Powered for Patients, the non-profit organization formed after Hurricane Sandy to help safeguard emergency power systems and expedite power restoration for critical healthcare facilities, urged facility managers at hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers in the potential path of Hurricane Matthew to take extra precautions to safeguard backup power supply systems.

Powered for Patients also urged at-risk citizens relying on electric powered medical equipment to fully charge the batteries of equipment and to identify sources of backup power that could be used when batteries are depleted.

To help facility managers at critical healthcare facilities safeguard emergency power systems, Powered for Patients has posted a link on its website to FEMA checklists that detail numerous steps facility managers should take before, during and after a disaster to help ensure continued operation of emergency generators. The checklists were included in FEMA’s 2014 guidebook: Emergency Power Systems for Critical Facilities: A Best Practices Approach to Improving Reliability (P-1019).

During both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, failure of backup power systems led to the emergency evacuation of numerous hospitals. Common reasons for failure in both Katrina and Sandy included submersion of generator fuel tanks and fuel pumps by flood water, mechanical failures and lack of fuel to resupply generators.  Given the projected strength of Hurricane Matthew as it parallels the southeast U.S. coast and potentially makes landfall, extensive power outages are likely.

In addition to carefully following the FEMA checklist, Powered for Patients is also urging hospital facility managers to determine the appropriate emergency management agency or public health department officials to contact if backup power systems are threatened or fail. Federal resources, including temporary generators and generator fuel, are available to critical healthcare facilities that have lost emergency power. However, this federal support must be requested by state officials who often rely on requests for this type of support from a local emergency management agency or public health department.

Powered for Patients is also urging facility managers at critical healthcare facilities to contact their electric utility liaisons to double check on protocols for reconnecting to the grid after a power outage and to ensure that contact information for utility liaisons is up to date.  Close coordination between a healthcare facility without power and a utility may impact prioritized power restoration.

Following Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, many at-risk citizens relying on electric-powered medical equipment flooded hospital emergency departments as the backup batteries on their medical equipment ran dangerously low. This surge of patients further strained hospitals already struggling to operate in a disaster environment.   “It’s important for at-risk citizens who use ventilators, oxygen concentrators and dialysis machines in their homes to be prepared for extended power outages,” said Eric Cote, Project Director for Powered for Patients. “Key steps in preparing for an extended power outage include fully charging backup batteries for durable medical equipment and identifying a source of emergency power where batteries can be recharged or equipment can be plugged in.”

Cote encouraged people with home generators to offer assistance to neighbors relying on electric-powered medical equipment.  He also urged at-risk citizens to contact their local emergency management agency to find out if any special needs shelters will be set up that can accommodate citizens using electric-powered medical equipment.

Powered for Patients is currently advancing a Department of Homeland Security-funded stakeholder engagement initiative to foster closer collaboration between stakeholders involved in safeguarding emergency power and expediting power restoration for critical healthcare facilities. Powered for Patients is also working closely with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association, on an initiative to promote best practices in safeguarding emergency power systems.

Powered for Patients received its initial funding in 2014 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistance Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS/ASPR) through ASPR’s cooperative agreement with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).