Emergency Codes

"CODE BLUE IN ROOM 2111!!!"  This overhead page is generally understood as a public acknowledgement that someone is in cardiopulmonary arrest and every member of the "Code Team" must respond immediately with all required equipment.

However, in the past many hospitals used a different emergency response page for one reason or another.  Where I work it used to be called something more pleasant, with the goal not to scare the other patients and visitors.

However, when we had new nurses or rental nurses and doctors visiting our hospital, they were sometimes confused and slow to respond to emergencies.  The same was true of rapid response teams, which had different names from one hospital to the next.

So to alleviate confusion many hospitals have now switched over to what is now considered the Universal Emergency Codes listed as follows:

1. Code Blue:  Cardiac arrest/ Medical emergency
2. Code Red:  Fire
3. Code Pink/ Amber/Adam:  Infant abduction
4. Code black:  Active shooter, bomb threat
5. Code Orange:  Hazardous material
6. Code Grey/ Doctor Strong:   Security problem, larceny, patient is belligerent and poses a threat to the nurses on hand
7. Rapid Response Team:  Patient doesn't look quite right

Write in the comments below if your hospital uses unique codes?

Reference:

1. Georgiahealth.edu, "Universal Emergency Codes, http://www.georgiahealth.edu/psd/EmergMangt/UniversalEmergencyCodesTrainingTest12-5-11.pdf, accessed April 20, 2012.  
2. Memorialhealth.com, "Emergency Situation Response,"  http://www.memorialhealth.com/meded/Emergency%20Responses%20Codes.pdf, accessed April 20, 2012
3. Wikia, "Hospital Emergency Codes,"  http://house.wikia.com/wiki/Hospital_emergency_codes, accessed April 20, 2012