If you depend on electric medical equipment, it is important to have a plan for how to manage a power outage. Examples of lifesaving medical devices include an oxygen concentrator or a ventilator.

While Tideland maintains a “medical alert” list of households that have filed qualifying paperwork indicating special medical needs dependent on electric service, that should not imply that those members are given power restoration priority. The reason priority cannot be given is based on the design of the electric system itself. There is no way to restore service to an individual residence without restoring power to all points along the delivery system starting at our substations and traveling along circuits and neighborhood taps. The farther away you are from a substation, the longer your outage may potentially last depending on any number of factors particular to that outage and any damages that have occurred. That’s why it is imperative to consider evacuating when a major storm is approaching that could result in multi-day outages.

Backup safety tips include the following:

• Have an emergency plan in place with friends and family that outlines places you can go in the event of a long-term outage.
• Before an outage occurs, find out if the medical equipment safely runs on a backup power source and for how long (see manufacturer’s recommendations).
• Keep a full charge on battery-powered devices or have extra batteries available.
• If recommended by the manufacturer, consider purchasing a portable battery pack to power devices.
• Gather related resources that will last for two weeks, including batteries, supplemental equipment and prescriptions.
• Realize that local shelters and hospitals that are also experiencing an outage may be at capacity and have limited resources, including auxiliary power.
• Think about the other special equipment you might need, such as coolers for refrigerated medicine.
• Like any important device, keep up regular maintenance.
• Keep a file that includes the device’s manufacturer, serial numbers and photos of the device.