Each patient bed location in Category 1 spaces shall be supplied by at least ___ branch circuits.

Each patient bed location in Category 1 spaces shall be supplied by at least ___ branch circuits.

• A. Two
• B. Three
• C. Four
• D. Six

Answer: (A)

Redundancy in power for critical patient areas. In Category 1 spaces, each patient bed location must be served by at least two independent branch circuits so that power to life-supporting and essential monitoring equipment remains available if one circuit trips or is out of service. This ensures continuous care even during maintenance or a single circuit fault. Two circuits should come from separate feeders and be sized to handle the load at the bed, with outlets and devices arranged so that losing one circuit doesn’t cut power to all critical equipment. While adding more circuits is possible, the required minimum is two to provide the necessary reliability.

Redundancy in power for critical patient areas. In Category 1 spaces, each patient bed location must be served by at least two independent branch circuits so that power to life-supporting and essential monitoring equipment remains available if one circuit trips or is out of service. This ensures continuous care even during maintenance or a single circuit fault.

Two circuits should come from separate feeders and be sized to handle the load at the bed, with outlets and devices arranged so that losing one circuit doesn’t cut power to all critical equipment. While adding more circuits is possible, the required minimum is two to provide the necessary reliability.