Packing the PACU

Post-Anesthesia Care Unit

Walking by our PACU on ship, you might think that this is not only the name of the unit, it's also a strong suggestion for events that should go on inside.  Because quite a lot of the hospital is now stowed away in PACU; packed in a three-dimensional spatial relations tetris challenge held together with rope and ratchet straps.  The patients have left, the nurses are leaving, and those of us who are still here bleach and pack, strip and wax, and attempt to fit into very small spaces.

My pager went off, and I answered the phone only to hear "do you want to be a monkey?"  Apparently I have been making a name for myself in the last week by clambering around the top of carts and pallets, army-crawling across packed stretchers, and diving through large piles of bed frames and hospital equipment to find secure points to hook more little straps to so that things will stay put when we sail.  Later this week I'll get to climb back over it all again, searching for anything out of place, as we finish preparing the ship to sail.  My truckers hitch knot I remember from a backcountry medicine class in school has served me well, as we rope chairs and chairs and more chairs together in some semblance of stability.

It was standing on top of the beginnings of our pile when it hit me.  Stowing away the hospital isn't like boxing up your winter clothes in a garage, or even like packing a moving van.  Generally (we hope), both the garage and van will remain upright for as long as your items stay there.  The same is not really true here.  It's a bigger playing field, with bigger consequences; our storage place moves.  A bad packing job could mean broken equipment or a hole in the wall.  A bad cleaning job could mean infection for future patients.  


And yet, even in the seriousness of the tasks there is still plenty of opportunity to have fun with it.  

I've done things this week I honestly never thought I would say.  I mean, let's be honest, how many of you have saran-wrapped an ICU bed full of orthopedic equipment?  Danced to Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies" to the rhythm of a panic strobe light while bleaching?  Tied mattresses to laundry room shelves?  Accidentally attempted to be a stowaway?  Ice skated in socks to "The Sound of Music?"  Rearranged cupboards while standing on your head?  All this and more have brought the idea of "secure for sail" to a whole new level for me.  

As we met for praise and prayer each morning, we found the acoustics of an empty ward could make 30 nurses worshipping sound like a beautiful choir performance.  We've discovered hidden talents, and who we are as a team when we're not actively taking care of patients.  We went crazy this week in worshipping our King, even through the small and lowly jobs in life.


Who knew the incense of worship could smell like bleach and floor stripper and sweat?!

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