A backup generator failed at a New York City hospital Monday night,
forcing it to move out more than 200 patients, including 20 babies from
neonatal intensive care.
Dozens of ambulances lined up around the block outside New York
University Tisch Hospital as doctors and nurses began the slow process of evacuation.
They started with the sickest and youngest. Some were on respirators operating
on battery power. "It's a challenging situation," NYU Medical Dean
Robert Grossman told WCBS-TV. "We drill all the time for this kind of
thing. But this isn't a drill. This is the real thing." Much of New York
was plunged into darkness by superstorm Sandy, a monstrous hybrid system that
swept across a huge swath of the East.
Most of the power outages in lower Manhattan, where Tisch is located,
were due to an explosion at an electrical substation, officials at Consolidated
Edison said. It wasn't clear whether flooding or flying debris caused the
explosion, said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at
Con Edison. Without power, there are no elevators, meaning patients — some of
whom are being treated for cancer and other serious illnesses — must be
carefully carried down staircases, Grossman said.
As the patients were evacuated, gusts of wind blew their blankets.
Nurses and staff huddled around the patients, some holding IVs and other
equipment. Ambulances came from around the city to help transport the sick.
Patients will be taken to other hospitals including Mount Sinai and the
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer.
ABC News
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