BC Children's Hospital calls a 'Code Orange' as patient demand increased

This weekend, staff at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) called for a hospital emergency code which refers to a “disaster or mass casualties.”

A Code Orange was called at 6:35 am Saturday and was cancelled at 7:03 am, a spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services Authority said in an email to Daily Hive.

PHSA did not provide additional information about what led staff to call for the code. However, news anchor and community leader Tamara Taggart shared a screenshot of the alert on Twitter.

According to the photo, a Code Orange was called due to an “increase in patient census/acuity in PICU [Pediatric Intensive Care Unit] without appropriate resources to manage.”

How today started @BCChildrensHosp in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The lack of leadership, outrage + transparency is deplorable. #PICU in crisis, #ER times brutal, surgeries cancelled + kids dying of the flu. #bcpoli #CodeOrange pic.twitter.com/syXiR01eSx

— Tamara Taggart (@tamarataggart) December 3, 2022

PHSA said that thanks to the alert, “there were no impacts to patient care.”

“BCCH PICU is not currently on diversion and no child who needs the highest level of pediatric care will be refused admission to BCCH,” PHSA added.

In recent weeks, many parents in Metro Vancouver have been vocal about the frustrating experiences they face when visiting emergency health care for their children.

You might also like:
• Parents complain of frustrating waits at Vancouver emergency rooms
• "We are in a different situation now": BC says no mask mandate needed
• Children's Tylenol shortage pushes parents to source from the US

They’ve said BC’s hospitals are too overwhelmed with patients to provide adequate care.

There’s been a spike in people seeking medical care for respiratory symptoms, particularly children.

In addition, many children haven’t been exposed to as many respiratory viruses as typical cohorts because they spent more time at home during COVID-19 restrictions. This is the first true respiratory virus season for many young children in the province.

With files from Megan Devlin