What is a "Code Black"?

[sugabuga]

On the previews for next week's Grey's Anatomy they were talking about having a "Code Black". What is this?

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Love the show - and I love George! You just want to put him in your pocket and take him home....

"Nope, no way - my father's a truck driver, my mother's a teacher, if I cross that picket line and they find out, I'm dead." - George to Izzy as they look on while Yang dares to cross the nursing picket line

[rogramjet]

No such animal in my hospital.

RED = FIRE

PINK = CHILD ABDUCTION

GREEN = NATURAL DISASTER

WHITE = VIOLENCE

Then there is the housekeeping code Brown....'nuff said...

[cristina2581]

I was really shocked when Izzy dropped her own bomb about her 11 year old daughter she gave up for adoption.

[BabyRN2Be]

Since I'm located somewhere near "Tornado Alley", the hospitals around here use the Code Black as a warning that the hospital is in the direct path of an oncoming tornado and/or very severe weather.

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

Love the show - and I love George! You just want to put him in your pocket and take him home....

"Nope, no way - my father's a truck driver, my mother's a teacher, if I cross that picket line and they find out, I'm dead." - George to Izzy as they look on while Yang dares to cross the nursing picket line

I love George, and last night he was perfect. I loved every minute he was onscreen. And I'm so glad the girls know how wonderful he is - the way they both crawled into bed with him, because he makes them feel good just by being next to them. I just wish one of them - preferably Izzy - would give him a chance!!! I George!

I was really shocked when Izzy dropped her own bomb about her 11 year old daughter she gave up for adoption.

Me too! I thought maybe she was going to say she was pregnant because she kept getting this dreamy look on her face whenever she was around the pregnant girl. I was shocked!!!!!!!!!!!

******************************

I liked how the nurses in the picket line were so worried about their patients - you could tell it was hurting them to picket because they really wanted to get back in there and care for those people. It really showed how vital they are to the care of the patients - that they're not just some robots (surgery robot, anyone?) who mindlessly do their jobs. I just felt they did a decent job (given the time they had onscreen) of showing what nursing is all about.

And another little thing - in the preview for next week, I liked how Burke told the resident to go tell the "charge nurse" that they had a code black. I thought it was a little nod to nursing, and how the charge nurse of any unit is a huge part of the healthcare team.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Point being. . . .

Every hospital determines their own "color" codes. Ironically enough I worked at two different hospitals that had some of the same colors that meant very different things. One place "code pink" was a fire; across town it was infant abduction.

Recently my hospital adopted a whole bunch of new codes, I think we're up to about 15 now. That's when I gave up learning all but the basics (fire, cardiac arrest, etc. . .). I have them on a card somewhere and 15 codes is ridiculous. I get my little card out once a year for competency testing (not against the rules). Besides the fact that when the gave us all those new codes some of the older color codes were reassigned. Too confusing!

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

It means bomb here.

[sugabuga]

George is my FAVORITE!! I really wish he and Izzy would get together.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

With all the aganecy and travellers and turnover, you'd think it would be beneficial to have some standard. But on the other hand perhaps that would open it up to trolls and visitors just wanting to see what would happen if they sounded one.

The Healthcare Association of Southern California, has developed a

guidebook, "Healthcare Facility Emergency Codes: A Guide for Code

Standardization.

Jesse Medical Library & Information Center

P.O. Box 2000

Loma Linda, CA 92354

Here are the 11 codes advocated by HASC:

Code Red Fire

Code Blue Medical Emergency, Adult

Code White Medical Emergency, Pediatric

Code Pink Infant abduction

Code Purple Child abduction

Code Yellow Bomb Threat

Code Gray Combative Person

Code Silver Person with a weapon and/or Hostage situation

Code Orange Hazardous material spill/release

Code Triage Internal Internal Disaster

Code Triage External External Disaster

System Failure Basic Staff Response

(Code NBC) Nuclear, biological and chemical disasters

Code Zero Cardiopulmonary emergency

Code Zero Evacuation

Code 5 Security Emergency

Code 10 Bomb Threat

Code 55 Violent Person

Code 99 Medical Emergency;

Code 18 medical code for life-threatening situations

Code 199 Medical, Respiratory, or Cardiac Emergency

Code Adam Infant/Child Abduction

Code Adam Kidnapping ("Adult" or "Child")

Code CD Civil Disturbance

Code Delta Internal and/or External Disaster

Code Delta disasters, such as earthquakes or other large scale

situations which may impact the hospital

Code Echo Evacuation

Dr. Lindbergh infant abduction

Code Medical Emergency

PMH PMH Medical Emergency

Code Preemie Newborn Cardiac/Respiratory Arrest

Code Rainbow hostage situation

Code Strong for Threatening Behavior

Code Strong for a situation where Security needs to come immediately,

such as an abusive or threatening patient/family member

Dr. Heart Medical Emergency

Mr. Strong is used to call for security

Mr. Strong security assistance (combative patient or visitor or crime

in progress)

Code Teddy Bear possible abduction

Code Trauma Trauma in ED (Expecting a helicopter/ambulance - all hands

on deck)

Code Triage (1-4) Disaster Alert

Level 1 - ECC open, evaluate response/resources

Level 2 - Labor pool open. more support needed

Level 3 - Fully involved incident

Level 4 - Resources overwhelmed

Code Triage Mass Casualty

Code Triage Activation of HEICS

Weather Alert Severe weather condition

Signal Armstrong out-of-control visitor or guest

signal D external disaster with levels indicating how many casualties

to expect

Signal F fire

Signal Infant abduction of a baby

Signal minor minor disaster with acute need for inter-department

assistance

Signal Peds abduction of a child

signal T multiple trauma arriving.

Signal T Watch or Warning tornados

Signal Urgent disasters - train wrecks, major type stuff

Code Black - bomb threat/search (3)

Code Black: Violence

Code Black: disaster response (internal or external)

Doctor Black Special Threat, Hostage

Code Black - Armed or Hostages

Code Black Evacuation

Code Blue Bomb Threat

Code Blue - medical emergency (2)

Code Blue patient in arrest (5)

Code blue cardiac arrest (3)

Code Blue Medical Emergency (Adult)

Code Blue cardiac/respiratory arrest (3)

Code Blue resuscitation team

Code Blue - Cardiac Arrest/Medical emergency,

Code Brown - chemical spills

Code Brown - Hazardous Spill

Code Gray tornado, bad weather

Code Gray: Behavioral Emergency

gray hostage situation

Code Gray: tornado in vicinity

Code Gray severe weather alert

Code Gray Ethylene Oxide Leak

Code Gray - Secruity Stat

Code Gray - Abusive/Assaultive Behavior

Code Gray, Level 10 w/ a Weapon

code gray for missing patient

Cold Grey Bomb threat

Code Grey - Internal Disaster

Code Green Stat-- Vertical Evacuation

Code Green, total Evac. Total Evacuation (2)

Code Green: Violent person (2)

Code Green - evacuation - beyond fire barrier doors

Code Green - stat - complete evacuation by floor

Code Green security situation

Code Green: Critical Utility Failure (2)

Code Green bomb threat (2)

Code Green: fire drill

code green oxygen loss,

Code Green - Horizontal Evacuation

Code Orange disaster - external (2)

Code Orange smoke detector disabled

Code Orange ETO Gas Leak

Code Orange: Bomb Threat/Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Threat/Suspect

Items

Code Orange disaster alert (2)

Code Orange: workplace violence/civil disturbance (pending)

Code Orange automatic fire alarm system is being disabled in a certain

section

Code Orange Chemical Spill (3)

Code Orange Hazmat Incident (2)

Code Pink Infant/Pediatric Abduction (3)

Code Pink: Child Abduction/Missing Patient

Code Pink infant abduction (11)

Code Pink Medical Emergency (Infant)

Pink Neonatal resuscitation

Code Pink TWH Pediatric Cardiac Arrest

Code Pink TGH Neonate Cardiac Arrest

Code Purple hostage taking

Code Purple Child Abduction (over 1 yr. old)

Code Red Fire (18)

Code Red Fire/Explosion/Visible Smoke/Hazardous material (leak or spill)

Code Red Mass casualty

Code White Near code event with a physician present

Code White violent patient

Code White Severe Weather (2)

Code white disaster

Code White Bomb Threat (2)

Code White Violent Person

Code Yellow Hazardous Material Spill (2)

Code Yellow missing patient (2)

Code Yellow Mass Casualty Incident

Code Yellow disaster code (2)

Code Yellow Radioactive Materials Spill

Code Yellow Bomb Threat (2)

Code Yellow Emergency department overflow

[Eric01]

At the facility where I work now, "Code Black" also means bomb threat.

At the facility where I did my schooling, "Code Black" meant 'there is a situation that staff needs to know about; the emergency briefing will be (Dept A, via email, etc)'. Most often, it meant that the ER was overcrowded with patients awaiting an inpatient bed, in which case each nursing unit was to send a staff member to ER to get a patient. Admin figured the patients could just as easily wait in the hallway of a nursing unit as in ER. In fact, the last couple months that I was there, there was a "Code Black" virtually every day, and on the couple days that there was not one actually called, it was threatened.

[Lorie P.]

at my work place "code black" bomb threat!!

[Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN]

Code Black here is tornado "seen" and headed this way. Code Gray is tornado warning