Electricity Necessary For People Dependent On Medical Devices

Briefly living without electricity means minor inconveniences for some, like reading by flashlight and going the extra steps to grill food for dinner, but for people who rely on electronically-operated medical devices, an inconvenience can be measured breath by breath. 

The Red Cross emergency shelter at Fitch High School accepted more than a dozen people on life support Saturday before Hurricane Irene hit hard, said Debbie Evans, a volunteer on the nursing corps at the shelter. Many stayed after the storm passed because they knew there was no power at their homes. 

"Some of them think that they recharged their machines yesterday and today so it'll last through the night," Evans said. "I don't know what they'll do if it (the outage) lasts longer."  

A fully charged battery in an oxygen concentrator can last up to eight hours. 

Cheryl Smith, of Godfried Road in New London, came to the Fitch High School shelter because she knew the building had a back-up generator in case of a power outage. Smith said she doesn't know where she'll go if she doesn't have electricity at home when the shelter closes.

Evans said the Red Cross cannot force people to stay in the emergency shelter. 

John Buckley and Darlene LaMothe, checked into the shelter Saturday in anticipation of a power outage at their Pequot Village residence because LaMothe needs an oxygen machine to breathe. 

"A tree fell on the main road," said Buckley. "We came here because the wind was pretty bad." 

Buckley was told that power would be restored to their residence late Sunday night. If that's not possible, he joked that his back-up plan is to go back to school.  

LaMothe said she didn't know where to go if the shelter closed Monday, as expected, and if their home still doesn't have power.  

CL & P recommends customers to who rely on medical equipment to inform the company of their situation and the type of equipment that is used, by calling 1-800-286-2000. (947-2000 in the Hartford area, or 1-860-947-2000 in the Meriden area).

The website also listed these suggestions for a back-up plan:

• An alternate source of electric power such as a battery backup system, an uninterruptible power supply or a generator for your life-support equipment.

• Handy emergency telephone numbers - doctor, fire, police and ambulance. Keep in mind that many cordless phones do not work during power outages, so be sure that you have a regular phone available.