Code Red/Code Blue/Code whatever....what do you have/what are they for?

Nurses General Nursing

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Seeing the thread about Code Pink's for rude docs, and others mentioning Code Pink meaning peds cardiac arrest, made me think about the diff Codes we have.

Different Codes:

Code Blue-adult cardiac or resp arrest

Code Kinder -peds cardiac/resp arrest

Code Secure -violent/aggressive pt/family-need security asap

Code Red -fire

Code Lindbergh -abducted infant/child

Types of "alerts":

trauma alert -a trauma coming in (we are a level 1 trauma center)

gold alert -multi system unstable trauma

heart alert -someone comes in who may need the cath lab asap

There are others for bomb threat, natural disaster, etc. Those are the ones we actually hear occasionally.

Code 99: Resp/Cardiac Arrest

Code Black: Bomb

Code Red: Fire

Code Pink: Child Abduction

Code Green: Violent Weather

Code Stat- codes

Code Pink - infant abduction

Code Orange - Fire

Code Black - power outage

Code Alert - implementation of mass casualty plan

Code 99-bomb threat

Code 100- Violent situation, security and all available male nursing respond

Specializes in Pediatrics.

i like the "code elvis".... never heard that one before :)

ours that I can remember are code 99 for cardiac/resp. arrest or any serious medical emergency, code red for fire, code boy/girl for missing patient, a particular name we give a patient who is "no information" for their door and chart, and code green for security. i know there are more, just can't remember them.

i don't remember all of them, which is awful, but i know most.

code blue: cardiac/respiratory arrest (or if a patient pulls out their trach we a code blue to get the appropriate people there stat

code red: fire

code pink: infant abduction

[color=gray]code grey: security

[color=gray]code grey 2: non-violent crisis interevention

code green: evacuation

code orange: haz-mat

and i know there's a code for disaster which may be a code yellow, can't remember. and i think we have a code black for bomb threat or violent situation. they're on the back of my name tag and fortunately i haven't heard them!! :)

Specializes in LDRP.

Seriously, Code Elvis? Ok, that's as funny as calling mayday for a code.

Or Dr Gyat? also very funny.

We have the general code blue, red, assist, ect at our hospital. One thing they changed recently is the fact that they called a room number when they call a Code Blue. I do understand the point behind it (allowing the team to know where the patient is...) but I think it can cause more panic and anxiety than is needed, especially if a family is present in house somewhere. I understand that families should know that their family member is very ill, but they don't deserve to find out like that! I would rather have someone standing at the end of a hallway or stairs or something directing people where to go, or like someone else mentioned, follow the crowd...for the most part, unless you are in some secluded spot, you'll find it as long as you get to the right floor or unit. I think just hearing a code blue doesn't alarm families in the hospital as much as if all of a sudden they hear their families room number called over the speaker!

Jen

We don't use "code". A cardiac arrest is Dr. Leo or Dr. Pedi Leo. Everything else goes by "signals". Red signal, fire. Black signal, bomb threat. White signal, external/internal disaster, Orange signal, chemical spill etc. We have a few others but honestly I would have to look at the cheat sheet on my badge to remember them!

Specializes in ER, Peds, Charge RN.
We don't use "code". A cardiac arrest is Dr. Leo or Dr. Pedi Leo. Everything else goes by "signals". Red signal, fire. Black signal, bomb threat. White signal, external/internal disaster, Orange signal, chemical spill etc. We have a few others but honestly I would have to look at the cheat sheet on my badge to remember them!

Blue: Cardiac Arrest

Pink: Peds Code

Yellow: Infant abduction

Black: Bomb threat

Green: Natural/Terrorist disaster outside hospital

Purple: Very sick patient on the way in, or code coming in (usually for multisystem traumas or cath lab patients)

Red: Fire

We also have Trauma Team 1 and Trauma Team 2 called when level one services are needed.

As for calling codes overhead... I agree with you. The problem is that we have a giant hospital, so it wouldn't be feasible for us to have people in stairways directing. We really have to call it overhead. ER, PICU, NICU, and other ICU's handle their codes in-unit, so they aren't called.

To those that call stuff Dr. Whatever... what if you have a doctor that has that name? If you need Dr. Leo to come to 4 North, would the code team respond as well?

I agree with calling to the specific unit, just not the EXACT room number. They used to call just wing and floor, say E5 or A6 south, but now they actually all it to A607b or something like that.

Jen

I miss the Dr paging system... it was almost like an inside joke (not that those moments were funny) but patients and vistors never caught on. We haven't used that in a few years and I can't even remember what the "Dr's" names were, but there was never confusion since the names were made up and probably don't exist anywhere. I think fire might have been Dr Firebaum? No, seems too obvious...

Dr GYAT reminds me of something we learned early in nursing school (but we were never taught this!!) Before RACE fire protocol was standard we used RADAC (rescue-alert-dial help-?-extinguish) Someone once joked that he used RADAC in any emergency (Run Away! Don't Act Concerned) I still think of that every time I catch something wrong out of the corner of my eye and wish it could be "someone else's" problem. I never saw him follow his RADAC philosophy so I won't either! :coollook:

I remember a nursing school instructor who worked in a hospital where code red was a trauma alert... so the first time she heard "code red ER" called at the clinical site she sent 2 of her senior students to observe. (they had been instructed prior on how to un-obtrusivley observe codes) She later got a mild reprimand for sending two innocent students to a fire!! (false alarm)

code red ...well that's the hubby yellin' that we are outta ketchup! hehe...

~j

rp means republic of the philippines. my other hospital is code 99 for arrest.

Where is rp?
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