Hong Kong hospital power disruption ‘likely caused by faulty automatic transfer switch’
- Outage at Kwong Wah Hospital between 7pm and 7.50pm on Wednesday forced doctors to reschedule 23 operations and transfer one ongoing procedure
A power disruption at a Hong Kong public hospital that forced operations to be postponed was likely to have been caused by a faulty automatic transfer switch in the electrical system, the Post has learned.
The incident earlier this week was among a spate of cases that prompted concerns from the Health Bureau on Friday, which instructed the Hospital Authority to submit a review and suggestions on how to improve.
The call for a review followed a power disruption at Kwong Wah Hospital in Mong Kok between 7pm to 7.50pm on Wednesday, with doctors forced to reschedule 23 operations and transfer an ongoing procedure to another operating theatre.
An initial investigation by the hospital found there was a malfunction in the control components of the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system, which had been used as a third-tier backup power supply source.
A source told the Post on Friday that an automatic transfer switch, which determines the power supply source used by the operating theatres, had malfunctioned.
The operating theatres relied on a three-tier system, with power able to be sourced from the across the city, an emergency generator or the UPS, he said.