Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

We rarely spend too much time thinking about power – until it goes out. As a society, we take access to power and other resources for granted, not realizing how much we can’t get done without it until we’re cut off from the source. Power protection investments help to protect your equipment and your information, but what if your life was also dependent upon seamless access?

For a medical environment, power loss can also mean life loss if power protections aren’t in place. Patients throughout any given hospital are relying on powered machines to provide oxygen, heart monitoring, medication and so much more. While some can be monitored manually, others cannot live without the machines supporting them.

In Riverside, Calif., a massive power outage took place over the weekend that impacted more than 21,000 customers. Thunderstorms ransacked the area, causing problems for organizations like the Kaiser Permanete Riverside Medical Center. Three sub-transmission lines suddenly went out at 2:30 a.m., putting the center on alert that power was waning, if not completely unavailable.

When this happens, patients are at risk.

According to Riverside Public Utilities, lightning struck the Harvey-Lynn substation, located at La Sierra Avenue. This strike ignited a fire. City crews then repaired the transmission lines and power was restored to the Medical Center nearly two hours after the initial outage occurred. Power was then restored to roughly 17,000 customers, with the remaining receiving access to power by 8 a.m.

This story rings of the irony of California weather, a place that so desperately needed rain and suffered Mother Nature’s wrath when it finally arrived. It was too much to ask for the needed moisture to fall softly and provide the necessary nourishment for all life. Instead, it arrived with a vengeance and left a trail in its midst (or should that be mist?). When weather like this happens, it’s important to be prepared.

For the Medical Center, this means having the right power protection equipment in place. Backup generators are important, but it also requires a focus on surge protectors and other devices that ensure the affected hardware and infrastructure aren’t damaged by a surge or outage. When partnering with a provider like Minuteman, organizations not only protect their devices, they also protect their data before the lights go out.