Hospital Emergency Codes

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Hospital Emergency Codes are used in Anglo-American language hospitals to alert staff to various emergency situations over loudspeakers. The function of the codes is to provide unambiguous and quick information to the staff in order to avoid panic for patients and visitors. The code list can be available in the form of notices or printed on personal cards. Most codes are identified by different, non-standard colors.

In Germany medical emergencies (be resuscitation , Notsectio , multiple trauma ) usually by special signals of the paging system passed on to the appropriate personnel.

Standardization of the codes

Australia

Australian standard 4083 has been in use in Australian hospitals and some other public buildings since 1997 and the changeover has not yet been completed.

United States

In 2000, the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) determined the need for a unified code system. The reason was the death of three people in a shooting after the wrong code was called. While the fire (red) and medical emergency (blue) codes were the same in approximately 90% of California's hospitals, there were 47 different codes for child abduction and 61 for aggressive person. As a result, the HASC published a handbook, Healthcare Facility Emergency Codes: A Guide for Code Standardization , in which uniform codes were established, and institutions were asked to adopt the standard voluntarily.

Color codes

The following explanations of the codes are limited to the most common equivalents; there may be deviations in some hospitals.

  • Code Amber (Orange): Child abduction
  • Code Black :
    • In most US military hospitals and some civil institutions: mass casualty casualty (e.g. following a train wreck) or public health hazard. All doctors are encouraged to come to the facility.
    • In Australia, Code Black represents a threat to personnel, for example from an attack, a rampage, hostage-taking and the like.
    • Evacuation due to an explosives accident
  • Code Blue :
    • A patient needs immediate resuscitation (heart alarm).
    • Code Blue stands for a tornado warning in corresponding risk areas.
  • Code Brown :
    • Australia: External Emergency
    • Missing person, gas / chemical emergency or weather warning (depending on the facility)
  • Code Gray / Gray :
    • HASC: Aggressive, unarmed person
    • Code Gray calls for a stroke team at many facilities.
  • Code Green :
    • In some US clinics: An aggressive person is in the hospital and threatens patients and employees with weapons.
    • Internal accident, all-clear or fire alarm
  • Code Pink :
    • Child abduction
    • Biological contamination of a patient or employee
  • Code Purple :
    • The emergency room is full, incoming patients have to be diverted to other houses.
    • Australia: bomb alert
    • Psychiatric emergency
  • Code Red : Australia, HASC: Fire alarm
  • Code Silver : HASC: Aggressive person with a deadly weapon is in the house
  • Code Yellow :
    • Patient is missing
    • Australia: internal accident
    • biological or chemical weapons
  • Code White :
    • Weather alert, natural disaster in the area
    • Power or medium failure (oxygen, etc.)

Other codes

  • Code Adam : One person is missing. (Named after Adam Walsh, a kidnapped child)
  • Code Elope : A patient leaves the hospital without permission and endangers himself or other people.
  • Code Zebra : Bioterrorism Alert

"Doctor Codes"

Doctor codes are called out via the normal loudspeaker system, while the color codes are usually transmitted via pagers or beepers. It makes sense to avoid the panic that would arise if, for example, one openly shouted “fire alarm”. In this way, the personnel trained in this regard can initiate a quiet evacuation.

  • Dr. Allcome : Serious emergency: all available personnel are needed in the called department
  • Dr. Firestone / Dr. Pyro : fire alarm
  • Dr. Strong : Medical emergency: all personnel should be ready to intervene immediately.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ AS 4083-1997 Planning for emergencies health care facilities. (PDF; 146 kB)
  2. ↑ LISTSERV 15.5 - MEDLIB-L Archives.
  3. ↑ California Healthcare Association News Briefs July 12, 2002 Vol. 35 No. 27 ( Memento of the original from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hasc.org
  4. ↑ galenicom.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Truesdell A. Meeting hospital needs for standardized emergency codes - the HASC response. J Healthc Prot Manage 2005; 21 (1): 77-89@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.galenicom.com