Kootenay Lake Hospital Emergency Department recently staged a ‘Code Orange’ simulation to practice their response to major medical incidents in the area.
The term 'Code Orange' is designated to any medical emergency with multiple casualties that requires additional resources and assistance from the hospital and region. Emergency medical staff, administrators, police, fire and ambulance were all invited to see how the new emergency department responds to mass casualty incidents.
Community and Selkirk College nursing program volunteers arrived at the emergency department with injuries to test the system and enable the hospital to practice its Code Orange response. Supported by Tascmet Clinical FX, a company that provides training support for mass casualty and other types of emergency situations, simulated patients who arrived were wearing make-up with realistic mock injuries.
“Their injuries were so realistic, in fact, that we had to inform members of the public that we were running a simulation on the day and not to worry,” said KLH emergency physician Dr. Nicolas Sparrow.
The ‘Code Orange’ drill went well and gave emergency staff at Kootenay Lake Hospital and local emergency service partners an opportunity to work together in a challenging realistic mass casualty simulation to practice their response to such incidents and to identify areas for potential improvement.
“The emergency department at Kootenay Lake Hospital is continuing to review our response to major incidents with the goal of maintaining a high level of preparedness for these situations. A big thank you to all those from the community and emergency services who took part in the ‘Code Orange’ practice,” said Dr. Sparrow.