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Updated at 7.20pm
BEAUMONT HOSPITAL WAS affected by a major power outage this afternoon – with doctors and nurses having to rely on their mobile phone torches to carry out their work.
It happened at around 5pm this evening as Storm Barney intensified. Over 45,000 homes have also been left without power due to high winds.
A doctor at the northside Dublin hospital posted a photo of a ward in near-darkness and the message “Thank goodness for iPhone torches”.
A Beaumont spokesperson said the facility experienced a power failure “for a short period of time due to multiple failures on the external network”.
“All critical areas had battery back up. Full power was restored within 15 minutes.”
The spokesperson’s statement added:
“Beaumont hospital is satisfied that patient safety was not compromised.
“The incident is being investigated with the relevant providers.”
The hospital has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the country, and treats over 50,000 people each year.
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It clearly states that all critical areas had back up power. There were probably a few people doing their rounds needed a torch to see notes for 15 minutes. Calm down.
Bad news about hospitals get clicks and happy advertisers… A bit like UK tabloids!
None of them had android or windows phone then?
Back up Generators ?
Bahaha, good one mate
Beaumont has back up system for all critical areas, I’ve fitted the power supply for the fire system in it.
Very easy to have faults on the changeover gear, even if tested regularly
I was there. Generators did not come on. Was pitch black. Luckily my dads machine was plugged in and charged. No emergency lights even. They need to investigate why generators didn’t kick in. Was at least 17-20 mins in darkness. Fair play to all doctors and nurses around. They kept everything calm and constantly checking on patients.
I was on the first floor and everything went black. I waited for the generator to kick in but it didn’t. Had my phone and guided patients back to their ward. The nurses were very impressive in how they jumped to action. They all had torches and we very organized and calm. Went downstairs and the TSD lads were hard at it and quickly got the situation back. Well done all.
The minister should resign. Everyone should be sacked. It’s a shambles, Joe, a shambles. Why aren’t people on the streets? Roll on the election.
The back up system was installed 10 years ago, shouldn’t the maintenance staff of the hospital not be sacked if it didn’t work?
I know for a fact that one ward in particular had no emergency lighting including those in the emergency exit signs. These are required to have a battery function for up to 3 hours, they didn’t even light for 1 minute this evening.
Do all staff at beaumont have iPhones?!
God love anyone getting the scope up or down today.
Not open at that late time.
The entrance and exit was in complete darkness I heard
The whole hospital was in complete darkness
Almost everyone had a torch on their phone.
Hope no lad was getting a hernia operation at the time,might have ended up circumcised instead.
You need to study anatomy a bit better you gob$hite
In this day and age, do they not have back up generators for the likes of hospitals?!
They do. They worked. This story is the dictionary definition of clickbait.
Well according to the post above you from Michelle who was there they didn’t kick in?
Actually they did not kick in at all. The whole hospital was without power for at least 15 mins. All medical equipment has a short life battery backup but had it gone on much longer there would have been major problems.
@Barry Actually no not all medical equipment has a short battery backup, items like infusion pumps, vital signs monitors, syringe drivers, defibrillators etc. have onboard batteries, but these are only good as long as they’re plugged in and charged. Much of the equipment used in theatre for example won’t have a battery backup as they’re not expected to be used for transport unless the theatres themselves have dedicated UPS systems in place, and even then they can expect around 15 minutes. Diagnostic equipment also won’t have a battery backup so critically ill patients in need of such things as a blood gas analyser or even urinalysis will have to wait. All IT systems, unless connected to a UPS, will also go down.
@ Jed
Sounds serious enough so – did backup generators for non essential/critical items fail or are they just not present?
Backup generators are present… or rather they’re supposed to be present, and should’ve kicked in within seconds of a power failure, clearly this didn’t happen and will have to be looked at. They are usually checked regularly.
What a barney they must have had.
My Father has been in Beaumont for 2 weeks. He awoke at 5 am today to find 3 nurses trying to remove a bulb from the spotlight over his bed. When he questioned what they were doing they said that it was the only available bulb on the ward and they needed it to check on another patient.
Then this evening the whole hospital lost power and the backup generators did not work.
The nurses had to use their mobile phones to see where they were going and patients were literally left in the dark
A&E ( which is critical) was in complete darkness and ambulances were diverted for the blackout
The power came back after 15-20 mins but the generators never worked.
None of the emergency lighting on the 3rd floor worked either
This hospital is getting worse by the day
Things happen it’s how we deal with them that matters – well done to all who ensured the safety of patients and visitors. I am sure lessons will be learnt and history will not repeat its self
An apple a day, keeps the doctors at play :-)
I forgot how only iphones have torches. Where would we be without them?
Well whoever signed off on the last Emergency Lighting Cert for one is b0lloxed
If somebody had an accident at least they would be in the right place.
I see “Beaumont Hospital, proud to be a smoke free campus (and a gouger for parking) ” – but sadly not the possessor of generators, or emergency power systems? Sounds right – this is Ireland, after all.
Things happen – it’s how well we deal with them and what we learn from them that matters. Well done to everyone who were able to deal with an unexpected event
Thank apple
But the average mobile phone has 3 to 4 times more bacteria than a public toilet door handle…
Good that they could do that but why no back up generator?
I don’t care what happens nobody is forcing me to use an iPhone.
People need to get a life
Pretty sure non iPhones were used too, just to elaborate on your ridiculous headline.
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