Nine serious trauma patients trigger Code Orange at Fredericton ER

The sign outside Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.

A Code Orange was enacted at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital emergency department Saturday evening, after multiple incidents resulted in nine serious trauma patients having to be transported to the Fredericton hospital.

Horizon Health confirmed that the code – which is also known as a mass casualty event – was the result of a sudden influx of serious patients who arrived at the hospital within a short period of time. It gives the hospital the ability to call-in additional resources and personnel to help.

Horizon Health CEO Margaret Melanson said in an email that additional physicians and staff answered the call “within minutes.”

“Their swift, selfless response ensured that we could successfully navigate through what was an exceptionally challenging scenario,” she said. “Their actions this past weekend ensured that patients received the best possible care, even under the most challenging circumstances.”

New Brunswick RCMP confirmed there was a two-vehicle collision in Durham Bridge, just north of Fredericton, Saturday evening that resulted in at least five people being transported to hospital. One 37-year-old woman died at the scene.

Emergency room physician Dr. Yogi Sehgal, who recently spoke to CTV Atlantic about the challenges facing the Chalmers Hospital emergency department, said in a post on social media he had never seen so many ambulances parked at the hospital, even during long offload delays.

“An amazing crew of ER nurses, docs, RTs, pharmacists, imaging techs, housekeepers and more all dropped everything and rushed in on their down time and did amazing work keeping people alive and putting some back together,” he said in the post.

The event followed a difficult week for the hospital department after the family of a former patient filed a lawsuit against Horizon Health and two emergency department nurses. Darrell Mesheau died in the early morning hours of July 12, 2022, while waiting almost seven hours for care in the hospital’s emergency department waiting room. The family’s lawsuit alleges if he had been monitored, or seen by a physician earlier, he’d still be alive today. Two nurses who were on shift that night are named in the lawsuit as defendants.

Premier Blaine Higgs told reporters Monday he is looking into legislation that would protect healthcare workers from being named in lawsuits – promising that the two nurses will not have to pay any legal fees.

“We have to find ways to protect those that are working and in life changing situations… We have to find a way to protect the people that are delivering that service,” he said while at an event in Saint John. “I just say to the nurses and to those individuals that were named, you know, we will fight this case, and we will protect your ability to maintain your license.”

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