Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital sets new emergency procedures for unexpected disasters

13/8/99
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital has introduced a new set of emergency procedures, which it hopes it will never have to use.
Health Minister John Day today launched the new emergency procedures which will help staff deal with incidents not normally associated with hospitals such as armed robberies, bomb threats or hostage situations.
Mr Day said it was crucial that hospitals were well prepared for both internal and external disasters.
"We have grown accustomed to hospitals such as Royal Perth, Fremantle and Sir Charles Gairdner conducting mock disasters to test the readiness of their staff to receive large numbers of patients through their emergency departments," he said.
"The new emergency procedures being launched today will help ensure staff are prepared to handle incidents not normally associated with hospitals."
Mr Day said many medical and nursing staff were globally mobile and the introduction of international terminology and codes would assist medical staff to respond automatically to an emergency regardless of which hospital they were working in.
He said when staff at SCGH heard a specific colour code announced over the public address system, they knew whether their assistance was required, and if so, where to locate action cards to ensure correct procedure was followed.
"Hospitals have in their care people who are sick, or infirm and unable to look after themselves in the event of an emergency,"
Mr Day said.
"It is of paramount importance that staff are well versed on what their individual role is in various situations."
Under the Australian standards, a series of colour codes are allocated to each type of emergency the hospital is likely to face.
The codes are:
Code Red - Fire/Smoke
Code Orange - Evacuation
Code Purple - Bomb Threat
Code Black - Personal Threat
Code Yellow - Internal Emergency
Code Brown - External Emergency
Code Blue - Medical Emergency
Action cards are attached to each telephone in the hospital. Staff ring the hospital's emergency number, report the emergency and then follow the instructions on the appropriate action card.
The new procedures also give all staff clear instructions on what they should do if they are the first person to encounter an emergency.
The Emergency Procedures developed by SCGH can easily be adapted for use by other hospitals.
Media contact: Mark Thompson 9213 6600