Fires in hospitals

[lost__in__space]

Have you guys ever seen a fire in a hospital before? Everyone seems pretty nonchalant about them at the hospital I work at. No one even evacuates during a code red. (i.e. we just had one 10 minutes ago and everyone kept working). I know the code red is obviously location dependent and hospitals are enormous but even on the wing that the fire was on people kept working.

[future_doc]

Have you guys ever seen a fire in a hospital before?

 

I hope never to be in that situation.

[thebouque]

Code red are extremely common and you're not supposed to evacuate unless you're specifically told to.

[thehumanmacbook]

One of the labs once had a small fire...we weren't asked to evacuate though :S

[A-Stark]

I've never seen one, though I remember a Code Red one day while I was on ICU last summer. We had to stay put, of course, though ironically the alarm came from the other end of the same floor. I *think* it was false or at least nothing more than a minor wiring short.

[jojoluvsu2]

I set off the fire alarm in a really old hospital by giving tobramycin (via aerosol) without turning on the bedside fan.

 

It would be a logistical nightmare to evacuate everyone for each fire alarm. (New) hospitals are built to a) not burn not burn quickly c) burn in only one section without spreading to the others. Even if there was a bit of a blaze, it should be easily contained/extinguished before anyone else is in any sort of danger.

[rogerroger]

Yup the only thing I recall about code reds is being fooled into thinking they were code blues for the first 2 seconds of the announcenent or waking me up while catching a nap oncall. Often they did both things simultaneously, heh.

[quackster]

You never evacuate for a code red. Think about what it would take to evacuate a hospital full of sick people. Evacuate only when told - code green at most hospitals if I'm not mistaken.

 

Yes, there are many code reds at hospitals because of a) routine fire drills that happen very very frequently and people burning toast or popcorn

[thebouque]

I hope never to be in that situation.

 

You'll probably never see a fire but you'll get many many code red (at least a few per month)

[future_doc]

Thank you for the heads up.

[A-Stark]

Saint John Regional Hospital for whatever reason has constant Code Whites (aggressive behaviour), usually from "4 Delta North" (Psych). I remember one day where a Code Blue was called immediately following a Code White in a lobby somewhere - it was the same patient!

 

They also tend to broadcast these over the PA, unlike the QEII in Halifax where trauma and arrest codes are only made over designated pagers. On the other hand, everyone gets to hear Code Census broadcasts, just so we all know how busy they are in Emerg.

 

For some reason, the IWK (peds/maternity) broadcasts trauma team activations over the PA. Why that's necessary in a children's hospital I have no idea.

[Renin]

I have been on a Code Red wing - it was actually kind of scary; I was shoved into a patient room by a nurse who slammed the door shut. I guess their procedure is to vacate the hall? The patient and I looked at each other and we both headed over to the window to assess that method of escape (luckily, didn't have to use it!)

[ldnk]

You never evacuate for a code red. Think about what it would take to evacuate a hospital full of sick people. Evacuate only when told - code green at most hospitals if I'm not mistaken.

 

Yes, there are many code reds at hospitals because of a) routine fire drills that happen very very frequently and people burning toast or popcorn

 

Yeah, in a prior life I worked in the imaging suit at St. Joe's hospital in London. Every other day there would be a "fire" in the staff lounge.