'Code orange' briefly activated at BC Children's Hospital amid patient surge

A hospital emergency code typically reserved for natural disasters and mass casualty events was briefly activated at BC Children's Hospital Saturday morning.

A hospital emergency code typically reserved for natural disasters and mass casualty events was briefly activated at BC Children's Hospital Saturday morning.

A spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services Authority confirmed to CTV News that a "code orange" was called at the hospital at 6:35 a.m. It was cancelled a little less than 30 minutes later, at 7:03 a.m.

The spokesperson provided no other details on the situation, nor any explanation of why the code was activated, but children's hospitals in B.C. and across Canada have been struggling with high patient volumes during the current respiratory illness season.

A document declaring the code orange that was shared with CTV News gives the reason for the declaration as an "increase in patient census/acuity in (the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) without appropriate resources to manage."

Last month, BC Children's Hospital opened an overflow unit for its emergency room to help manage the large number of patients. 

A memo announcing the overflow ER described the department as “mostly seeing viral illnesses, including Enterovirus/Rhinovirus, and now increasing presentations of influenza and RSV, as well as steady COVID-19.”

The surge has also led to the cancellation of pediatric surgeries as the facility's limited ICU beds are occupied by children with serious respiratory illness.