On Wednesday, April 29, Richmond Hospital will participate with other agencies in YVR’s 2015 mock Code Orange exercise. The airline crash scenario was last practiced in 2013.

Mock plane crash puts Richmond Hospital to the test

Richmond and Vancouver General hospitals will be participating in an emergency practice exercise on Wednesday, April 29 that will involve a mock plane crash at YVR, mock patients and more than two dozen other organizations, including PHSA, RCMP, and BCAS.

DSC_0319Selected staff and physicians from across the hospital will participate in the exercise, and key learnings will be shared across our Community of Care.

This is the second time in as many years that VCH has participated in a simulation exercise led by the airport.

The scenario

The exercise here, at Richmond Hospital, will be hands-on. Plans and procedures to be practiced include:

  • Emergency Response Team assessment
  • Code Orange Plan activation
  • Emergency Operation Centre Activation
  • Mass Casualty Event Coordination Calls
  • EOC-to-EOC Communication
  • VCH Richmond EOC liaison officer acting as VCH liaison to YVR and partners

Please note, this exercise will include the use of the overhead announcement system for the Richmond Hospital site to announce the beginning and the end of the “Mock Code Orange” on April 29.

Participating staff will have an opportunity to build on their foundational knowledge of managing mass casualties from “triage through treatment” in specific areas of the site. During the exercise, VCH Richmond will also practice activation of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), action planning and site communications support.

Areas impacted in Richmond include:

  • ED
  • PACU
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Social Work
  • Pharmacy
  • Laboratory
  • Diagnostic Imaging
  • Home Health

 Who else is taking part?

Other health-care sites participating in the exercise include Vancouver General Hospital and BC Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

As the provincial program mandated to coordinate health emergency management and business continuity planning across BC, Health Emergency Management BC (HEMBC) is leading the coordination of this exercise at participating health-care sites to test emergency response plans and procedures for dealing with a mass casualty incident.

Why is this important?

This exercise is an opportunity to practice a real-life mass casualty scenario and identify areas for improvement. Participation in these exercises increases Richmond Hospital’s capacity to cope with major events and emergencies.

This exercise is a tremendous opportunity for Vancouver Coastal Health and Richmond Hospital to test our plans and procedures for dealing with a mass casualty incident, and to practice our emergency response protocols. Participation in these exercises increases our capacity to cope with major events that may impact our communities and Health Authority.