code blue alarm too quiet

[hock1]

Yesterday, at work, a code blue was called on my floor. During this time I was doing a full respiratory assessment on my pt a few rooms down so my stethoscope earplugs are in my ears. Only when I walked into the hallway and noticed the small red triangle blinking did I realize a code blue had been activated. A few moments later I heard a little tinkle bell sounding and saw the worried faces of staff running about the hallway. The sound is like small Christmas bells tinkling. I realize that hospitals are trying to become quieter, but holy canoli that's too quiet.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Wow - was there no overhead page??

[hock1]

Wow - was there no overhead page??

Never heard the overhead page either. A couple of other nurses didn't hear the code either.

[RN4NICU, LPN, LVN]

Many places I've worked, you have to be in the hall to hear the overhead page. If you are in a patient's room, you miss the page.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Where I work, the Code Blue horn is so loud is scares the bejeepers out of me. It gives three separate beeps, then the overhead page is given. I wish they would start the pages with "adult" or "pediatric" instead of just "Code Blue" and then the unit identifier. Then I'd know instantly whether I need to ramp up the epi!! Of course, the code pagers go off a split second before the horn sounds, so I guess hearing the horn first is actually a good thing! To date (and I'm whispering this so "they" can't hear me!!) I have never been carrying the pager when there's been a peds code... in this hospital. Where I worked before, the charge nurse was the code nurse, and I attended several in that role.