Fear of blackouts in the intensive care unit
Provisions for emergency situations.
(Photo: Essen University Hospital, Imago [M])
Berlin Stefan Neuhaus was one of the first to know when the lights go out in Essen. The technical manager of the city’s university hospital probably knows every electrical line that supplies power to the hospital.
The site has 56 buildings with 1,300 beds and 55,000 inpatients per year. It is one of the largest clinics in Germany. A hospital that uses as much electricity as 15,000 two-person homes or a medium-sized city.
If a critical device fails somewhere in this sprawling sphere, the screens in the clinic’s technical control room sound an alarm. The unadorned 90 square meter room is Neuhaus’ command center. It is open 24 hours a day.
