3 ms·

Not great for people hooked up to home medical equipment

by tomcam 4y ago

alexchamberlain 4y ago
Won't medical equipment have back up batteries? (I'm not saying it's a good thing, just not a crisis moment.)
- IvyMike 4y ago
  Not in my experience dealing with an oxygen concentrator. The backup was a couple of tanks of O2, which can be used up pretty quick. And the O2 cannister supply chain isn't geared to meet widespread need, as we saw during the first wave of Covid.
- tomcam 4y ago
  No
Lio 4y ago
You would hope that they have uninteruptable power supplies for anything like that.
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  I remember when I used a CPAP, I didn't have a UPS. Where I lived, the power was so reliable I just didn't think of it. After a blackout, I went looking for a UPS. The problem was the alarm. For all the models in the store, I wasn't sure if I could keep the alarm silent, or if the model had an alarm at all. I never bought a UPS. (I had surgery about 18 months later, and turned in my CPAP.)
- sebazzz 4y ago
  Yes, but the grid in Europe is generally so reliable (especially when not living in a rural area), that such stability might be taken for granted.
  - tomcam 4y ago
    Luxury. I grew up in a banana republic (California) where one simply cannot expect that kind of reliability.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
thomasmg 4y ago
Power outages can happen for various reasons (storm, accident,...). I would expect the equipment has batteries, no?
- ben_w 4y ago
  Perhaps, but I can only remember personally experiencing a total of three power failures in the UK before I moved out in my mid 30s (and that includes the one time in the converted stables in the middle of nowhere, Wales).
- tomcam 4y ago
  Certainly not by default. And try getting insurance coverage for it.
Chris_Newton 4y ago
PSA: If you really are unusually vulnerable to power outages, for example due to using medical equipment or needing to keep medicines in the fridge, see if you qualify for the Priority Services Register: https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services/about-the-priority-services-register https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-service... Sometimes there are things the utility companies can do to help those who legitimately need to be prioritised, but only if they know who those people are.
lavezzi 4y ago
nm I dumb

Not great for people hooked up to home medical equipment

by tomcam 4y ago

Not great for people hooked up to home medical equipment

alexchamberlain 4y ago

Won't medical equipment have back up batteries? (I'm not saying it's a good thing, just not a crisis moment.)

IvyMike 4y ago
Not in my experience dealing with an oxygen concentrator. The backup was a couple of tanks of O2, which can be used up pretty quick. And the O2 cannister supply chain isn't geared to meet widespread need, as we saw during the first wave of Covid.
tomcam 4y ago
No

Lio 4y ago

You would hope that they have uninteruptable power supplies for anything like that.

gwbas1c 4y ago
I remember when I used a CPAP, I didn't have a UPS. Where I lived, the power was so reliable I just didn't think of it. After a blackout, I went looking for a UPS. The problem was the alarm. For all the models in the store, I wasn't sure if I could keep the alarm silent, or if the model had an alarm at all. I never bought a UPS. (I had surgery about 18 months later, and turned in my CPAP.)
sebazzz 4y ago
Yes, but the grid in Europe is generally so reliable (especially when not living in a rural area), that such stability might be taken for granted.
- tomcam 4y ago
  Luxury. I grew up in a banana republic (California) where one simply cannot expect that kind of reliability.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

thomasmg 4y ago

Power outages can happen for various reasons (storm, accident,...). I would expect the equipment has batteries, no?

ben_w 4y ago
Perhaps, but I can only remember personally experiencing a total of three power failures in the UK before I moved out in my mid 30s (and that includes the one time in the converted stables in the middle of nowhere, Wales).
tomcam 4y ago
Certainly not by default. And try getting insurance coverage for it.

Chris_Newton 4y ago

PSA: If you really are unusually vulnerable to power outages, for example due to using medical equipment or needing to keep medicines in the fridge, see if you qualify for the Priority Services Register: https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services/about-the-priority-services-register https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-service... Sometimes there are things the utility companies can do to help those who legitimately need to be prioritised, but only if they know who those people are.

lavezzi 4y ago

nm I dumb