In Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of homes are without power as a result of Russian attacks on power plants. Power outages are on the rise with significant consequences, especially in hospitals. This is the case of Tetiiv, in the Kyiv region.
Several times a day, Olena, a nurse, comes to check that the oxygen machines have not been cut off. She cares for a dozen patients who need permanent respiratory assistance, connected to the electrical network.
“The oxygen machine is connected to a power outlet and we made some adjustments to add this bottle of oxygen. But it is clearly not enough in case of a prolonged failure,” he explains on the microphone of BFMTV.
Not equipped for winter.
Next door, a 90-year-old man cannot survive without oxygen. In the hospital, therefore, it is necessary to save electricity at all costs. “We keep one light on for the entire hallway, and when we’re done taking care of a patient, we turn the light off as we leave the room,” Olena continues.
When the situation calls for it, the head of the intensive care unit, Voldymyr Gordiyenko, decides to switch to the emergency generator which is over 60 years old.
“Our department is completely dependent on electricity. I think we had to use this generator 3 times in 30 years. There, we will have to use it continuously this winter,” Voldymyr Gordiyenko explains to BFMTV.
Except the old generator has to take a break every 45 minutes. And their number is not enough: for a hundred patients, the hospital has four generators. But it would take at least ten to get through the winter.
The Tetiïv municipality is trying to help as best it can: it has financed three wood-burning boilers to heat the rooms. Installation cost: 20,000 euros. An astronomical sum for this small town of 13,000 inhabitants.
Especially since some elderly people do not want to go home, despite the deterioration of hospital conditions because the situation is even worse outside the hospital: “I have a lung disease, I can’t imagine if I go home and there is no power. I risk die,” said a 62-year-old woman.
Source: BFM TV
