Hookd_On_Photons
Enlightened
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2004
- Messages
- 647
The letters to the editor of a notorious men's magazine usually begin something like: "Dear editor, I've often wondered whether the letters published in your magazine were real. Well, I never thought anything like that would ever happen to me, but..."
There was a blackout in the OR of the hospital where I was working today! While the critical systems are maintained with backup power, most nonessential systems are not plugged into the uninterruptible power lines. Unfortunately, all of the room lights are apparently considered "nonessential", except for one ceiling mounted surgical light per operating room and the single emergency light mounted on the wall by the door.
Naturally, when the lights go out and you're not sure when they'll go back on, everybody gets motivated to finish the case as fast as possible. Fortunately, we were getting ready to close when the blackout occurred.
I told the circulating nurse to retrieve my Fenix L1P from my shirt pocket. I used the single functioning OR light, and the circulator used the Fenix to provide illumination for the anesthesiologist and the scrub nurse (so she could find instruments and count sharps and sponges on the back table while I worked).
As we were headed down the hallway to PACU, the Fenix cut a bright swath through the (surprisingly) dim lighting provided by the emergency lightboxes. Nurses and techs had located the emergency flashlights by that time - you guessed it, 99 cent 2-D plastic flashlights and Minimags. There were many comments regarding the amazing brightness of the Fenix.
The circulator in the room where a big spinal fusion was being performed asked to borrow my Fenix, because the lighting in the room was not adequate to illuminate both the surgical field and the back tables loaded with instrumentation. As I handed over the Fenix, the lights came back on. Oh well.
The Fenix was quite popular even after power had been restored, at least until I explained that it cost $40. "You paid how much for that? But it's just a flashlight!" How soon the unenlightened forget their fear of the dark, after the lights come back on...
There was a blackout in the OR of the hospital where I was working today! While the critical systems are maintained with backup power, most nonessential systems are not plugged into the uninterruptible power lines. Unfortunately, all of the room lights are apparently considered "nonessential", except for one ceiling mounted surgical light per operating room and the single emergency light mounted on the wall by the door.
Naturally, when the lights go out and you're not sure when they'll go back on, everybody gets motivated to finish the case as fast as possible. Fortunately, we were getting ready to close when the blackout occurred.
I told the circulating nurse to retrieve my Fenix L1P from my shirt pocket. I used the single functioning OR light, and the circulator used the Fenix to provide illumination for the anesthesiologist and the scrub nurse (so she could find instruments and count sharps and sponges on the back table while I worked).
As we were headed down the hallway to PACU, the Fenix cut a bright swath through the (surprisingly) dim lighting provided by the emergency lightboxes. Nurses and techs had located the emergency flashlights by that time - you guessed it, 99 cent 2-D plastic flashlights and Minimags. There were many comments regarding the amazing brightness of the Fenix.
The circulator in the room where a big spinal fusion was being performed asked to borrow my Fenix, because the lighting in the room was not adequate to illuminate both the surgical field and the back tables loaded with instrumentation. As I handed over the Fenix, the lights came back on. Oh well.
The Fenix was quite popular even after power had been restored, at least until I explained that it cost $40. "You paid how much for that? But it's just a flashlight!" How soon the unenlightened forget their fear of the dark, after the lights come back on...
