In which the hospital does not heal a squirrel

[Miss Maple Leaf]

On the brighter side, that squirrel has a unique story in the reincarnation waiting room. Some variety from the usual hawk hawk marten cat magpie hawk litany...

I suppose that's one way of looking at it.

[dalesys]

On the brighter side, that squirrel has a unique story in the reincarnation waiting room. Some variety from the usual hawk hawk marten cat magpie hawk litany...

[Food Lady]

Poor little guy. I can see how he'd think it was the coolest den ever.

[bhskittykatt]

Poor squirrel.

I'm pretty sure squirrels have the ability to slip outside normal space-time or something. They get into all sorts of weird places you wouldn't think they could.

[Moirae]

Oh, this makes me feel sick. Horrible.

[Miss Maple Leaf]

Aw, poor little squirrel.

Hopefully its death was quick and painless.

[Pimento]

Lol did anyone imagine the squirrel getting big pink cartoon eyes as it saw the canister heading right for it?

[sms001]

I just. I don't. wth? Poor little guy. And poor co-workers. yechh. Kudos to Sturdy Nurse for glovin' up first - not sure everyone would take such a sensible precaution when dealing with the pneumo tubes.

[Antisocial_Worker]

Note: This post has the potential to be disturbing, but considering the kind of things health professionals see at work on a regular basis, probably not. Either way, you've been warned.

So, the hospital where the Sturdy Nurse used to work had an extensive pneumatic tube system winding between all the floors. It's very much like the kind of tubes they use at banks: put whatever you need to in the capsule, push the button, and off it goes. At the hospital, you could request diapers, medicines, prescriptions... just about anything that wasn't breakable. Put it in the capsule, put the capsule in the tube, and off it went to the far corners of the building.

One night, the pharmacy shunted over a prescription, and Sturdy Nurse went over to retrieve it... only, the capsule had arrived slathered in some pinkish liquid. Puzzled, he put on gloves and took the capsule out, and he and some coworkers were wondering over the dripping capsule when a call came in from the pharmacy.

The tube system was going to be shut down because it seemed that a squirrel had gotten into it. The pharmacy suspected this because they had received its head right about the time Sturdy Nurse's floor got a capsule smeared with ichor. Another floor received a leg, and others got the tail and several chunks of innards.

The fun part was how the tube system had to be cleaned. Maintenance filled a 2-liter soda bottle with a bleach and water mixture and put the cap on loosely, then spent the next couple of hours sending it through the system sloshing out bleach and water until the rest of the squirrel got washed out and until the water stopped coming out pinkish.

This raises the question of just how it is that a squirrel can get into a closed pneumatic tube system. It's the South, yes, and the entrance of wildlife into environments in which they are not well-suited is not unheard of. But a closed pneumatic tube system?