This was a bit of a slower week for work but it was nice to take a break from traveling. On Monday we had some issues with Hospital Metropolitano. We couldn’t find the machines we were supposed to be working on and it was hard to communicate with the maintenance people there. On Tuesday we delivered parts for some incubators in Cartago, CR.
On Wednesday and Thursday we did some work on anesthesia machines which was my first time seeing them. We had to put on scrubs before going into the OR. The components had to be taken apart and each of the sealing valve rings needed to be cleaned. Then we ran simulations and the leak tests to make sure everything was running smoothly. On one of the anesthesia machines, it signaled that there was a leak so we swapped out each part one by one to determine the root of the problem. We eventually discovered that one of the hoses in the condensation area was broken. On another machine, we replaced the software and made sure that the system was updated.
On Friday we went to the other Hospital Metropolitano for work on incubators. We had three of them that needed to be taken apart and cleaned. One of the canopies made an awful sound when we moved it up and down, but thankfully it only needed some WD-40 and it was good to go.
Anesthesia machines!
Things I have learned
- Leak test can be run on anesthesia machines
- Rio Celeste is a blue river that gets its color from a mix of minerals deposited by two different rivers
- To work on anesthesia machines, you need to be scrubbed up, however this is not needed for other devices
- In Costa Rica, instead of saying amigo, you can say “compa” or “compa mi” to call someone your friend
This weekend we took a trip to La Fortuna! On Saturday morning we went to the Místico hanging bridges near the Arenal Volcano. The views were really pretty and we even got to see an anteater and some monkeys! After lunch we went to the Baldi hot springs for the rest of the day. It was like a resort with several different pools and the water slides there were crazy! Sunday we went to Rio Celeste to see the blue river and did a 3 mile hike. Some parts of the trail were a bit tough but I thought it was a lot of fun! This wasn’t originally on the agenda but after the hike, our driver took us to the bottom of the river so we could swim in it which was so nice and refreshing. Off to Limon again!
