The Ottawa Hospital, one of Canada’s most extensive medical facilities, suffered a devastating electrical fire that disrupted the main power supply and knocked out the hospital’s emergency power system. Firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the flames with water further compromised the electrical infrastructure. Over the next 48 hours, essential services—including 120 beds—were taken offline, and 96 patients had to be relocated, including neonatal ICU infants who were hand-carried down eight flights of stairs.
“Although the emergency power system immediately kicked in, it too was soon compromised by both the fire and the enormous amount of water firefighters used to douse it.”
Despite rigorous planning and an immediate emergency response, the failure of the backup system transformed a power disruption into a full-blown crisis.
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