Michigan utility's generator program helps some people requiring oxygen but need is great
Access to a reliable source of electricity was crucial for Bernice “Bunt” Goode, a 75-year-old Southfield resident who relied on an at-home oxygen unit to breathe. When Michigan weather knocked out the power, Goode’s sister and live-in caregiver Dorothy Harris was forced to scramble.
Goode was diagnosed with dementia in 2015 and had anemia or a lack of healthy red blood cells. She died of a heart attack last month.
When the sisters lost power at their Southfield home during Michigan’s historic ice storm in February, Harris had to drive them to her brother’s house in Warren, which had a backup generator.
“All I had was my brother, so he was the one I went to. I didn’t have any information about… who do I call, where do I go,” Harris, 65, said. “I think it would be useful if we had a place that was close by. … Or, I don’t know maybe someone that you can call.”
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Southeast Michigan’s main utility DTE Energy prioritizes restoring power to first responders like police and fire stations, emergency medical technicians and hospitals during large outages. Broadly, nursing homes and specialized care facilities are next followed by educational facilities and areas with the highest populations, utility spokesman Dave Akerly said.
The utility does give special attention to customers with life-critical medical equipment at home, Akerly said. If possible, they will try to prioritize restoring power and set up a generator to power any life-critical medical devices.
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“In this past winter’s big ice storm, we had nearly 90 life critical escalations, and delivered generators to more than 40 customers who told us they needed power for their life critical equipment,” Akerly said.
Not everyone who asks for a generator for life critical medical equipment is granted one, DTE spokeswoman Colleen Rosso said.
When thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across Michigan late last month, killing at least two people, DTE received 55 life critical requests and delivered generators to 14 customers. The remaining 41 customers might have changed their minds, might not have qualified for the life critical services, or it wasn’t possible to connect a generator at their residence, Rosso said.
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DTE has a limited number of generators reserved for customers with life-critical medical devices but did not specify how many.
Caregivers facing a critical health situation can alert DTE customer service at (800) 477-4747. The utility relies on customers and municipal, township and county partners to inform them of special needs, including life-critical medical equipment.
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“We do not publicize this program, but that has not prevented customers with a critical need from reaching to us directly, or from reaching out to community and elected stakeholders who maintain a constant level of communication with DTE,” Akerly said.
Once DTE’s “life-critical teams” are assigned to a location, they will deploy one- to two-person teams to install portable generators.
“It takes them approximately one to two hours to safely deploy the equipment on site and have portable power restored for the customer,” Akerly said. “They also remain on site to monitor that power until regular service has been restored for the customer.”
But sometimes immediate help is needed. At the end of her life Goode needed oxygen around the clock and her portable tank could last only so long.
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“If you have an emergency right there and then, I mean I can’t wait a half an hour for you to bring a generator or whatever,” Harris said.
Many utilities keep a priority reconnection service list of power dependent customers in the event of an outage, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act National Network. The organization still recommends backup planning in the event of a multi-day outage.
Consumers Energy, Michigan’s other largest power utility, prioritizes restoring power to senior centers, nursing homes and medical centers following a large storm but does not do so at the individual customer level, spokesman Brian Wheeler said. The utility can connect customers with life-support equipment to the American Red Cross.
Most of the time, at-home caregivers and their patients will do what Harris and Goode did and go stay with a relative when they lose power, said Brandon Lewis, an Emergency Manager in suburban Macomb County.
“There are a lot of vulnerable populations who rely on power for electrical devices, you know, things like the medical machinery,” said Lewis. “If they have an equipment failure, and they have a life-threatening emergency, they shouldn’t hesitate to call 911."
hmackay@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Generators provided for some needing oxygen during storms in Michigan
