Think about the times the power has been interrupted in your household. It’s likely you panicked a bit but then went on with your everyday tasks, hoping the lights and HVAC system would come back on soon. Unless the power stayed off for days, chances are you probably weren’t all that inconvenienced.
But what happens when the power goes off in a hospital or other healthcare facility? Unlike when power interruptions happen at a residence, hospitals have a lot more to worry about than whether the milk in the refrigerator will go bad or if you can find your way to the bathroom in the dark! When hospitals lose power, lives are literally at stake. That’s why reliable emergency powers systems are essential for hospitals.
Thankfully, in most countries around the world – including Canada – the government legally requires hospitals to have back-up generators in place. Though requirements may be different from place to place, it’s generally expected that a hospital be able to fully restore power within just 10 seconds of a power outage.
Why so fast? Well, think about all the reasons that a hospital needs to quickly switch to back-up powes.
- Life support patients – At any given time, hospitals pretty much ALWAYS have at least some patients on life support. It might be hard to believe, but if power is out in excess of 10 seconds, loss of life could occur. This is why the quality of emergency power systems installed in hospitals is so important.
- Hospital equipment – Just look around one single hospital room and you’ll realize the vast quantity of equipment that relies on electricity to function. Heart monitors, x-ray machines, computers. If power goes out for any length of time, not only do these machines stop working but, in some cases, they might suffer damage as well. As such, reliable and well-maintained emergency power is required in order to keep this equipment running and, again, to avoid the loss of life that could occur when monitors and other machines are shut down unexpectedly.
- Record keeping – These days, most doctors and nurses aren’t writing down patient information on a piece of paper. All record keeping is done by computer, and being able to access those records is essential whenever a patient is in hospital. These records are needed by numerous individuals involved with each patient’s care so it’s obviously important that they need to be readily accessible at all times.
- General safety – Though it might be difficult to find your way around your home or your office with no lights, it’s doubly hard in a hospital where rooms, hallways, and other spaces are always brightly lit…and for good reason! A sudden loss of light becomes an occupational safety hazard for staff and an issue for patients and visitors as well. This is just another logical reason why hospitals must have reliable emergency power in place.
In actuality, most hospitals require multiple generators, simply because of their size. As such, the company doing the emergency power installation needs to be well-versed in the particulars of back-up generators and what kind of load they can handle. In addition, most provinces have specific guidelines about the installation and use of emergency power systems, so it’s important for hospitals to employ the services of a power company that’s familiar with those regulations, like Western Oil Services.
Furthermore, generator technology has changed quite a bit over the last few decades, so a company like Western Oil Services, which stays abreast of all the latest in back-up generator technology, is a wise choice for hospitals seeking to install or upgrade their emergency power system. Western Oil is already working with a number of medical facilities, including Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Port Perry Hospital, to provide the best service possible both during installation and long after the generators have been installed, offering regular maintenance so that the system continues to work as well as it did when it was first installed.
At Western Oil Services, we understand and respect the importance of emergency power installations for hospitals and other medical facilities, and our experts stand ready to assist you in choosing a system that’s right for the size and budget of your hospital. For more information on back-up generators and other power equipment for your facility, call us at (604) 514-4787 to schedule a consultation.