Healthcare Provider

Service: UPS Supply & Installation

Background

Back-up power sources are vital to organisations of all kinds; for some, a power outage can spell disaster. The following is an example of how the ability to maintain continuous power through an outage can literally be the difference between life and death.

YorPower provides back-up power solutions for clients in a wide range of industry sectors throughout the UK, and previously worked with a hospital in the south of England. Like most healthcare facilities, the hospital depends on continuous electricity to power a range of life-saving equipment such as ventilators and refrigerators for storing blood and blood components.

When the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system at the hospital failed in the middle of the night, the current back-up power contractor was unable to respond until the next day.

This was catastrophic as the blood bank refrigerator was unable to keep the blood at the required temperature  (between 2ºC and 6 ºC) and it had to be disposed of. All elective operations had to be cancelled the following day as a result.

NHS Blood and Transplant supplies approximately 1.6 million units of blood per year to all hospitals in England – an essential service for patient care across a wide range of acute clinical specialties. An amber alert was triggered on 12 October 2022 for the first time due to a shortage of red blood cells.

At 9:00 the following morning, the site engineer was able to restore mains power to the blood bank refrigerator via the external bypass. The refrigerator has to be powered up fora minimum of 24 hours before more blood was able to be stored in it – and crucially, only if a back-up power system could be put in place.

Solution

YorPower received a call from the hospital at 13:30 the afternoon after the UPS system failed, and was on site by 17:00 hours. Its engineers installed a temporary UPS system allowing more blood and blood components to be delivered by 11:00 the following morning.

YorPower’s UPS Technical Manager, Annmarie Wakefield, advised the client that the best solution going forward would be to have a separate UPS System installed to the blood bank refrigerator to ensure power never fails again and no more blood is lost in the future. YorPower has since received a purchase order to supply and install the UPS.

As a result of the fast response and expert service and advice provided by YorPower, the hospital will be renewing its contract with the West Yorkshire-based contractor.

YorPower has over 60 years of experience as a provider of specialist back-up power services. It is now relied upon by customers nationwide (and worldwide for the export of generators) for the full range of UPS, generator and control panel solutions