Family loses mother on life support during NSW power outage, calls for urgent change

The family of a woman who died after her oxygen machine cut out during an unplanned power outage wants more safeguards for vulnerable people.

Gloria Shea, 80, died in the early hours of May 8 when power was unexpectedly cut to her Dubbo home in western New South Wales.

The great-grandmother suffered from emphysema and relied on life support equipment for oxygen.

Despite being a registered life support customer, her son Brian Shea, who lives on the same property, was not notified by their energy company or the network provider Essential Energy about the unexpected power outage.

"We were all asleep. We didn't know there was a blackout until my grandson woke up and said, 'Pop, the TV's not on'," he said.

"I hit my bedside light and it didn't turn on and I yelled out to my eldest son.

"Once my son and I realised that the power was off we ran over to my mum's [house] which is 100 metres away."

Mr Shea said he found his mother dead against her bedside drawers.

"It's still a hard pill to swallow," he said.

"The stress of it must have been horrendous, wondering why no one was coming over to help her."

Essential Energy said the unplanned power outage occurred about 5am on Monday, May 8, when a member of the public reported sparks from a transformer on a power pole.

Western NSW residents fear medical emergencies and fires turning "catastrophic" as longer and more frequent power and phone outages hit their towns.

They said they de-energised the local network to repair the fault, which was restored about an hour after initially being reported.

The energy company says they "strongly encourage" customers who rely on a continuous power supply to operate medical equipment to seek advice from their medical practitioner and have contingency plans in place.

"These plans should consider the potential for both planned and unplanned power outages and should be based on the customer's individual needs," a spokesperson said.

"We have extended our deepest condolences and have offered support to the Shea family."

Mr Shea said a text message would have given them enough time to save his mother.

He has called on energy companies to do more to protect other customers from going through the same pain.

"She passed away for the simple fact the power companies don't have a system in place that sends out a message," Mr Shea said.

"The SES [State Emergency Service] can do it, the fire brigade can do it, they send a text message.

"[Power companies] know what streets are without power. Why doesn't it automatically generate a message to all of those numbers in that area stating, 'Power failure: Check on family members'?

"Every single person I've spoken to has said, 'Don't they call you in an emergency? Isn't that what life support is all about?'."

Mr Shea said he had contacted both Essential Energy and his electricity provider and asked why he wasn't notified.

"They said they don't notify anyone during blackouts, we only notify people for planned maintenance so that they can then sort out some other arrangement while the power is out — such as a backup generator, or transport your family member or the person in care to a hospital for example, so they can get the care they need while maintenance is being done on the line," he said.

According to Essential Energy's website if there is a planned outage they give customers using life support four days' notice, but in the case of an unexpected blackout, they aren't required to make contact.

Mr Shea says his mother's oxygen machine didn't come fitted with a back-up battery.

He also believes it should be mandatory that all life support machines should be fitted with a back-up battery.

"I think manufacturers of these oxygen generators are at fault as well, because there's no back-up battery on them," Mr Shea said.

"Even if the power had gone out and there had been a battery back-up that lasted for 15 or 20 minutes, while a message went to the caregivers of someone on life support.

"It just gives you that gap, that time to get sorted and assist."

The ABC understands 3 per cent of Essential Energy's users are registered as life support customers.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said he would be meeting with Mr Shea and his family and would work with NSW Health to develop safeguards to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

But Mr Park said energy companies should know what vulnerable customers they have using their service.

"I think these types of tragic events are an opportunity to learn about what we can do better to support vulnerable customers who are using these energy services," he said.

"So yes, I do believe there's an opportunity here for energy companies to do better, and I would be encouraging them to do that."

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