Mock plane crash will put VGH to the test
It isn’t a matter of if we’ll ever have mass casualties — it’s a matter of when. So on April 29, VGH will participate in a YVR exercise involving a mock plane crash, mock patients and more than 20 other organizations.
What are we testing?
In Vancouver Acute, we aim to test four major aspects of our Code Orange (mass casualties) plans:
- AOC (Administrator On Call) — This system ensures a senior administrator is available 24/7 to assess imminent risks and decide how to respond to events that potentially impact services. We’ll test the activation and notification of this system at VGH.
- triage functional area — We’ll test our Code Orange triage functional area located in the ambulance bay outside the VGH Emergency Department.
- patient tracking —Past events have demonstrated the need to compile a central list of all patients connected to one event, regardless of the hospital delivering care. VGH will fulfill this centralized role to determine its effectiveness in supporting victims and protecting patient confidentiality.
- VGH Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) — Vancouver Acute relies on the VGH EOC to support emergency responses. During the exercise we’ll practice EOC activation, action planning, site logistics support and communications with other participating hospital EOCs, including Richmond Hospital.
What can we expect?
At VGH, the exercise will be hands-on and involve:
- 60 mock patients arriving at the ED (NOTE: mock patients will not be transferred to treatment areas)
- activating the Emergency Operations Centre and drawing on the operational and clinical expertise required to respond to the disaster
- units completing a census and staffing report
Who else is participating?
More than two dozen organizations representing a mix of airlines, first responders, government agencies and more are participating in the exercise. The other participating health care sites are:
- BC Children’s Hospital
- BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre
- Richmond Hospital
Questions?
Contact Danny Smutylo, emergency management coordinator for Vancouver Acute Services.
Maddy Laberge
I was wondering where front line workers can access the disaster plan for Vancouver Acute? If you spend some time you can usually find the code orange plan but I was wondering about the disaster plan? It’s enough to say we could handle a plane crash but what about an earthquake what will we be doing when our infrastructure is damaged? We don’t want to end up like Memorial Hospital in New Orleans. Why is this important subject not talked about more?
Danny Smutylo
Hello Maddy,
That is a great questing, and you are absolutely right in wanting more discussion around disaster planning! Please visit the website link that I have included in this response. It will take you to the HEMBC intranet page where you will find information on earthquakes; how to respond, preparedness and many interest articles. Currently our “disaster plan” is a combination of procedures for front line staff (posted on the intranet) and a resource guide for leadership to help them coordinate the response (housed on a sharepoint site for Administrators On-Call). The response to an earthquake may incorporate any number of emergency and downtime procedures depending on what the impacts are. We try and bring earthquakes into the spotlight every October with our participation in the BC ShakeOut exercise. Please contact me if you have further questions, and thanks for taking the time to read this article and bringing attention to our emergency planning efforts!
http://vch-connect/programs/healthemergency/Pages/default.aspx