The Victorian Government has activated a Code Brown alert across multiple hospitals.

The alert means health care staff and resources can now be redeployed to different sites, and non-essential services will be postponed.

Code Brown alerts are usually reserved for transport accidents, chemical spills, natural disasters and mass casualty events.

Dozens of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel have already been called to help drive ambulances and assist with planning.

It is an attempt to allow overwhelmed hospitals to better manage a surge in COVID-19 cases, with authorities estimating a rate of 100 admissions per day in the coming weeks.

It is the first time a Code Brown alert has been issued across the state for the  COVID-19 pandemic. 

The alert was used in response to the 2016 thunderstorm asthma event, which caused mass hospitalisations. It was also issued during the state’s Black Saturday bushfires, and after the Bourke Street mall attack in 2017 where victims needed urgent medical treatment.

The activation should allow hospitals to focus on priority services, potentially cancel outpatient services, and facilitate the rapid offload of ambulances so that paramedics stay on the road.

The Victorian branch of the Nursing and Midwifery Union says there is a crisis facing hospitals.

“We have many bone-weary members … desperate to recharge, who are unable to get leave approved or are being recalled from leave,” union secretary Paul Gilbert told reporters this week.

The pandemic Code Brown is expected to last four to six weeks.