keyboarder Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 [sidjamesstyle] huhhahhahhah..............[sidjamesstyle/] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Incredibly droll. Anyway, back to the matter of the powercut.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 How anyone can kind humour in a hospital power blackout is beyond me; there is so much life saving equipment there that I suppose it is very lucky that no-one did die (assuming there would be people on life support in ICU and possibly in operating theatres). Also getting stuck while in a lift whilst in labour can't be a barrel of laughs either. Hopefully, it was a salutary lesson, one that didn't cost too much, and certainly not in terms of life and that the correct steps have been taken to never, ever allow it to happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 How anyone can kind humour in a hospital power blackout is beyond me It's quite easy really. there is so much life saving equipment there that I suppose it is very lucky that no-one did die (assuming there would be people on life support in ICU and possibly in operating theatres). Luck or the emergency back up provided by the MEA? Also getting stuck while in a lift whilst in labour can't be a barrel of laughs either. Oh, Cret was in labour as well? I've read about those sympathetic male pregnancies, but they're very rare. Hopefully, it was a salutary lesson, one that didn't cost too much, and certainly not in terms of life and that the correct steps have been taken to never, ever allow it to happen again. I doubt that with the complexity of hospital wiring systems that perfect situation could ever be completely guaranteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immortalpuppet Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 i was going to mention batteries, i assume that the UPS is powered by batteries and the batteries are charged by the back up gene`s. the batteries and in turn gene`s normally give a few hours power to essential routes so maybe all the essentials would have been powered by the batteries if they were in use? Pure speculation becuase i dont work for the hospital or the MEA so unless someone in them roles post then i dont think we will get the true picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD4ELI Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 unbelievable there could well have been deaths as a result of this ! they should be on their knees praying and saying thanks that no one was in ITU or on an operating table Runs via a massive UPS, as do all data centers and similar facilities. Mine will run for a month (!!!) on batteries, mind you the 'batteries' are two floors of an underground bunker :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immortalpuppet Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Oh and i am with Dec, was there a cat involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollag Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 In an ideal world the sequence is thus--- Mains power feeds thru a UPS [uninterruptabe power supply] which, on power failure, seamlessly maintains power via batteries and inverters, to maintain the load. Power failure meantime has been sensed by the back up generator which fires up and on reaching speed switches into the system via the UPS taking over the load duty. Areas and systems would be prioritised cos its not really feasible to run the whole hospital via a UPS so certain areas would be allowed to fail temporarily as they are not life threatening, ie dont need UPS's for loo fans. Regular tests would be used to prove the system,simulating failures and using dummy loads, plus the guy in charge of engineering is so good at what he does that i reckon it will be down to kit failure rather than human cock up. I hate the noun becomes a verb thing jargon, outage my ass, its a mains failure purely and simply, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Oh and i am with Dec, was there a cat involved? There was almost a cataclysmic catastrophe following a catalogue of errors that will hopefully prove a catalyst for change as long as the authorities don't pussyfoot around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 From what the wife said this morning it's not that long since they went back to main power again, and stuff did go off again briefly. Obviously aside from her seeing lights go off for a short space of time most of us have no way of knowing whether the important stuff carried on uninterrupted, but you can only hope so. I agree that it is far from funny though. Things like that cause a lot of worry to a lot of people regardless of whether the backup systems do what they (in theory) should be doing. I don't think someone with a loved one on a life support machine would be filled with joy & laughter at the sight of all the lights going off suddenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 After speaking to the wife and one or two others up there tonight it rather sounds like the backup stuff perhaps didn't do what it should have done, as they said one poor girl had to give birth by torchlight, and that the lights were off for probably over an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feelslikeitshould Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 After speaking to the wife and one or two others up there tonight it rather sounds like the backup stuff perhaps didn't do what it should have done, as they said one poor girl had to give birth by torchlight, and that the lights were off for probably over an hour. Get a claim in! Seriously though, thats shit. Having a baby is probably the most natural thing ever but it's still a bit scary, a lot painful and quite difficult physically and emotionally. They're probably better off at home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Nah - for some it could potentially be pretty bad I agree but it didn't affect the mrs/baby at all fortunately. Besides, I have to admit that from some very tired ladies with wibbly wobbly hormones, and strong painkillers I'm being careful about what I take as gospel, simply repeating what they said. And my ones have had nothing but good treatment so I know the mrs is quite pleased with the whole Nobles experience after understandably being very nervous about the child launching thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ykstarr Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 It was off because they were switching from backup to main's power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cret Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 But was still off nonetheless. I don't know much about that sort of thing, but personally I'd expect that in a hospital it should be set up so that stuff does not go off regardless of whether it is switching over from one system to the other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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