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How many people have died in Cuban hospitals due to power outages? The question has no official answer, because the Cuban regime does not provide data on this matter. However, the magnitude of the electricity crisis on the island and the fragility of the hospital system suggest that deaths are inevitable.
The limited information available comes from relatives who dare to report on social media or through independent press. What these testimonies reveal is that patients in critical condition, dependent on life support equipment, are among the most affected by the prolonged blackouts shaking Cuba.
Though hospitals have backup generators, in some cases these units do not work, are too old, or have recurring issues. To this, we must add the fuel supply problems, which turn the guarantee of power supply into a gamble when electricity fails for hours or even days. In less than a year, five general collapses of the electric system have been recorded, and in each case, hospitals have been left vulnerable.
The government protects the circuits where hospitals are located, but the increasing fragility of the national system means that breakdowns are frequent and also end up affecting these centers. Abrupt power cuts can also cause damage to the emergency generators of medical institutions.
A recent example occurred on September 15 at the “Amalia Simoni Argilagos” Clinical Surgical Teaching Provincial Hospital in Camagüey. A fire in the power plant left the facility without electricity and forced the evacuation of three critically ill patients to another hospital in the province. In this case, there were no casualties, according to reports from the authorities, but the situation illustrates the constant danger faced by those who depend on assisted ventilation devices or dialysis.
The lack of electricity in a hospital, even for just a few minutes, puts the lives of critically ill patients at risk. A power outage lasting a few hours can be fatal if life support equipment shuts down, and a prolonged interruption jeopardizes surgical care, the supply of medications that require refrigeration, the preservation of blood and plasma, and even water and sanitation systems.
The official silence regarding how many Cubans have died in hospitals due to power outages only adds uncertainty and fear. As long as the electrical system continues to collapse and the hospitals' generators remain outdated or without fuel, each power outage poses a direct threat to the lives of the most vulnerable patients.
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