Associate Professor William Tam was in the “middle of a quite complex procedure” on a 97-year-old patient when the power cut out. “The anaesthetic machines still had access to power, but I was totally in the dark without any information about what was happening to my instrument which was still inside the patient,” Professor Tam said. The procedure was finally finished in such conditions and fortunately there was no harm to the patient No emergency surgeries were affected. The medical team declared that the situation was unacceptable.
Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia
The Australian Medical Association has called the reliability of power to be addressed “as a matter of extreme urgency”. Tragedies occurred in the past when such power accidents occurred. As an example, in 2016, embryos being prepared for transfer at a fertility clinic had to be destroyed due to a generator failure at Flinders Medical Centre during a blackout which hit the whole of South Australia. Port Augusta Hospital was also left without power due to its generator failing several times within a 24-hour period.
