When accidents happen, many times, tragedy ensues. This was not the case for Mesa View Hospital on Thursday, March 30 around 2:30 p.m., when a sprinkler head was removed for replacement and flooded the hospital. During the course of routine maintenance of the sprinkler system, the contract company went to work replacing one of the sprinkler heads on the patient floor but neglected to turn off the correct valve that controlled the water flow to that particular line. This near tragedy was turned to triumph when hospital staff saved the day.
An indeterminable amount of water began to pour out of the head flooding the entire hallway. Water poured to the areas below as well but due to the quick thinking and teamwork of the hospital staff, tragedy was averted.
As soon as the flood waters began to run, the call went out and all hospital personnel who were not directly involved with patients went to work. With a ‘to heck with the time clock’ attitude and armed with an arsenal of mops, buckets, towels and trash barrels, employees went to work soaking up as much water as they could, ringing them out into 55 gallon trash barrels, hauling them outdoors to dump and start refilling over again and again.
Patty Holden, CEO and Rob Fuller, Director of Marketing for Mesa View Hospital are extremely pleased and proud of the hospital staff for jumping in so quickly. Fuller said, “This could have been a serious tragedy and the potential for damage was tremendous. If it hadn’t been for the quick work of the hospital staff, I hate to think of the damage we could have suffered. The employees were so quick and focused that they literally saved the hospital and contained any damage to just a few ceiling tiles.” They even managed to do this with minimal disturbance to the patients.
One hospital employee, said, “I’ve never seen a group of people working so well together and responding so quickly. It didn’t matter what position they held, CEO, CFO, housekeeping, materials, maintenance, they all jumped in and did what needed to be done. Water was pouring over our heads and down our backs but it didn’t matter, we had to save our hospital and we did.”
Kim Johnson, Housekeeping Director, wasn’t on duty at the time of the flood but heard about what happened. She said, “I was expecting a mess when I came in the next morning, actually I didn’t know what to expect but when I arrived, it didn’t look like anything at all happened. Except for a portion of carpeting that was still drying, you’d never know; they did an incredible job cleaning everything up.”
This may not have been the typical hospital emergency that usually earns someone the title of hero but the staff proved that heroes come to the aid in all forms and for different reasons. Whether they’re saving a life or saving a building, Mesa View Hospital employees were all heroes on March 30.
I have had 2 different recent stays at Mesa View. To say thanks is not enough. Every person who assisted me from checking in, to the wonderful nurses, and knowledgeable doctors, I felt like I was in a family environment and know the care I received was top notch. Like in the story reported here of the sprinkler break and the subsequent flood mishap, I too felt that the care administered to me had everything to do with helping me get well and nothing to do with looking forward to a shift change and getting off the clock. Thanks so much again to all who have chosen to remain here in Mesquite and provide such top-notch care to Mesquite and surrounding area citizens.
Thank you to all involved. We need to know these good things about our town and its people. Coming together to stop a problem and answer an urgent need brought all the varied skills into play while every person contributed to the success.. THAT is how Mesquite will continue to prosper and grow. And they were all volunteers!!!!
Maggie Calhoun