Hospitals Running On Generators Power Outages Don’t Affect Facilities’ Critical Areas

Power outages that caused Spokane residents to light their homes with candles Tuesday forced three hospitals to switch to emergency generators.

Officials said the outages did not affect critical areas, like emergency rooms, maternity wards or intensive-care units at Deaconess Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital, and Valley Hospital and Medical Center.

“We aren’t able to put everything on emergency generators,” said Gladys Jimeno, administrative supervisor at Deaconess.

The hospital’s hallways were dimly lit, and any room not critical to patient care was left dark. Doctors, nurses and other staff carried yellow flashlights like ushers in a darkened theater.

“At least I wasn’t stuck in the elevator when the juice went out,” said a 74-year-old man.

In the cafeteria, the cashier used a pocket calculator to ring up sales. Cream pie, mixed fruit and other cold food was put on ice. Hot food was slowly cooling.

Phillip and Dorothy Gustin ate lasagna by feel as they waited for the birth of their 11th great-grandchild. The retired couple drove from Omak, Wash., “40 to 45 (mph) all the way,” during the storm.

At 5:30 p.m., the Gustins had the cafeteria nearly to themselves. But the place filled a half-hour later, when the hospital operator announced free food for any employee.

“I wasn’t going to eat here. But since it’s free …” one woman in a white smock said to another.

The hospitals reported treating people hit by falling trees or injured in other weather-related accidents.

At Sacred Heart Medical Center, where the lights flickered but stayed on, the emergency room was bustling with bruised, scraped and worried patients.

Few major injuries were reported, a nursing supervisor said.

Some patients who use home ventilators came to the hospital worried their back-up batteries would not last the night.

Holy Family and Sacred Heart were offering beds to employees who could not drive home.

, DataTimes