'Code orange' briefly activated at BC Children's Hospital amid patient surge
A hospital emergency code typically reserved for natural disasters and mass casualty events was briefly activated at BC Children's Hospital Saturday morning.
A spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services Authority confirmed to CTV News that a "code orange" was called at the hospital at 6:35 a.m. It was cancelled a little less than 30 minutes later, at 7:03 a.m.
The spokesperson provided no other details on the situation, nor any explanation of why the code was activated, but children's hospitals in B.C. and across Canada have been struggling with high patient volumes during the current respiratory illness season.
A document declaring the code orange that was shared with CTV News gives the reason for the declaration as an "increase in patient census/acuity in (the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) without appropriate resources to manage."
Last month, BC Children's Hospital opened an overflow unit for its emergency room to help manage the large number of patients.
A memo announcing the overflow ER described the department as “mostly seeing viral illnesses, including Enterovirus/Rhinovirus, and now increasing presentations of influenza and RSV, as well as steady COVID-19.”
The surge has also led to the cancellation of pediatric surgeries as the facility's limited ICU beds are occupied by children with serious respiratory illness.
The province has just 21 pediatric intensive care beds, which are located at BCCH, Victoria General and University of Northern BC Hospitals.
Emergency room wait times at BC Children's Hospital have been as high as 12 hours in recent weeks. On Saturday afternoon, waits were considerably shorter, at about two hours and 30 minutes as of 3:30 p.m.
Earlier in the day, however, they had been as long as eight hours.
And BCCH isn't even the busiest pediatric emergency department in B.C. That distinction belongs to Surrey Memorial Hospital, where doctors said last month that they were facing quadruple the number of patients the ER was designed for, and 100 more per day than they saw last year.
“The pediatric ER has been overrun for a while now and we have expanded into the adult side, where right now we're using two treatment beds,” said Dr. Randeep Gill, an emergency physician at SMH.
“We're seeing approximately 250 kids per day during the surge, but it was built for 72 patient visits per day.”
A similar surge in demand for pediatric hospital beds in Alberta recently led to the cancellation of respite services at Rotary Flames House, that province's pediatric hospice. Staff from the facility have been redeployed to assist Alberta Children's Hospital with its high patient volumes.
CTV News contacted Vancouver's Canuck Place Children's Hospice to inquire about whether similar measures were being considered in B.C., but was told that the staffing model is different in this province because Canuck Place is a private hospice.
The facility said no one from BC Children's Hospital or the PHSA has asked it for either additional beds or staff.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.