If you or someone else at your premises rely on Life Support Equipment there are a few things you need to do to complete your Life Support registration with us.

1. Let us know you require Life Support Protection – we will immediately flag your account
2. Complete the Medical Confirmation form that we will send you and return it to us by the due date*
3. Prepare an action plan in case of a planned or unplanned outage. Check below helpful information for your ‘action plan’
4. Check with us if you are eligible for the Life Support concession. This is an addition to any regular concession you may be entitled to

By registering your Life Support Equipment with us you will receive four days advance written notice of any planned outages. Other restrictions will also be applied when it comes to disconnecting your power. In the event of a power outage, your premises will also be on the priority list for reconnection of supply.

*Please also note if your registered address is outside Victoria and you have an existing ‘Medical Confirmation Form’ dated and signed by a medical practitioner, you can send us that form instead of providing us with a new one. The form should meet the following requirements:

1. The Medical Confirmation form is signed and dated by a medical practitioner within the past four years; and
2. The form is legible (the print is readable).
3. The form certifies that you or someone at your current address requires life support equipment and specifies the equipment type. If you submitted a Medical Confirmation form to your previous retailer, you could request a copy from them if you left that retailer less than 110 business days ago.
4. Return the complete and signed form to us via email at contact@flowpower.com.au
5. We will then confirm receipt of your medical confirmation and notify the distributor.

The energy regulations define life support equipment to mean any of the following:

• an oxygen concentrator
• an intermittent peritoneal dialysis machine
• a kidney dialysis machine
• a chronic positive airways pressure respirator
• crigler najjar syndrome phototherapy equipment
• a ventilator for life support

or any other equipment that a registered medical practitioner certifies is required for a person residing at the customer’s premises for life support.

Other life support equipment may include, but is not limited to, the following:

• external heart pumps
• respirators (Iron lung)
• suction pumps (respiratory or gastric)
• feeding pumps (kangaroo pump, or total parenteral nutrition)
• insulin pumps
• airbed vibrator
• hot water
• nebulizer, humidifiers or vaporizers
• apnoea monitors
• medically required heating or air conditioning
• medically required refrigeration
• powered wheelchair

If your home loses energy unexpectedly, everyone in your house must know what to do:

1. Keep your action plan and the phone numbers of your energy distributor in a convenient location so you can find them easily.
2. Consider contacting your distributor to see how long the outage will last.
3. Follow your action plan and call 000 for emergency medical assistance if required.

Here are some questions you may ask to get your ‘action plan’ ready:

• Do I have a place to go?
• How will I get there?
• Do I need to take my Life Support Equipment with me?
• Who is my emergency contact? e.g., a friend or a family member? Keep a physical list of emergency contacts easily accessible.
• Is my phone in working condition to make emergency calls?
• Is my backup equipment in working condition?

If you move house with us, you’ll need to complete a new Medical Confirmation form to ensure your equipment is registered at your new address.

Similarly, if you change energy retailers, you’ll need to contact your new retailer to register your Life Support Equipment.

If you no longer need your Life Support Equipment registered, call us on 1800 359 797 or email us contact@flowpower.com.au to let us know. We’ll send you a letter to confirm that you’re no longer a Life Support customer and remove the protections at your premise.

Here are the 24-hour emergency numbers for the energy distributors. You can find your distributor on your energy bill.