Fraser Canyon Hospital ends 'code orange' as hero doctor reveals close call during flooding
CTV
The modest 10-bed hospital in Hope, B.C. has finally ended its disaster status, three weeks after mass flooding and landslides trapped travellers and residents, sending a surge of patients to a tiny hospital unequipped to handle the volume.
The modest 10-bed hospital in Hope, B.C. has finally ended its disaster status, three weeks after mass flooding and landslides trapped travellers and residents, sending a surge of patients to a tiny hospital unequipped to handle the volume.
The “code orange,” which indicates a disaster or mass casualties, was declared at Fraser Canyon Hospital on Nov. 14 and ended Friday, but the facility’s medical director says the staff are still on edge with road conditions still tenuous.
"Every day, we have moments where weather changes and questions always arise because the roads have been so vulnerable,” said Dr. Aseem Grover. “Is there going to be another rockslide or landslide? How am I going to get to and from work? What do I take with me in my vehicle as a backup plan?"
Grover also revealed the hospital itself was nearly evacuated, with a backup field hospital set up as a contingency, since the nearby riverbank was eroded by floodwaters. Nonetheless, the staff at Fraser Canyon Hospital had rushed to the facility on that Sunday in November – one nurse riding an ATV through debris-strewn roads as Grover and others made their way there from Abbotsford under police escort – to help treat injured travellers, find shelter for tiny newborns and help find food for stranded people.
“It’s been like a marathon,” he said. “We’ve been living through ongoing disaster management protocols.”
The Hope facility is the closest hospital to the hamlet of Boston Bar, where four patients urgently needed help: from cancer treatment, to anti-psychotic injection drugs, to a toddler needing colostomy supplies. Without a medical facility in the community, Grover knew he’d have to aim for the bowling alley, which functions as a pharmacy for the community.
Only a Canadian Forces helicopter could handle the conditions to get the rural physician specialist there. Its crew successfully deposited him for a lightning-quick visit, during which he cared for all the patients within a half hour, but the way back south through the narrow and steep-sided Fraser canyon would prove treacherous.
