During a power outage, what is the immediate safety priority for patient care?

• A. Ensure patient safety by maintaining essential functions with backup power, safeguarding life-sustaining devices, and relocating if needed.
• B. Increase room lighting.
• C. Resume normal operations immediately.
• D. Delay all monitoring.

Answer: (A)

The immediate safety priority during a power outage is to keep patients safe by preserving essential functions with backup power and ensuring life-sustaining devices remain powered. In a hospital setting, critical equipment like ventilators, monitors, infusion pumps, and oxygen delivery must stay operational, so staff verify that these devices are running on battery or generator power and that alarms are audible and functioning. If needed, patients may be relocated to areas where power can be maintained or where manual care options are available, to prevent gaps in monitoring or support. While good lighting matters for safety, it is not the urgent focus in the moment; attempting to resume normal operations or delaying monitoring would risk missing early signs of patient deterioration.