Legislator Abrahams Urges LIPA Customers with Special Medical Needs to Enroll in Critical Care Program

With June 1st marking the official beginning of the hurricane season, Nassau County Legislator Kevan Abrahams (D-Hempstead) would like to remind all customers of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) who rely on electricity to power life-supporting equipment in their homes to register with LIPA’s Critical Care Program.

Legislator Abrahams said, “Customers who enroll in LIPA’s Critical Care Program will receive advance notice of scheduled outages and severe weather that may cause power outages. Those who depend on electricity for emergency medical and life-support equipment will be able to make advance preparations. I urge all special medical needs residents to enroll as soon as possible. This is a matter of life and death.”

If an outage does occur, LIPA will make every effort to restore electric service to program participants as soon as possible. However, there may be circumstances when timely restoration is difficult so it is important that all customers develop a plan that will ensure their medical needs are taken care of in the event of a power outage.

Customers wishing to enroll in the Critical Care Program must provide LIPA with a medical certificate from a doctor or the local Board of Health. Once approved the customer’s account and meter will be tagged as “critical care”.

Devices which meet the medical criteria for life-support equipment include:
• Apnea Monitor
• Curraise Respirator
• Positive Pressure Respirator
• Suction Machine
• IV Feeding Machine
• Tank Type Respirator
• Respirator/Ventilator
• Hemodialysis Machine
• Rocking Bed Respirator
• Oxygen Concentrator
• IV Medical Infusion Machine
• Additional devices may qualify as life-support equipment if certified by a physician.

For more information about LIPA’s Critical Care Program call 1-800-490-0025 or visit http://www.lipower.org/residential/custserv/services-care.html.