Posted on 01/19/2008 1:25:01 PM PST by libstripper
Michael Bevan was on an operating table as surgeons performed a delicate procedure on the artery supplying blood to his brain, when, without warning, the lights went out.
For 10 terrifying minutes he lay - conscious, as he had been throughout the operation - as computerised medical equipment re-started, using power from an emergency generator.
Dr Farrel Hellig, who stood by helpless as the computers re-booted, said the 69-year-old retired mine manager was fortunate to be alive.
For those minutes he was perilously close to becoming a victim of a power crisis which is slowly sending the country into chaos.
Eskom, the state-owned electricity company, has implemented a series of rolling power cuts - euphemistically known as "load-shedding" - and South Africans are beginning to feel the effects.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
A man anxiously waits in an examining room for his physician to return with critical diagnostic results.
His doctor returns, staring at a series of charts and printouts.
“Doc, Doc! You gotta tell me - how am I?” the man shouts.
His doctor looks away from the papers, makes eye contact with the patient and says “Well, let me put it this way. Any sudden shock could kill you.”
I would say this situation is coming here in 10 years. In terms of utility planning, 10 years is the near future. Unless the rats and their green allies back away from their plans to impose alternative energy mandates and stop coal and nuclear plants, we will have energy shortages and much higher prices. If the rats take complete control in 2009, we should look forward to a future of walking, biking, shivering, sweating, and conserving. Although the top rats will not live in this manner, our humbled existence will bring tears to their eyes.
Sounds more like the hospital has a really crappy emergency system in place. If the power had gone out because of thunderstorms or something else, they’d have been in the same situation. This is why you should have battery backups on computer systems and all vital electronic systems, especially in a hospital environment. That way, if the power goes out, your computer systems and such never go off at all.
Any of you power engineers want to go work for Eskom in South Africa, they are paying about $150,000 a month for such. They have a real lack of expertise down there, and are paying this top dollar to import foreign engineers. At least, this was the case when I was there last year.
Hackers Have Attacked Foreign Utilities, CIA Analyst Says
By Ellen Nakashima and Steven Mufson Washington Post Staff Writers and Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, January 19, 2008; Page A04
In a rare public warning to the power and utility industry, a CIA analyst this week said cyber attackers have hacked into the computer systems of utility companies outside the United States and made demands, in at least one case causing a power outage that affected multiple cities. plenty more to read
$150,000 USD a MONTH?
Yeah, they were paying 1,000,000 Rand a month, which at today’s exchange rate is $141,000 and change.
***For 10 terrifying minutes he lay - conscious, as he had been throughout the operation - as computerised medical equipment re-started, using power from an emergency generator. ***
Sounds like my experience after open heart surgery. I’m in recovery with oxygen tubes down my throat and grease in my eyes.
Suddenly I threw up, started flailing around and the nurses and interns came in to help me.
A big clap of thunder is heard and the power goes out. No oxygen! I really start to go into a panic!
“Great,” I thoght to myself. “I survived the surgery only to be killed by a power failure!”
Then, after what felt like a loooong time, the emergency generator kicks in and oxygen flows into my lungs again.
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