MEWS photo Mike Waketield

B.C. AMBULANCE Service North Vancouver unit chief Tim Jones,
left, and Ress Peterson, North and West Vancouver Emergency
Program coordinator, go cver equipment in a 200-bed emergency
hospital that will be located on the North Shore. A haspital
evacuation exercise will be staged on Thursday.

Evacuation exercise
to be staged at LGH

‘Patients’ moved to new 200-bed
emergency hospital in North Van

NORTH SHORE rescue crews will stage a mock evacua-
tion of patients from Lions Gate Hospital (LGH) to a new
200-bed emergency hospital on Thursday morning.

The emergency hospital will be
located at the Navy League Build-
ing, 2555 Forbes Ave., North
Vancouver, and will be used in the
event of an actual disaster striking
the North Shore.

Ross Peterson, coordinator of
the North and West Vancouver
Emergency Program, said 38 ‘‘pa-
tients,” made up of high school
students with simulated injuries,
will be transported from LGH's
third floor to the emergency hos-
pital.

D.C. Transit and HandyDart
vehicles wil! be used to help the
B.C. Ambulance Service transport
stretcher patients.

The emergency hospital comes
complete with an operating
theztre, a laboratory, x-ray facili-
ties, admitting office, sterilization
machine and 206 patient care
beds.

Volunteers from St. John Am-
bulance and the North Shore
Rescue Team will also be deployed
in evacuating the patients on
Thursday moming.

Peterson said that if the North
Shore was hit with a real disaster,
LGH patients in most situations
would be sent to other regional
hospitals for care and treatment.

But he said that in the event of
a large and damaging earthquake,
access to other hospitals might be
impossible.

That is where the 200-bed
emergency hospital wou!ld play a
vital role, said Peterson.

“We wanted this facility for
two reasons. One is to take the
place of part of Lions Gate Hos-
pital should there be a problem
with the hospital and the cther is
to serve as a facility in addition to
the beds at Lions Gate Hospitzl,”’
said Peterson.

“We're very excited about using
HandyDart and B.C. Transit and

By Surj Rattan
News Reporter

other velunteer services.”’

He added that in the event of a
real disaster, LGH staff would be
deployed 2t the emergency hospi-
tal.

Peterson said the North and
West Vancouver Emergency Pro-
gram has been working with the
three North Shore municipalities
as well as the B.C. Ambulancc
Service and the fedcral and pro-
vincia} governments for about one
year on acquiring the new 200-bed
emergency hospital.

Tim Jones, Nortii Vancouver
unit chief for the B.C. Ambulance
Service, had been working on the
provincial disaster plan when he
learned that one of 16 200-bed
emergency hospitals was available.

He then approached Peterson
and North Vancouver City ad-
ministrator Gerry Brewer.

Jones said Brewer was in-
strumental in convincing the twa
other North Shore municipalities
to support the program.

“They (municipalities) put out
several thousand dallars to
upgrade the Navy League Build-
ing. The three municipalities got a
$1 million emegency bed hospital
for a low cost,’’ said Jones.

He added that in the event of a
disaster, transit buses, school
buses, rental vans and private
vehicles would be used to transfer
Stretcher patients while am-
bulances would be reserved for
critically injured patients.

“f think this is a great start for
us,’’ said Jones.

The public is invited to view the
new facility on Thursday after-
noon.

Enjoy eating well
and being active.
Feel good

about yourself!

PORMCIMOE TON: B tw

Wednesday. Nov. 25, 1992 — North Shore News -— 43

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