A technical failure at the main substation in Salmiya causing power outages in six areas: Salmiya, Hawalli, Hawalli Square, Rumaithiya, Bayan and Jabriya, Al Rai reported.
Mubarak Hospital was badly hit by the power outage crisis that affected areas in Hawalli Governorate, including Jabriya, which revealed its poor emergency preparations with things nearly spiraling out of control, Al Rai daily reported.
When the hospital’s power was cut off, all the backup generators did not work and some of them even broke down, forcing the hospital into a complete shutdown for about 40 minutes.
The doctors were forced to give some patients artificial respiration manually, and many patients were saved due to spare batteries (UPS) to power artificial respirators, which worked for a maximum of 40 minutes. Once electricity was restored, the patients could be given the breathing equipment, but if the outage would have continued for longer than this period, the lives of many patients would be in danger, particularly those who receive treatment in the ICU, or those who depend on artificial respiration, said the daily.
The daily, quoting sources confirmed that the Undersecretary of the Ministry Mustafa Reda reached the hospital quickly and started the emergency plan. All the cases in the accident department will soon be evacuated to other hospitals.