Today, our country takes a mixed-bagged approach to hospital backup energy regulations. While the tragedy at Memorial was an eye-opening example of hospital failure in times of emergency, the problem still subsists throughout the United States. Government agencies are failing to provide adequate funding for hospital officials to make such adjustments. Hospital officials face high costs of raising generators and automatic transfer switches above the minimum level required by accreditation organizations. Hospitals are often, if not always, analyzing competing needs and priorities. Although some hospitals will go beyond these standards to more aptly ensure energy resiliency in case of emergency, many play the odds. While various regulations stemming from federal and state laws are required or encouraged, numerous hospitals meet the minimum requirements and nothing more. Finally, hospital administrators came under heavy scrutiny for breaching their duty to operate a resilient hospital during the emergency. Some believe the deaths to be an “Act of God.” Others believe the Army Corps of Engineers is to blame. The legal cause of the deaths is a mystery that has been subject to a great deal of litigation and scholarly debate.
In the end, the floodwaters rose too high, and the precious generators failed after only two and a half days. The generators went out, “throwing the hospital into darkness and cutting power to the machines that supported patients’ lives.” The generators at Memorial were supposed to function for six days. Electronic equipment immediately began to fail.
#Lost in the storm sheri fink generator#
The morning of Wednesday, August 31, 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the last backup generator at Memorial Medical Center of New Orleans provided a final surge of energy then died.
0 kommentar(er)
