When Superstorm Sandy knocked out power on Oct. 29, 2012, NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital lost power and their backup systems failed, according to an article on the Consumer Reports website.

Nearly 1,000 patients had to be evacuated in the dark.

According to the article, hospital generators were known to be vulnerable long before Sandy. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, about 215 patients died in hospitals and nursing homes, partly because generators stopped working. 

A recent Consumer Reports investigation found:

• Many generators are 50 or more years old

• Many are housed in basements, and need to be protected from floods

• Most hospitals can’t afford to move generators to safer locations, and federal and state governments aren’t likely to pick up the tab

•  There is no national standard for the installation of backup generators.

Read the article.