How The Ottawa Hospital's 'Code Orange' worked to save lives

How a Hospital’s ‘Code Orange’ saves lives Ottawa Hospital teams jump to action immediately after the Westboro OC Transpo tragedy, CTV’s Joanne Schnurr explains how it works.

Less than two months ago, the Ottawa Hospital practiced for this very scenario; a “Code Orange” involving more than 20 patients.   That practice undoubtedly saved lives. The Ottawa Hospital is the trauma centre for Eastern Ontario.  So, it's got to be ready to deal with 3 or 4 critically injured patients.  Few hospitals anticipate a mass casualty of this magnitude.  But the Ottawa Hospital says its practice paid off; it was ready to react.

One by one, the ambulances came screaming to halt Friday night outside the Ottawa Hospital's Emergency department.  Ferrying patients with injuries, as one doctor said, from head to toe.

Dr. Guy Hébert is head of the department of emergency medicine at The Ottawa Hospital, “This was quite a horrific crash,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday, “Head injuries, and spine injuries.  We saw, chest, abdomen and lots of limb injuries as well.”

Moments before the patients started arriving, the hospital had called a Code Orange signaling a major event with significant injuries.

Dr. Andrew Willmore is the medical director for the Department of Emergency Management at The Ottawa Hospital.

“It's the biggest response we have had in context of a mass casualty in recent history,” Dr. Willmore said, “both because of the number of patients and the really severe acuity for folks coming in.”

Within 20 minutes, 8 trauma teams were set up, each with 10 to 12 specialists, ready to encounter whatever scenario might present itself.

“I’ve been able to observe when a trauma comes in,” says Joanne Read, the Vice-President of Planning and Support Services with The Ottawa Hospital, “The amount of people involved in a trauma, to respond and be able to provide that care is amazing  and they all come together like a symphony.”

That "symphony" started playing a well-rehearsed number:  emergency physicians and nurses working in concert with orthopedic surgeons and anesthetists, with one goal in mind:  saving lives.

“Of all the patients that came to our hospital alive,” says Dr. Willmore, “everybody survived. That was testament to a lot of hard work from a lot of people.”

The Ottawa Hospital's last “Code Orange was that collision involving a VIA train and another double-decker bus in 2013, where 6 people died and many more were injured.  Since that incident, the Ottawa Hospital has done 9 official exercises, including one in November in a scenario eerily similar to this one involving more than 20 patients but focused on a mass shooting instead of a crash.

“Nothing can prepare you for an event like last Friday,” says Dr. Willmore, “but the lessons learned from that exercise helped us very much and things went very smoothly.”

Dr. Willmore says he's extremely proud of his team, and with reason.

There has been a domino effect at the hospital because of this massive response.  Many elective surgeries were put on hold but he says teams are working now to reschedule them.