A local hospital is now prepared for disaster after a recent mock emergency.
On Thursday, April 25th, Halton Healthcare, in partnership with the Regional Municipality of Halton, Oakville Fire Department, Halton Regional Police Service, Halton Region Paramedic Services and the Town of Oakville, conducted a mock emergency preparedness exercise to practice the emergency response to a disaster in the community.
The exercise began at 9:30 a.m. after a hypothetical truck transporting Anhydrous Ammonia lost control, resulting in a release of the chemical near Dorval Drive and Speers Road in Oakville.
During the exercise more than 75 mock patients were transported to the Emergency Department at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH), resulting in the hospital declaring a mock Code Orange CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Stage 3. The hospital would call a Code Orange in the event of a disaster that increases the number of patients received in the Emergency Department, which could affect many other areas of the hospital.
The mock Code Orange gave participants valuable hands-on experience in managing a crisis. By simulating a realistic scenario, the exercise allowed our teams and first responders to test their emergency response plans.
“Exercises like this enable us to test our protocols, identify areas for improvement and ultimately strengthen our ability to ensure we are well prepared to care for our community in the event of a disaster,” says Melissa Farrell, President & CEO, Halton Healthcare. “Effective communication is critical in emergencies, so it was a great opportunity to work with our external partners on a complete response.”
The exercise was conducted separately from the hospital’s regular operations to ensure that real patient care was not affected.
Halton Healthcare extended their appreciation to the patients, visitors and community for their understanding as they completed this exercise training.
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