This came in from an "Emergency Management" list I'm on. I was suspicious
as to the story's veracity, but according to colleagues, it's true.
Kyle
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 7:17 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Iaem-list] North East Blackout Information
PLEASE NOTE: This is a PUBLIC discussion list; information shared on this
list is NOT secure ..........................................
A "Medically Fragile" respirator dependant ham radio operator tells how he
managed during the blackout.
Source: <A
HREF="http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2003/08/27/2/?nc=1">http://www.arrl.
org/news/features/2003/08/27/2/?nc=1</A>
A Taste of Baghdad in the Summer
By Robert Mauro, KZ2G
August 27, 2003
An inconvenience for most, the Blackout of 2003 raised a serious set of
concerns for people requiring electricity to breathe.
It was Thursday, August 14, 2003. I was watching CNN and using my
respirator to breathe. Suddenly, the electric power went off. The next thing
I
heard was the alarm on my respirator, which I need to stay alive. One of the
hottest days in the year and no electricity! It was 4:12 PM and just the
beginning of a long ordeal for me and 50 million other Americans, 10 million
with
disabilities: we were about to experience a taste of Baghdad in summer.
As a result of childhood polio, I require a respirator to breathe. I
do not like power failures, especially in hot weather. I had thought all
summer
about those folks in Baghdad with no electricity and suffering 120-degree
temperatures. Now we'd get an inkling of what they were going through. I use
a
motorized wheelchair to get around and for years I've been saving my chair's
old
batteries. I use them to run my respirator during power failures and to run
my Ten-Tec Omni 6 Plus at 5 W during Field Day. We only have one Field Day a
year, but we have several blackouts a year, usually lasting several hours.
As during previous blackouts, I called Long Island Power Authority's
emergency life support number for information on what caused the power
failure
and how long it might last. I was shocked and unnerved when LIPA said the
whole Eastern United States was out. I knew this would to be a long outage.
Would
my four old wheelchair batteries last long enough to power my respirator?
I called a local hospital's emergency room. They had emergency power
and the nurse I spoke to said to come right over if I needed to plug in. But
like most folks, I preferred to stay home. I turned on my portable radio,
hoping
to hear that the power would be on shortly. New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg calmed me down by saying electric would be back in hours, not
days.
Meanwhile, the temperature rose rapidly in my room.
As the sun went down, my ventilator was still running on my first
backup battery. Would it last through the night? The answer was "no." It
died
precisely at 11:59 PM. I quickly hooked up my second backup battery; the
first
one had lasted nearly eight hours. Then at 12:02 AM, the lights flickered.
Then
died. Then, at around 2 AM, they flickered on...and off again.
Friday morning I called LIPA for an update. My second backup battery
was already at eight hours.The LIPA spokesperson said the electric should be
on
by that afternoon, maybe. The weatherman was predicting another 90-degree
day and I don't do well in heat and humidity.
Hoping to keep cool, I stayed in bed. Finally at about 12:20 PM, the
lights came on. Would they stay on? I left my air conditioner off, but
turned
on my TV. Governor George Pataki said people should only use their air
conditioners for health reasons. I quickly turned mine on and breathed a
sigh of
relief. I now had power and air conditioning. My taste of Baghdad in summer
was
over!
Bob Mauro, KZ2G, has been a ham since 1965, when he was first licensed as
WN2UHY, and soon thereafter, as WB2UHY. From his <A
HREF="http://www.geocities.com/ram9872002">Web site</A>:"The seeds of
amateur
radio were planted in me back in the Fifties. As a kid, I watched Captain
Midnight on TV. I always wanted to make a communicator like he did out of a
piece
of wire, a spoon and some tape." In 1960, at age 13, he bought a National
NC-60
communication receiver to tune in on the world. After about of childhood
polio and two spinal fusions in 1961, he got involved with CB radio and
later
Amateur Radio. In the early 1970s, he helped start the Hofstra University
disability advocacy group, People United in Support of the Handicapped.
Mauro is an
author and painter living in Levittown, New York. He can be reached at <A
HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">
[log in to unmask]</A>.
In a message dated 8/28/2003 6:52:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> Subj: [Iaem-list] North East Blackout Information
> Date: 8/28/2003 6:52:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time
> From: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>
> To: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>
> Sent from the Internet
>
> PLEASE NOTE: This is a PUBLIC discussion list; information shared on this
> list is NOT secure ..........................................
> Do any of the Emergency Management or other Emergency Services
> organizations have any numbers of the people who are "Medically Fragile"
> or who need electric powered medical devices (oxygen, nebulizers,
> medication delivery) that were severely impacted during the Northeast
> Blackout and what actions were taken, if any, by the community to meet
> their emergency needs?
>
> My community is working toward developing a process similar to those
> used in Florida to meet the unique emergency shelter needs of the
> special needs population.
>
> Once we have a plan completed, I will share this with IAEM community.
>
> Thanks for everyone's input.
>
> Ned Wright
> Director
> Linn County Emergency Management
> 50 2nd Ave Bridge
> Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
> (319) 363-2671
> email to: [log in to unmask]
>
> .. You received this message because you subscribed yourself to the
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Managers. To post
> a message, send it to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe, go to
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
////////////////////////////////////////////////// Last Item
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Bill Lennox
US Air Force (Retired)
Full Time College Student (Emergency Management)
KD7EFP
Assistant Emergency Coordinator - Plans (ARES), Washington County, Oregon
Assistant Radio Officer - Plans (RACES), Washington County, Oregon
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