The Medical Device Reprocessing Department (MDRD) at VGH stepped up to the plate on Monday, October 26, when a pipe overflowed above and blew out a ceiling tile in the MDRD assembly area in the afternoon.

Afternoons are the busiest time for the MDRD team as they are reprocessing instruments used from the morning’s surgical cases in preparation for the next day’s surgeries. The contaminated area was quickly contained by hoarding built by the Facilities Maintenance (FM) crew, which allowed FM staff to begin repairs. Housekeeping cleaned the area outside the hoarding and MDRD staff set to work.

The team identified how many items could be reprocessed and how much needed to be disposed of. Staff stayed after their shifts and everyone worked together to ensure that there would be no disruption to the hospital’s surgery schedule the next day.

By 9 pm the team was back on target and no surgeries were affected. Great job! Thank you all!

Did you know?

The MDRD team handles an impressive 165,000 instruments every week. To learn more about this team’s important behind-the-scenes work, watch this recent Global News video.