How a squirrel brought down the MUHC's computer network

A 45-minute power failure that deprived customers of electricity in NDG, Hampstead, Cte Saint-Luc, and Montreal West, and shut down MUHC's computer network, was caused by a squirrel.

Therodentmanaged to get insidethe Hydro-Qubec substation in Hampstead, where it touched two wires at the same time and was electrocuted.

Thatcauseda short circuit, which knocked out six servers at theMcGill University Health Centre's computer nerve centre,causing a network failure through the MUHC's operations.

Hydro-Qubec spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty said it's difficult to prevent squirrels from entering substations, despite having infrastructure set up to limit access to squirrels. However, it's not foolproof.

"They are very smart," he said.

Richard Fahey, the director of communications at MUHC, said despite the network outage, all operations at MUHC went ahead, and the emergency rooms continued to function, although with some delays.

However, the hospital administrationplans to investigate the computer crash.

"Equipment being burned by some kind of surge of electricity is a big concern for us," Fahey said.