House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Emergency Departments EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS Dr McFETRIDGE House of Assembly Morphett EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS 231 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15 March 2011) (First Session). How many code black calls were made in each major South Australian Metropolitan Hospital Emergency Department in each month since January 2009? The Hon. J.D. HILL House of Assembly Kaurna Minister for Health and Ageing Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Minister for the Arts EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts): I am advised: 1.	The following table provides a summary of Code Black incidents for all metropolitan hospital emergency departments in each month for the specified period. Any aggressive behaviour towards staff or patients in hospital is taken extremely seriously. Code Black is the term used in hospitals when staff call for assistance in dealing with a patient or visitor who is acting in a way that may compromise their safety or the safety of others, including disruptive and intimidating behaviour. A Code Black does not always indicate a violent incident has occurred. They are also used as a preventative measure to stop people who may be showing signs of aggression. Most aggressive incidents involve patients whose illness, injury or treatment may cause behavioural changes. Very few incidents are the result of deliberate aggression towards staff. Appendix 1—Monthly breakdown of Code Blacks in South Australian Metropolitan Hospitals January 2009—February 2011 Table 1—Code Blacks for South Australian Metropolitan Emergency Departments in 2009 Flinders Medical Centre Noarlunga Hospital Repatriation General Hospital Lyell McEwin Hospital Modbury Hospital Royal Adelaide Hospital The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Total Jan 09 47 3 0 41 11 56 66 224 Feb 09 32 4 0 76 17 51 72 252 Mar 09 72 9 0 55 6 109 56 307 Apr 09 26 9 0 45 12 75 69 236 May 09 49 20 0 37 11 68 67 252 Jun 09 66 2 0 43 11 81 48 251 Jul 09 53 2 0 31 15 100 57 258 Aug 09 28 8 0 62 17 125 56 296 Sep 09 40 5 0 85 18 138 48 334 Oct 09 38 7 0 48 4 113 64 274 Nov 09 75 4 0 52 8 131 68 338 Dec 09 59 17 0 39 22 79 70 286 Total 585 90 0 614 152 1126 741 Table 2—Code Blacks for South Australian Metropolitan Emergency Departments in 2010 Flinders Medical Centre Noarlunga Hospital Repatriation General Hospital Lyell McEwin Hospital Modbury Hospital Royal Adelaide Hospital The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Total Jan 10 62 3 1 54 13 98 90 321 Feb 10 50 4 0 49 17 125 56 301 Mar 10 55 9 0 85 10 102 63 324 Apr 10 58 9 0 49 6 67 58 247 May 10 62 20 0 75 4 155 57 373 Jun 10 39 3 0 52 6 97 65 262 Jul 10 49 9 0 80 6 121 49 314 Aug 10 44 17 0 67 0 117 45 290 Sep 10 44 23 0 59 14 100 41 281 Oct 10 54 9 0 84 3 87 31 268 Nov 10 94 15 0 86 5 95 51 346 Dec 10 96 12 0 82 12 96 56 354 Total 707 133 1 822 96 1260 662 Table 3—Code Blacks for South Australian Metropolitan Emergency Departments in January and February 2011 Flinders Medical Centre Noarlunga Hospital Repatriation General Hospital Lyell McEwin Hospital Modbury Hospital Royal Adelaide Hospital The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Total Jan 11 53 15 0 71 9 74 48 270 Feb 11 51 12 0 102 5 62 45 277 Total 104 27 0 173 14 136 93