On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
> Thus spake "Mahadevan Iyer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > At first glance, it seems sheer idiocy to use an open network like the
> > Internet to control critical matter-of-life-and-death public
> > infrastructure like power systems. What do you think?
>
> Public power systems are not life-and-death. Anywhere that AC service
> is even moderately important, the people responsible (assuming they're
> competent) will have contingencies for power loss. Consider the ISPs
> that *voluntarily* go off-grid when there's a power crisis in the SF
> Bay. Hospitals also make an interesting study.
>
Food for thought (copied from Risks):
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Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 18:18:53 -0500
From: Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Illinois man dies after utility cuts power
I found the following story at the *Chicago Sun-Times*.
<http://www.suntimes.com:80/output/news/vent12.html>
> Man dies after ComEd cuts power
>
> July 12, 2000
>
> BY DAN ROZEK AND STEVE WARMBIR SUBURBAN REPORTERS
>
> An elderly Aurora man who used an electrically powered oxygen system
> to help him breathe died in his home several hours after ComEd shut
> off the power because he was behind in his bills.
In Aurora, Illinois, Eric Shackelford, an 81-year-old man, used oxygen 24
hours a day to help him breathe; he suffered from "severe heart disease."
His daughter, Renia Thomas of Chicago, claims that the power cutoff shut
his oxygen down, and may bring a wrongful-death lawsuit against the power
company, Commonwealth Edison.
The story reports, however, that a roommate says Shackelford had two
oxygen systems, one of which did not depend on electrical power.
The RISKS relevance is in the dispute over record-keeping. The family
says that Shackelford's doctor had sent at least two letters to ComEd
asking that power not be shut off.
> A ComEd spokesman, however, said the utility had never received enough
> information to determine that Shackelford was entitled to be added to
> a list of about 1,000 customers who needed continuous electric power
> for medical equipment. ComEd files contain only one letter from a
> doctor regarding Shackelford, ComEd spokesman Don Kirchoffner said.
>
> "We would never, ever cut the power to anyone we thought was on life
> support," Kirchoffner said. [...]
> A final notice sent in June said
> Shackelford should notify ComEd if he had medical equipment that
> required electricity, and there's no record anyone contacted the
> utility, Kirchoffner said. [...]
> Kane County Coroner David Moore said it was unclear whether the power
> shutdown caused or contributed to Shackelford's death.
It would be interesting to know more about the process by which a power
company keeps track of customers who are dependent on power. How do you
make such a process fail-safe?
Bill Higgins Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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