When hospitals lose power, they are equipped with a system of emergency generators and uninterruptible power supplies that will power essential systems for days, if needed, to keep patients safe. So when MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, lost power in the early hours of Feb. 19, it was prepared to withstand the prolonged outage, not expecting another emergency event to occur soon after.

But two separate events over a five-day period required, as they say, a village to get all electrical systems diagnosed, repaired, and functioning again. The complete electrical solutions and after-hours electrical emergency support provided by Group CBS companies would be needed to restore power.

Tim Conley, a senior technical advisor and instructor for CBS Field Services, got the initial emergency call at 4:30 a.m. The event was caused by a phase-to-phase fault in a 15 kV, 600 A Eaton MVS air switch. During the search for the culprit, the team also found a stress cone in another air switch that was failing due to partial discharge (PD), though it was unrelated to the original fault. The team evaluated the damage, made a repair plan with the help of partners at Circuit Breaker Sales and Madsen Electric, and was able to get the hospital back up and running by the next evening.

CBS Field Services was on scene to assess the damage before the smoke had cleared.

But the trouble didn’t end there. A second event had power down again at the hospital within about two hours of restoring power the first time. This time, the fault occurred inside a Tacoma Power vault, and it was all hands on deck. Everyone rallied together to identify and repair the faulted condition, and a Tacoma Power crew worked 29 hours straight to repair the vault.

Based on event reports from relays — as well as the visible evidence — it looked like the second fault was caused by unseen damage to components in the cables or dead breaks that resulted from the hospital’s initial fault. In fact, photos show the arc damage in some of the cables. The technicians all worked diligently to test everything and safely bring power back up.

Visible evidence indicated that the second fault was caused by unseen damage to components in the cables or dead breaks.

Once the repairs were complete, the team used CBS ArcSafe remote switching solutions to assist in the safe restoration of power.

Ultimately, the job called on know-how, on- and off-site support, and equipment from across Group CBS — CBS Field Services, Circuit Breaker Sales, CBS ArcSafe, and Premier Power Maintenance — cooperating closely with the hospital, Madsen Electric, Monster Electrical, Tacoma Power, and the Tacoma Fire Department.

CBS Field Services is working closely with the team at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital to address their ongoing needs. Expansions over the past few years have brought changes to the hospital’s power system, Conley noted. A relay upgrade may be the next step to keep it operating safely.

Group CBS and its affiliates bring a breadth of knowledge and expertise to all your power needs. Contact us for emergency electrical support but also to prevent emergency events with regularly scheduled electrical equipment maintenance and testing.

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