lights out

I knew it would be challenging and busy around here with the other surgeons away at conference. I thought most of my stress would come from caring for patients. Not so far. Its been all the other stuff...equipment, laundry, conflict resolution...

The day after the surgeons left the power went out while I was in the middle of an operation for typhoid perforation. Nothing new. Power outages usually occur several times daily. So, we did what we usually do. We counted to three out loud, the generator came on and the room lights came on.  But, the operating light did not come back on. We tried the second OR light. It didn’t work either. No light, no vision…no surgery. 

Now, before he left, Dr. J told me that we had been  having some issues with the OR lights and the fuses burning out with the frequent power surges. He told me that he would leave some extra fuses in case we needed them.  I thought he said he put them in the surgical office, so I quickly looked there. No fuses. My patient was still on the OR table, so we borrowed a fuse from an OR light in the other room and I finished the operation. Then…I did a thorough search of the surgical office, OR, and supply closet. No fuses. Only 2 of the 6 OR lights were still working. We needed more fuses. In desperation, I called Dr. J’s wife, M.  Right away, she located the fuses in Dr. J’s house! Whew. She replaced the four fuses…but that means we only have 6 fuses remaining. We have been losing almost one fuse a day. Not good. Especially since the fuses have to come all the way from America.

So, M suggested that I talk to the shop and have them run the operating rooms on generator power during the day. I did. They said I would have to talk to the chief executive officer of the hospital to get approval for that. I guess it is pretty expensive to run the generator all day. We are still working on a more permanent solution. Until then, I will keep my head lamp close by just in case.