Typical Day
It's just after 7:00AM and Jane McDonald puts on some old jeans for work. Casual Friday? Not quite—today, Jane, a senior telecommunications technician for a 300-bed community hospital, will lead a demolition group at work. She doesn't know whether it's going to be fun or a complete pain. But that's why she makes the big bucks.
Around 8:00AM she logs in to her work computer and clocks in, checking the log to see who else in her department had also clocked in—one of her many duties as lead technician. Awesome, she thinks, almost everyone is already logged in. Her team is to meet in the wing where they're working today, so she grabs a few tools, her work gloves, and heads that way.
After a round of morning greetings, Jane grabs a file full of blueprints, passing a copy to each team member. "Okay everyone. I've decided we're going floor by floor, together. It should be faster and safer that way. I want you in groups of three, and take turns climbing the ladder, okay? Use all safety measures we received in training the other day and let's make this demolition fun."
Each team takes one of the sectors on each floor, pulling out all the old wiring from the wall conduits. As they work, Jane pictures the new setup she and a couple of the other senior techs have planned. Once refurbished this wing will be a tech utopia—high speed Wi-Fi stretching to every corner and a mobile work station and smart TV for each room. Just the thought of all that new equipment has Jane giddy with excitement.
One of her crew members interrupts her daydream, snapping her back into reality. "Hey Jane, time to move to the next floor? This sector is done."
"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm just thinking about all the stuff we'll be installing down here in a few weeks. It's going to be sick."
"Well, it's a hospital—that's a given."
A radio call comes through, asking one of the techs to come up to the third floor west and fix the printer at the nurses' station. Clay, one of Jane's best crew members, offers to go fix it. Jane agrees, but warns him not to mess around. There's lots of demolition work still to be done and it's all hands on deck until the project is finished.
Clay returns twenty minutes later, explaining to Jane that he had to replace a belt inside the printer. "Just a little surgery. No crash cart necessary."
Another call comes in over the radio to check a monitor on the east side of the third floor. Jane rolls her eyes. Every problem that needs to be fixed elsewhere in the hospital slows down the team. And because it's a hospital, there's no coming in on the weekend when nobody is around—they'll just have to tackle the problems as they arise and keep trudging on with the demolition.
Clay waves a tester from his kit—indicating he's taking the call—and leaves Jane and crew to go back to disconnecting wires from outlets.
Fifteen minutes go by before another radio call comes in. A phone jack needs attention on fifth floor. Jane glances around for a volunteer, then hears the radio pop again with Clay saying he's done on third and is on his way to fifth. Jane smiles. Clay can be a goof sometimes, but he's an excellent tech.
Clay tests the phone jack and decides it's better to replace the whole thing than spend a lot of time fixing the broken one now. Most telecom techs are quick to throw out the old and install the new. Not Clay. He enjoys tinkering, finding unorthodox fixes or workarounds when he has time. That is not the case today. Instead, he marks the old jack, planning to see if it can be fixed later when he has the chance.
Clay heads back to the demo area. Just as he walks up to Jane, the radio crackles again—a computer problem on fourth floor.
Jane sighs. "You guys go ahead to lunch. I'll go see what's wrong on fourth."
The afternoon brings four more repair calls that interrupt the demolition: one router re-start, two equipment re-calibrations, and a dropped computer with a busted screen that'll have to be replaced.
The calls put a dent in the speed of Jane's crew, but four calls is mercifully below average. Sometimes there are twice as many calls for problems that just end up being loose plugs and spotty network connections. Still, even the smallest issues are usually accompanied by a complete meltdown from whoever is trying to use the equipment.
Jane often jokes about renaming her crew the Tech Trauma Team, but only in private—the nickname would be a bit tongue-in-cheek in a place where doctors and surgeons deal with real trauma all the time.
By 4:30PM they're finally finishing up. The team is covered in sweat and markedly less enthusiastic than they were at 8:00AM, but they've at least avoided any falls from ladders or electrocutions. So, a good day overall.
Clay helps Jane put away the last of the ladders. "I hear the rooms will have smart televisions. Is that right?"
Jane looks puzzled. "Sure. Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Uhhh...that could be a nightmare for us if patients don't know how to use them. We'll never get anything else fixed. We'll just be showing people how to navigate the screens."
"Hmm...good point," Jane says, "but they'll have apps pre-installed. No downloading. That should help."
After she sends the team home Jane retreats to her office. She still needs to confirm the delivery times for the new equipment and devise a plan for the install tomorrow. Finally, at about 6:30PM, Jane is ready to call it a day and head home. As she buckles her seatbelt she sighs, reconsidering Clay's point about the smart TVs. Oh well—that's a problem for Future Jane and Future Clay to deal with.