"When I arrived the morning after the fire the whole room was black and the interior of the steriliser was all burnt out. I stripped back everything to the bare chamber, replaced all the valves, the pipework and the electrical sensors.
"You can't just reorder a sterilising unit from the manufacturer because each one is custom-made and takes six to 12 months to build in the factory."
Jan McLaren, communications adviser for Wairarapa DHB said the fire disrupted normal theatre activity and put a lot of pressure on all surgical staff.
Some surgery was postponed while one of the theatres was out of action as sterile stock was stored in this area. Normal operating had to be managed with careful planning of lists to ensure equipment was available.
Wendy Pike, central sterile supplies department senior technician, said everyone pitched in and helped clean up the mess after the fire.
"They were all fantastic, especially our CSSD team, OCS staff, stores and theatre staff," she said. "We had to clean the floors, ceilings, walls and throw out anything disposable."
She said all of the instruments and wrapped sterile stock had been smoke damaged in the fire and was sent to Hutt Hospital to be reprocessed and returned.
For three weeks all instruments were washed and packed in Masterton and then taken to Hutt Hospital daily for sterilising.
"The sterile supply department at Hutt Valley also went the extra mile and worked longer shifts to help us .
"With everyone banding together we coped but the stress levels were high for a while."
Chief executive of Wairarapa and Hutt Valley DHBs, Graham Dyer, also lent a hand by providing a taxi service transporting instruments both ways on his regular visits.
"This was a major event for the hospital and staff have literally gone the extra mile to make sure our theatre services could keep running."
"These services are vital, not just to the Wairarapa but also to the whole region as it is clear that we need all four hospitals to manage current and future demand."
