Plenty of reminders to have a plan when the power’s out
People reliant on power for medical conditions should have a robust plan, says
Power outages across Auckland at the weekend because of a storm, last week’s ‘‘weather bomb’’ across the south, and three events in November and December were reminders that random and unexpected events can test our preparedness in an emergency and our ability to cope in the aftermath.
The disruption following the Kaikoura earthquake in November and the damage around that town, the top of the South Island, and Wellington, included power outages that ranged from a few hours to a few days. It was followed by two other events that caused outages.
On December 8, power was cut to 32,000 homes and businesses across the Far North when insulators on transmission towers were damaged, allegedly after being shot out. Most power was restored within 12 hours, but it was enough to cause significant inconvenience and cost for many families and businesses.
Four days later, power was cut to the Gisborne area when an aircraft hit transmission lines, tragically killing its two pilots. Generators provided intermittent supply until full power was restored 36 hours later. Together with the less-disruptive events of the past week, they were real wake-up calls about what to do when the power goes out.
Emergencies such as these will continue to put lives at risk, especially for those dependent on a consistent, safe supply of electricity because of a medical condition.
In any outage, the greatest immediate concern for electricity companies is the well-being of medically dependent customers – those who depend on mains electricity to survive or who could suffer serious harm if supply is lost. The definition of being dependent can include needing medical or other electrical equipment to support treatment, for example a microwave to heat fluids, a renal dialysis or airway pressure machine, an oxygen concentrator, or a ventilator.
Following the Kaikoura earthquake, all electricity retailers reported instant mobilisation of their emergency response teams, who contacted their medically dependent customers. Within hours, one company telephoned each of its 700 medically dependent customers, while other suppliers of key services took similar initiatives.
But it’s important not to assume your electricity company will be able to make contact in a power cut. It’s equally likely also that communications will be affected for a time. Just as in other civil defence situations, people need to put measures in place to ensure their own safety and well-being.
Anybody who is a medically dependent electricity customer should have a back-up or emergency response plan that can be put into action immediately. It needs to be more than just ‘‘call an ambulance’’, because phone lines or roads are often affected and access impaired. People must be able to depend on their plan to be self-sufficient for a period of time (such as having backup generators or always keeping a fullycharged battery) and depend on their support people, family, friends or neighbours.
Though retailers reported no major issues from the events of last year, some disturbing trends did emerge from Electricity Retailers’ Association analysis. One retailer reported that out of 111 medically-dependent customers, 78 had a robust plan but only three put it into action. The remaining 33 had no plan nor considered they might have needed one. Of those who had a robust plan, many had not fully considered they might have needed to implement it because of aftershocks.
One of the encouraging results of our analysis was the support that medically dependent and vulnerable customers in more remote rural areas received from neighbours – food, children looked after, and checks were all common place. This was not as evident in urban areas, where some customers said they felt isolated despite proximity to services. It’s a reminder to us all to look out for our neighbours – and not just in times of emergency.
The best advice for medically dependent customers is to have an up-todate emergency plan that can be implemented immediately. It’s also important to regularly review it with a health provider and share it with family, close friends and neighbours. Finally, if a medically dependent person’s situation changes they should tell their power company so attention can go to those most in need.
Even those of us for whom the loss of electricity wouldn’t be immediately lifethreatening know the inconvenience that can come when the power goes out for a few hours or days. Being better prepared is something we can all work on.
If you are a medically dependent electricity customer, for more information on preparing an emergency response plan, talk to your health provider. For a general plan about how how to prepare in the case of power loss, see the Civil Defence site: getthru.co.nz
Just as in other civil defence situations, people need to put measures in place to ensure their own safety and well-being.