In article 4f200299.948954125@localhost, Cynic wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:22:10 -0000, "'Mike'"
wrote:

All electrically operated life-support machines invariably have an
alternate power source that will switch in automatically in the event
of a mains failure.

Dream on!

Bill the emphasis is on "electrically operated life-support machines". Maybe
not in your home but in hospitals, .. yes.

It is *especially* true in the case of life support machines designed
to be used at home. Hospitals will always have staff on hand to
manually operate a ventilator etc. should the power fail, but the
designer of a life-support machine meant for home use cannot rely on
the fact that someone with the necessary knowlege will be on hand
within minutes in the event of a power cut, and so the design of
backup systems and fail-safe failure modes is even more important.

Any domestic life support machine that is designed so that it would
kill the patient in the event of a mains power outage would not be fit
for purpose.

That is true, but the general approach in this country is that
all that is needed is protection for long enough to call for an
ambulance. The same applies to 'first-aid' courses, which don't
even contemplate the possibility that you might be more than a
minute away from a telephone, let alone from a road.

It would not surprise me if the backup had a design time of only
a couple of hours. That isn't enough for any non-trivial trip,
including getting to the nearest shops in many cases.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.