WHAT IS A CODE BLUE AND AN INTRO TO HOSPITAL EMERGENCY CODES

How hospitals deal with urgent situations without alerting patients and loved ones

We’ve all seen it. Late night visitors are strolling through a hospital’s halls to see loved ones or communicate some form of urgent situation or emergency on the premises. They quickly alert medical personnel about:

What is the emergency?

What is expected at the scene?

Who is needed to deal with the situation?

The answer to these questions and more are hospital emergency codes.

What is Code Blue

Code Blue is the most well-known hospital emergency code. It alerts staff that a patient is in possible life-threatening distress. This can be:

Cardiopulmonary arrest

Changes in mentality

Chest pain

General worries about a patient’s health status ‌ (Example: turning an unnatural shade of blue due to lack of oxygen.)

Presyncope or sensation of about to faint

Call the Code

This is how hospital emergency codes generally work.

The examining medical personnel, usually a nurse, first calls a Rapid Response Team to evaluate and treat the patient. If the team cannot stabilize the patient, the hospital operator is contacted to start the Code Blue. The announcement is usually composed of the code followed by its location. For example: “Code Blue in ICU.” “Code Blue in NICU.”

Hospitals may have different variations. A Code Blue Pediatric means the patient is a child (under the age of 18) while Code Blue Neonate is an infant (4 weeks or younger).

Respond to the Code

A Code Blue team converges on the scene. It is typically composed of medical personnel selected by the hospital specifically for the code. Most are led by an anesthesiologist.

Treatment during the code varies on the patient’s condition. For example, intubation, or the insertion of an endotracheal tube (ET) through a patient’s mouth or nose and into their trachea, may be needed. This is performed by the anesthesiologist. Or an automated external defibrillator (AED) may be used if their heartbeat is irregular. Powerful drugs like naloxone may be injected to reverse any overdoses.

Did You Know?

Hospitals originally developed emergency codes so staff could deal with urgent situations like distressed patients or on-site fires without alarming visitors and patients.

Unfortunately, hospitals were left to develop their own codes. Misunderstanding of one such code contributed to the deaths of three medical staff members in September of 1999. Dung Trinh, apparently distraught at the death of his mother in California-based West Anaheim Medical Center, shot and killed an on-site nurse’s assistant, a pharmacist, and a hospital maintenance worker. Later investigation showed staff rushing to the scene instead of taking cover to wait for law enforcement. The wrong code (Code Grey – Combative or violent patient) had been used. The code should have been Silver, which indicates an armed shooter.

Based on the investigation’s results, the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) shortly afterwards released new emergency code guidelines and standards which it encouraged hospitals to adopt throughout the nation.

Code Red and Other Hospital Emergency Codes

Note not all codes are medical events. They can also notify them to prepare for an incoming urgent situation like a storm or an earthquake.

As mentioned earlier, emergency hospital codes are not standardized. They can vary widely between states and even within the same community. Their exact meanings may be found on placards throughout the hospital for ready reference. They may also be placed on employee identification badges or checked on a medical tablet.

Below are a mix of codes hospitals may use and their meaning.

Code Red

Code Red is the second most well-known alert after Code Blue. It signifies the presence of fire or smoke, the smell of smoke, or an active fire sighting. Even the sound of a fire or active smoke alarm may bring a call for this code.

Code White or Orange

Missing infant or child. Hospital staff’s usual response is to monitor all exits and doors.

Code Yellow or Black

Bomb Threat. Hospital staff goes on the alert for any suspicious items.

Other codes and their meanings include:

Code Brown: severe weather like an incoming snowstorm

Code Clear: emergency is over

Code Gray: combative or abusive behavior on-site by patients, families, visitors, staff, or physicians

Code Green: activation of emergency operations plans like mass evacuation of the facilities

Code Orange: spill or release of hazardous material alert

Code Pink: infant abduction or pediatric emergency alert

Code Silver: a combative person on-site with a weapon. Contact law enforcement asap

Closing Thoughts

Hospitals use Code Blue and other Emergency Codes to alert staff of critical issues like patients dying or fires. They are a vital part of healthcare as they prevent panic from visitors and patients.

Contact an expert at Cybernet Manufacturing if your hospital is interested in how medical computers can aid with hospital emergency codes.