Life on Whidbey Island comes with its own rhythm, and nowhere is this more evident than in our seasonal dance with power outages. While most residents can weather (pun intended) these interruptions with household generators and Puget Sound Energy’s highly temperamental outage map, healthcare services and facilities face a more complex challenge.
As a healthcare professional who has served in both Disaster Team deployments and traditional healthcare facilities (namely Emergency Departments and Ambulatory Surgery Centers), I’ve witnessed how these power disruptions cascade through our medical system in ways that most individuals never see. While experiences may vary across different healthcare settings, my insights come from years of implementing regulated safety protocols from ambulatory surgery centers to disaster response environments.
The Pause
When the power goes out in a healthcare facility, there’s a brief few-second darkness before the backup generators kick in. These generators—comparable in size to vehicles ranging from cars to buses, based on the needs of the location—are the lifeline of any medical facility during an outage. They undergo rigorous testing weekly or monthly, with every test carefully documented to maintain accreditation standards.
If you’ve ever been in a hospital, you might have noticed red electrical outlets scattered throughout the building. These aren’t just color-coded for aesthetics—they’re strategically placed emergency power outlets connected directly to the facility’s generators, crucial for keeping critical equipment running during power disruptions.
Every piece of medical equipment has its own backup power requirements and limitations. The most essential equipment has independent battery backup power, adding another layer of protection during that brief pause before generators engage. IV pumps, monitoring devices, and life-support equipment like anesthesia machines all maintain this redundancy in power sources—from wall power to battery backup to generator power—helping ensure continuous patient care even during the most challenging power disruptions.
Impact on Medical Procedures
Patient safety drives every decision in healthcare, and this is especially true during power outages. From routine procedures to emergency interventions, every aspect of patient care involves multiple layers of safety protocols and risk assessment. For example, every surgical procedure—particularly ones involving anesthesia or supplemental oxygen—begins with a detailed ‘safety pause’, or ‘surgical time out’ that includes calculating a ‘fire risk score,’ a critical safety measure that considers factors like oxygen delivery methods and equipment proximity to oxygen sources. This careful attention to fire prevention, which represents one of the most serious risks in an operating room, exemplifies the multilayered approach to patient safety that influences all operational decisions. While backup systems are robust, facilities generally maintain a strict policy against starting new surgical procedures on generator power.
Even after utility power returns, facilities follow protocols before resuming normal operations. The biomedical engineering department (or contracted specialists) may need to verify that all equipment will function properly under normal power conditions. This isn’t a simple check—it’s part of a comprehensive preventative maintenance program where specialized technicians test everything from electrical safety to equipment functionality on a regular 6 to 12-month cycle. Specialized equipment like C-ARM X-ray machines and surgical microscopes require their own dedicated technical staff and testing procedures. Each facility has their own policy and procedure outlines for resuming ‘business as usual’.
The path to resuming operations varies by facility and equipment type. Each piece of FDA-regulated equipment comes with specific Instructions for Use (IFU) that dictate post-outage procedures. Some facilities require additional verification of the backup generator system itself, ensuring it can handle another potential outage. These protocols are also essential to maintaining accreditation standards and ensuring eligibility for Medicare and other insurances reimbursement. In fact, power outage response is just one component of mandatory yearly emergency preparedness drills, which also cover scenarios ranging from active shooter situations to natural disasters and pandemics.
Managing Extended Outages
Extended outages—those lasting more than a few hours—present unique challenges that I’ve encountered both in outpatient surgical facilities and during Disaster Team deployments. While backup generators are generally reliable, they introduce their own set of complications. In the operating room, these challenges become particularly acute during long procedures. The stakes do feel higher when you’re relying solely on backup power, simply knowing there’s one less additional redundancy in place. In the field, the challenges manifest differently—the constant mechanical drone of a generator creates an environment that can contribute significantly to both patient and staff fatigue, requiring careful management of team rotations and rest periods. This can also hamper effective communication between medical staff.
Temperature control becomes increasingly critical during extended outages. Most facilities maintain strict protocols for monitoring and managing temperatures in critical areas, particularly those housing sensitive equipment and medications or fluids. Supply chain and inventory implications also become more pressing—what starts as a simple power outage can quickly evolve into a complex logistical challenge as resources are carefully managed across departments.
Emergency Preparedness: Always Ready
Healthcare facilities implement multiple layers of protection for essential services, a necessity that becomes apparent during power disruptions. Beyond the obvious backup power systems, facilities maintain sophisticated environmental monitoring systems that track everything from temperature fluctuations in medication storage to humidity levels in operating rooms. These systems themselves have redundant power sources and backup monitoring capabilities, ensuring critical parameters remain within safe ranges even during extended outages.
The complexity of modern healthcare equipment demands equally sophisticated maintenance and testing protocols. Every facility maintains detailed equipment inventories with specific power requirements, backup capabilities, and testing schedules. Annual emergency drills, guided largely by rigorous Association of periOperating Registered Nurses (AORN) standards, ensure staff readiness for various scenarios. These drills continuously evolve, incorporating lessons learned from real-world events and adapting to new guidelines. Staff regularly participate in comprehensive disaster preparedness training, ensuring they remain ready to handle any situation that may arise.
Final Thoughts
When providers need to reschedule procedures during outages, it’s always with one goal in mind: Maintaining the highest standards of patient care. Throughout any power disruption, the health and wellbeing of patients remains the top priority. While rescheduling procedures can be frustrating, these decisions reflect a commitment to safety rather than mere precaution. Healthcare teams work closely with facility engineers and maintain detailed documentation to ensure continuity of care, even when normal operations are disrupted.
These challenges we face in healthcare settings mirror broader infrastructure concerns across our communities. As we collectively face increasing weather and climate-related disruptions, the healthcare sector’s approach to power outages offers valuable lessons in preparation and adaptation. My extensive time on Whidbey has only emphasized the importance of infrastructure resilience—not just in healthcare settings, but throughout our interconnected community systems. With proper planning, clear protocols, and unwavering commitment to safety, we can successfully navigate even the most challenging disruptions.
As winter winds all but whisper across Whidbey, here’s hoping your holidays are filled with light, warmth, and uninterrupted power! Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
(your Whidbey Nurse)
P.S. Still looking for the perfect gift? An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is always in season on-island!
