After a widespread power outage in Berlin cut off several hospitals, Saxony's hospitals are prepared for an emergency. There is sufficient emergency power capacity to maintain basic operations "for a certain time", a spokeswoman for Dresden University Hospital told the German Press Agency. The Chemnitz Hospital said that the hospitals, which are considered critical infrastructure, would have to guarantee supplies for up to 24 hours in the event of a power outage anyway.
"At Chemnitz Hospital, this is done with the help of a total of eleven emergency power generators that produce electricity." The emergency outpatient department and operating theatres, intensive care units, safety lighting, elevators and fire protection systems are all supplied with power.
However, it is also clear that a power outage as long as the one that occurred in Berlin this week would mean a "loss of medical services", according to a spokesperson for Dresden University Hospital. This would primarily affect planned and non-urgent treatments and operations, she added. Emergency scenarios are regularly put to the test in working groups with the authorities and energy suppliers. For new buildings, for example, additional emergency power generators are taken into account.
