Friday evening.
In the hospital surgeries finish up for the day.
Elsewhere people log off their computers and lock office doors.
Many grab a ship shower and then head out into town for a relaxing end to a busy week.
Business as usual.
About an hour later, the first call goes out over the PA system: sterilization is flooding.
Those still on board rush to isolate the problem.
The entire sterilization room fills with several centimeters of water before the fault is bypassed.
Many of our surgical instruments lose sterile status.
A second overhead page: emergency medical team to the hospital.
One of our post-op patients is bleeding badly, cause unknown.
He is rushed to the OR as the system swings into full effect.
Pages go out, phone calls are made, but technology is stubbornly being of little help.
Chaplaincy begins praying over the hospital and all those in it.
Nurses collectively swing into action.
A third overhead page: a rare blood type is needed urgently.
Matching donors head to the lab.
Blood is collected, screened, and sent still-warm to the theatre.
It was at this point I returned from my relaxing evening.
The patient was still in a bad way.
Chaplaincy fervently continued in prayer.
Frustration, accompanied by a seed of guilt, could be seen in the expressions of those working the case.
Why did this happen? And why so long post-op?
Did we miss something?
Was there more we could have done?
I joined Chaplaincy in speaking truth and lifting up the situation because it was clear there was a strong spiritual connection to the unfolding events.
Questions of cause swirled through my head but it remained clear that we were not in control here.
We continued to implore, recognizing our place.
Another few handfuls of tense minutes pass and a noticeable change in attitude sweeps over the doctors and nurses.
A final page: patient is critical, but stable.
With chaplaincy I praise God for His faithfulness and head to the changing room to suit up and help deal with the aftermath:
When I arrive at the scene, the cleanup is already in full swing. The sterilization team and many of the nurses are each busy doing their parts. Most of the water has been vacuumed up and the focus turns to bringing the room (and all the instruments in it) back to a sterile state:
I'm quickly singled out as being one who can reach the ceilings without either a pole or step ladder.
In due course I'm handed a bowl of cleaning solution and a rag - accompanied by verbal instructions concerning the level of thoroughness required:
Several hours, and two very tired arms later, the rooms are declared ready and instruments once again begin their journey (back) through the sterilizers, readied for the next busy week of surgical procedures.
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At the end of it all I'm reminded of the body of Christ and how we are all designed to work together as one team, towards one goal - not forgetting where our power comes from. Looking back on our "perfect storm" I can see how things would have turned out much differently if we didn't have:
- engineering crew to isolate the water problem
- plumbers to fix it
- biomed techs to validate the systems once repaired
- reception staff to contact all the necessary parties
- sterilization staff to provide instruments for the emergency
- lab techs to draw and validate the blood required
- ward nurses to be monitoring the patients and quickly respond to a very unexpected event
- OR nurses to circulate and scrub the emergency case
- surgeons to repair the vascular damage
- and chaplains to intercede through it all
And that's just those /directly/ involved! As a broader picture we also have those in Deck who keep us safely afloat, Engineering to keep the lights on, Finance to oversee monetary resources, Supply to ensure we have what we need on hand, IT to look after all of the crucially stored data, the Galley and Dining Room teams (not to mention those working to distribute the caffeine via Starbucks in the cafe) who do the real fueling of the ship, Housekeeping to ensure a clean and tidy environment, and Security to keep us safe. And even /that/ is just those working on board. There are many more striving every day in our 16 national offices peppered around the globe.
When we put aside our differences and focus on He who unifies, placing ourselves in a proper stance of humility, we truly allow God to do great things in and through us!
