Power Outages

Surviving a Power Outage

A power outage can prove to be deadly, particularly for those who rely on home medical equipment. News reports from around the country have highlighted emergency planners struggling to find new ways to identify people at risk before the lights go out and to ensure they will have the aid they need to survive a power outage.

• Recently, when ice downed electric lines in Epping, N.H., police found a 60-year-old man dead, hooked to his powerless oxygen machine. The town's rescue workers hadn't known he was power-dependent.

   

• When Hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana, dozens of people with home oxygen machines in tow evacuated to government medical shelters, where surprised officials had to scramble to find enough oxygen tanks when backup generators in Baton Rouge failed.

   

• In early 2009, a vicious winter storm left more than a half a million people in Kentucky without power.  One oxygen dependent man in Montgomery county was discovered dead after the power went out to his home.

   

Roughly 2 million people use home oxygen machines, mostly "concentrators" that make oxygen on the spot as long as electricity flows. In the event of a power outage or other catastrophe, it is vital that you have a reliable contingency plan for your oxygen use. 

An E/Pax emergency oxygen system can provide the "bridge" you need until power is restored or until emergency medical personnel can arrive to assist you.  Be prepared with an E/Pax emergency oxygen system.