Code Blue

If you have not yet had ACLS then your participation in this mock code should be limited to compressions and bagging. Observe and soak up all you can, ask questions later.

Agree with all of the above. Compressions, bag, hand over drugs. Stay calm, watch what goes on. You should not be expected to do any more than this. If you are the first person on the scene, after the code is called, pull the bed away from the wall and remove the headboard so anesthesia has a place to stand while tubing the pt. Make sure suction is avail abe and works. Make sure there is oxygen available and that someone has brought the crash cart.

In addition to all the great advice you have gotten...do not forget someone needs to record..write down everything that happens when it is happening. Otherwise watch and learn..there is so much going on..but you sill see (hopefully) carefully orchestrated chaos.

Mock code, enjoy and have fun; get them to let you try to intubate the dummy, practice with the defib, listen to the more experienced folks talk about their experiences (what works/doesn't). Get hands on with all the equipment you can, and look in every nook and crany of the code cart so if it's real and someone yells for epi, you're not turning the cart upside down.

My first real code, all I did was get the tray table and extra chair out into the hall way to make way for the code cart (others were bagging/compressing); other than that, I watched. Be prepared, a real code blue is nothing like you see on tv, even on Trauma:life in the ER. It seems like half the hospital shows up and tries to pack into the room. I've seen teeth go flying, ribs get cracked, and you hear that, it's a very violent thing to try to save a life. Main thing to remember is, you can't make them any deader than dead, which they already are if it's a cardiac code. I hate respiratory codes, because they are sometimes still looking at you.

What am I supposed to do? )

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