Rural doctor Michael Livingston, Livingston Medical, has experienced power outages living in the country before, but none as bad as the ones over the past week after major storms.
The Narembeen-based doctor moved his wife and young baby to Perth until last Sunday to escape the high temperatures and have access to proper meals.
The family only returned to Narembeen after it knew the power was back on, however once they did return, the power went out again intermittently.
"We sat here sweating, with no back up and no resources," Dr Livingston said.
He said Telstra advised him triple zero could still be contacted for emergencies, but he said the telecommunications company was blind to the way rural healthcare operated.
"They don't understand the dynamics of these locations, I think it was a bit blind of them to think that a triple zero service is all that these locations require," Dr Livingston said.
He said nearly all general practitioners use a cloud-base software to connect to their patient files and write prescriptions.
While the power was out, he wasn't able to see any of his patients at the Narembeen general practice, and the story was the same at three other clinics around the Great Southern region.
He also estimates the clinics have lost about $6000 in vaccines which need to be refrigerated.
Dr Livingston criticised the State government's pay out of $240 to be severely inadequate for many people in the community, given the price of groceries which ended up as food waste, and those who accommodated elsewhere.
"The whole response has been slow and without any proper meaning, I find it all a bit odd," he said.
"These are conditions that wouldn't be tolerated in the city at all."
Dr Livingston said it was common for the power and communications infrastructure to be unstable at times, but knowing this, and knowing this infrastructure is in a high bushfire risk area, he expected companies to be more proactive about keeping their services running.
With climate change, and weather events like El Nino, Dr Livingston said power outages and events would become more common.
"It's very predictable, there should be better back-up plans," he said.
"It leaves people very vulnerable.
"How can we make (these towns) hospitable and attractive for anybody to come when these are the realities you will face?"
Perri Polson
Perri is an agriculture journalist with Farm Weekly. Born in regional Victoria, Perri developed a love of regional and rural news at a young age, and is now passionate about advocating for the agricultural industry. Her interests include science, agronomy, livestock and food production.
Perri is an agriculture journalist with Farm Weekly. Born in regional Victoria, Perri developed a love of regional and rural news at a young age, and is now passionate about advocating for the agricultural industry. Her interests include science, agronomy, livestock and food production.
