Oh yes, I know Bob.  I don't always agree with him but I'm not surprised
at his resourcefullness.

We went through the same thing with my mother who was on oxygen when an
ice storm hit here around '95 and knocked out the power for five days.
We stayed at the house for two days and finally realised it was not
coming back on any time soon and so went to my sister's  place, 20 miles
away.  Fortunately they
were on another power grid and so their power never went out.  But it
was a bit rough, camping out in their basement!

Kat
On Tue, 2003-09-02 at 10:37, Cleveland, Kyle E. wrote:
> 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
> > IAEM-List, sponsored by the International Association of Emergency
> Managers. To post
> > a message, send it to [log in to unmask]  To unsubscribe, go to
> > http://iaem.com/mailman/listinfo/iaem-list_iaem.com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Iaem-list mailing list
> > [log in to unmask]
> > http://iaem.com/mailman/listinfo/iaem-list_iaem.com
> >
>
>
>
> ////////////////////////////////////////////////// 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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