Air Exchanger

Last week we had a strange thing happen at our surgical center. First of all, I need to explain about air exchange. You see, a surgical center has some really strict rules about air exchange. The air has to be exchanged, new air in and old air out, at a certain rate. The surgical suites (OR rooms) have to comply with a much higher rate. It all has to do with infection control and it isn't optional.

With all the subzero weather last week, it won't surprise you to learn that a piece of equipment on our roof froze. That part had something to do with air exchange. It was discovered before our first surgeries for the day and someone was called right away to fix it. Patients were delayed but it was fixed pretty quickly. I thought we were then all good to go, but I was wrong.

Because the air exchange rate had been sub-par for awhile, we had to clean all the OR Rooms again. I don't mean a namby pamby type of cleaning. First of all, many of us weren't dressed in the special OR scrubs so we donned "bunny suits". Then, we had to scrub down EVERYTHING with a bleach solution. That included all equipment, shelves, walls, floors, etc. We breathed too much bleach that day, I can say that for sure! When we were done, though, we had the surgical suites ready to go.

I guess that was a lot of explanation but yesterday a related thought crossed my mind. It was soooo windy, yet again. I thought to myself that at least our outdoor air exchanger was working well. The wind around here can be quite wearing, but we pretty much always have fresh, clean air. It just moves really fast!

(taken from my car window yesterday as I waited behind a school bus)

And one last thing,

Happy Birthday 

to my little sister, Tina!

I hope your day is warm and wonderful.