see also:

• aseptic non-touch technique (ANTT)

•Remain calm and focused. Reassure and support others to remain calm. •Raise the alarm by dialling 444 and providing the appropriate details to the switchboard. •On hearing a respond PA announcement, report to the area warden. For codes red, orange, purple, yellow and brown, the area warden can usually be found next to the red warden intercom phone (WIP) phone. •Follow the instructions of the area warden and the incident commander. Be prepared to have tasks delegated to you by the area warden and carry them out safely. •Do not enter an area where a code has been called unless it is a code blue and you are required to be there.

What to do in an emergency

On discovering an emergency: 1.Dial 444 and state the colour and exact location and campus of the emergency. 2.Do not hang up until advised to by the switchboard operator.

The switchboard operator will: •Transmit information relating to all codes to the pagers carried by the Emergency Response Team and will make PA announcements for codes red, blue, yellow, brown and orange emergencies. Codes purple, black and grey are not announced over the PA system. •Transmit stand-down information to the pagers and broadcast stand-down over the PA at the completion of the emergency.

On hearing a respond PA announcement for the area you’re in: 1.Stop what you’re doing and report to the area warden. 2.Follow the instructions of the area warden.

If you are out of your work area when an emergency occurs, do not return to your work area unless: •The emergency is a respond blue emergency. In this case, required employees should return to offer assistance. •You are directed to do so by the incident commander.

On hearing a respond PA announcement for another area: 1.Do not leave your area. 2.Stand by for further instructions issued by the area warden or the incident commander.

The warden intercom phone (WIP)

You must pick up the WIP phone when you hear it ringing and follow the instructions of the person calling. It may be the incident commander calling to inform your area of an emergency code. All staff are responsible for answering the WIP phone – not just the area warden.

A code red is a hospital emergency response code to deal with any situation where there is smoke or fire present.

Responding to fire or smoke: •Raise the alarm: •Activate the nearest red break glass alarm. •Dial 444 and state code red with your campus and exact location. •Notify your area warden.

•Rescue persons from any immediate danger if safe to do so. •Confine the fire and/or smoke by closing doors. •Report to the area warden who should be located next to the nearest WIP phone. •Follow the instructions of the area warden. Be prepared to have tasks delegated to you.

Depending on the situation, use your own judgment about the best order to do these tasks in, remembering that raising the alarm is the priority by activating the BGA and dialing 444.

Remember that you are most likely to smell smoke or see smoke before you see any flames. Smoke can travel vast distances and can move quickly. It also has a tendency to rise and travel to upper levels of the building.

A code orange is a hospital emergency response code to deal with any situation where evacuation is required. A code orange is called when an emergency threatens people’s lives or health.

Three stages to evacuation:

The removal of persons from the immediate danger area, for example, removing persons from a room that is on fire.

The removal of persons to a safer area, for example, to an adjoining compartment protected by fire doors on the same level or if necessary to a lower level.

The complete evacuation of a building. Should the emergency necessitate the evacuation of the entire building, all available employees will be required to assist in the movement of patients and visitors to a safe place.

Initiating an evacuation: •The incident commander in conjunction with the area wardens will decide if and when an evacuation is necessary and the stage of the evacuation to be used. •Where the fire brigade is in attendance, the decision to evacuate and the type of evacuation to be carried out will be made by the fire brigade in consultation with the incident commander. •There may be some instances where the decision to evacuate will be made by the area warden or any employee prior to the arrival of the incident commander or the fire brigade. For example, an employee finds a fire and evacuates people from immediate danger.

Responding to an evacuation: •Report to and follow the instructions of the area warden. •Do not use lifts. •Be prepared to accept responsibility for any tasks delegated to you by the area warden, if safe to do so, such as: •Searching all rooms including the toilets and marking the door or wall with a cross once checked. Always leave lights on. •Collecting the staff rosters and patient lists. •Stopping people from entering or leaving the area. •Assisting patients and visitors to evacuate. As much as possible, keep visitors with the patients they are with to avoid any distress. •Making sure that the evacuation route is clearly defined.

•The area warden will advise the incident commander of the completed evacuation.

The order of a patient evacuation: 1.Patients in immediate danger. 2.Ambulant patients (walking) first. 3.Semi ambulant. 4.Non-ambulant - patients who must be moved in a lying down and/or protected position (dependant) via a bed or trolley, blanket drag, wheelchair, chair or other means such as an evacuation harness.

•If possible and safe, take the recent patient records that may indicate what medication the patient has had in the previous 48 hours. •Patient care is a core focus during an emergency. We monitor our patients’ health and reassure them that they are safe.

A code purple is a hospital emergency response code to deal with any situation where there is a threat related to the presence of a bomb or explosive device within the hospital.

Note that this code will not be announced over the PA system. The incident commander will be notified by a pager. The incident commander will then contact the area warden by the WIP phone.

On receiving a b threat phone call: •Attempt to keep the caller talking. •If possible, alert another employee to dial 444. •Ask questions and do not interrupt answers. Use the B Threat Checklist as a guide. •Do not hang up the phone – even after the person has hung up. This should assist the police in tracing the telephone call. Note down the number if the phone has a digital display. •Follow any further instructions from your area warden. •Ensure that you complete the B Threat Checklist as soon as possible.

If a suspicious object is found: •Do not touch, cover or move it. •Clear people away from the immediate vicinity. •Raise the alarm: •Dial 444, state a code purple and give the object’s location and description. •Notify the area warden immediately of its location and description.

•Await further instructions from your area warden.

•Every threat should be treated as genuine until proven otherwise. •Do not use mobile phones or two-way radios near a suspect device. Radio signals may cause a premature detonation of a crude or sensitive electronic device. •Ensure that all mobile phones, radio and paging devices are switched off.

A code yellow is a hospital emergency response code to deal with any internal emergency that threatens to disrupt health service capabilities.

An internal emergency is defined as one that originates inside the hospital boundaries. It can cover a wide range of on-site internal emergency situations that are not covered by another response code (for example, fire or smoke is covered by a code red). It refers to the failure and/or threats to vital internal systems and/or services.

Examples of internal emergencies: •Explosion. •Gas leak. •Trapped persons (for example, in lifts). •Chemical spill. •Flooding. •Services failure.

Responding to an internal emergency: •Raise the alarm: •Dial 444 and state code yellow with the exact location. •Notify the area warden.

•On hearing a respond yellow for your area, follow the instructions of the area warden.