death-during-outage-prompts-5538012.php http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Nursing-home-death-d...

jpollock 10y ago

People die when the power goes out. :) It can be both accidentally and when people's power is cut off due to non-payment. They also die from heat exhaustion when the AC goes out. http://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-new-zealand-herald/20160810/281681139267143 http://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-new-zealand-heral...

msisk6 10y ago

If we fail at the grid management level and the entire grid collapses, it's a non-trivial process to get it back up. It can take hours to days to get everything up and running. It's a process called blackstart. In the meantime hospitals and other facilities with backup gensets will quickly run out of fuel. Those fuel delivery contracts everyone has will go out the window once the entire grid is down and everyone needs fuel.

DrScump 10y ago

Your backup-electricity strategy has to be decently thought out. The Fukushima disaster would have been avoided had all of the switching stations for the backup generators been located in safe, or even elevated, structures[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster#Backup_generators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disa...