517.18 Clarification

[shockin]

I have a medical clinic that is adding some patient rooms to diagnose sleep disorders. The patients will sleep there overnight while connected to machines. This IMO falls under a "Patient Care Are (General Care Area)." My question is does Exception #2 apply to this situation and therefore emergency power is not required. FWIW the existing facility does not have emergency power avaiable, not that it is a factor in doing whats right.

Thanks for the help!

 

[charlie b]

This is a tough call. I have undergone that type of test. It does include having an EKG connected throughout the night, so it does fit the definition of a ?General Care Area.? But all the patient does during such a test is sleep. There is no drawing of blood, no incision of any kind is made, and there is no expectation that the patient might lapse into a coma or other unpleasant state at any moment. The test is all about how well the patient breathes during the several stages of sleep, and indeed whether the patient even reaches the deeper levels of sleep.

If the facility lost power during the test, it would pose no threat to the patient?s health. The worst that can happen is that the test fails, and must be repeated another night. So I think that emergency power is not needed, and that Exception 2 to 517.18 can be used in this circumstance.