Power cuts leave patients in limbo

Bangalore: Respirators fixed on patients who are being operated, or on dialysis, get interrupted. Though there are generators, it takes a few seconds to minutes to re-start life-support systems.
Power cuts are affecting hospitals the most. Authorities say they have been able to manage with one or two generators but uninterrupted power supply is a must to ensure crucial minutes are not lost.
In a few hospitals, old generators are unable to take the masive load of a wide range of medical equipment. Nimhans medical superintendent B N Gangadhar said there is power supply for just a few hours a day. "In this situation, running generators is a burden on the exchequer. The state government should reconsider the situation and provide uninterrupted power supply to hospitals. There are six hopsitals within a radius of 1 km here. The government should provide a seperate line."
Sanjay Gandhi Trauma and Accident Hospital resident medical officer Dr T Prabhakar said the hospital has only one generator (250 KV) that takes the load of the entire place. "In case of a power cut, there is an interruption in the operation process, or for a patient on ventilator. It may be only 30 seconds, but even this should not happen," he said.