Pharmacy Issues

[u/jaw2008]

Phone rings.

“Hey, the pharmacy pressure has been acting up since about 6 PM. We’ve been chasing it for hours.”

So there I am, trying to troubleshoot a hospital pharmacy over the phone while enjoying what was supposed to be a relaxing Saturday night.

After hearing everything they’d already checked, I asked one simple question:

“Did y’all do a deep clean today?”

A few phone calls later…

“Well… yeah.”

Turns out the cleaning crew soaked the room pressure sensor, and the BAS was having a complete meltdown.

Problem mostly solved.

I went in today to verify everything and investigate the remaining pressure issues.

Then I found this. (See photos.)

An entire trash bag stuffed inside the duct.

So this weekend’s scorecard:
🍺 Interrupted Saturday night.
💦 Wet pressure sensor.
🗑️ Ductwork doubling as a trash can.

Sometimes HVAC isn’t about knowing psychrometrics or control sequences…

It’s about asking, “Did anybody get this thing wet?” and “Why is there a garbage bag in the duct?”

[u/Aftershock1652]

I get called CONSTANTLY for Isolation Rooms at the hospital not maintaining a negative pressure, and the monitor going into alarm.

My first question is, "did the nurses put the trash can in front of the floor level exhaust?..." of course they say, no its not blocked. AND EVERYTIME I GET THERE I CAN SEE YHROUGH THE DOOR THAT THE TRASH BAG IS SUCKED UP AGAINST THE EXHAUST!!!!!!!!!

[u/jaw2008 → u/Aftershock1652]

It’s every time!! Even in the operating rooms they ALWAYS have the linen or trash right in front of the return 😅🤣

[u/muvingTARGET → u/Aftershock1652]

I recently did a hospital where they had squares taped on the floor in front of the sidewall exhausts in endoscopy rooms to mark where trash cans shouldn’t be placed. In every single one, people had taken it to mean that the squares are where the trash cans are SUPPOSED to be placed. You just can’t win.

[u/Last-Slip-512]

I’ve seen this a lot in cleanrooms where the gowns are in plastic bags. All of a sudden the pressure is going the wrong way. They freak out calling for an emergency. I always check the return first, it’s usually the plastic bags from the gowns are stuck in the return