A Rivulet in St John's Hospital

At two in the morning the deluge continued and water came down back entrance ramps and filled roof gutters. Soon there was a rivulet down the ground floor halls from Gibson Ward to the Kiosk. The Hospital Coordinators over night called extra help from the Director of Clinical Services and everyone was in their gum boots.One Hospital Coordinator recalls "I think the main thing for me amid all the noise (from water gushing from ceilings, ceiling panels falling down, and the fire alarm bells going off) was the commitment and solidarity of everyone involved that night.
A lot of the evening staff stayed to help (some until the early hours of the morning). Our clinical leaders came in through flooded roads to help, and everyone rolled their sleeves up, donned gumboots and made each area as safe as they could for their patients. The patients were amazing, especially the dozen we had to evacuate through to the main corridor, gym and Recovery until they were moved to the Lenah Valley campus by ambulance. They could see what we needed to do, and were so accepting and the ones that could, helped to pack up their belongings.
The Private Ambulance people did a fantastic job. They were soaked to the bone with water dripping off them, from taking patients out to their vans. Yet they were smiling and jovial, lifting the spirits of the patients. Lenah Valley Hospital made quick work of finding accommodation for our displaced patients at such short notice, and kept us informed so we could let the ambos know what units to take our patients to. Our head of housekeeping was here at 0500 with a big water vacuum, cleaning up the ground floor which was ankle deep in water, so that people could safely walk along there in the morning.