"Code Black" or "Code Blue" - What's this all about?
I have to admit, I have never seen the popular TV series "Grey's Anatomy." After I started medical school years ago, I lost all enthusiasm for watching medical dramas. Just imagine - you come home after a tiring day at work, and then settle down to watch people in your workplace doing your job, all the while mispronouncing terms and having myriad personal crises. Medical dramas just don't make great escapist cinema for health care workers.
So I had no idea what a colleague from our Executive Office meant when she asked me earlier today about the meaning of "Code Black." She said lots of people wanted to know, since "Grey's Anatomy" has an upcoming episode with the same title.
I told her that I honestly don't know what the "Code Black" on TV is going to be. I do know that doctors often use the term "Code" as slang for a cardiopulmonary arrest happening to a patient in a hospital or clinic, requiring a team of providers (sometimes called a "code team") to rush to the specific location and begin immediate resuscitative efforts.
Every hospital or clinic has its own system for disseminating information about emergencies, and lots of them seem to use the term "Code" plus a color or number to signify exactly what kind of emergency is occurring. I know "Code Red" and "Code Blue" are both terms that are sometimes used to refer to a cardiopulmonary arrest, but other types of emergencies (for example bomb threats, terrorist activity, child abductions, or mass casualties) may be given "Code" designations too.
Some hospitals (and all the ones on TV, I'm guessing) still announce "Code" emergencies over a public address system, but others simply notify the necessary personnel by means of pagers. One of my favorite medical bloggers, Gruntdoc, shared some observations in his blog last fall on the necessity - or not - of making overhead announcements of "Codes" in hospitals.
From a patient perspective, it can be frightening to hear a "Code" call on the loudspeaker. The first hospital where I worked (in my home town, as a candystriper, eons ago) had a system to inform doctors and staff about emergencies while preventing fear among visitors and families of patients. They simply paged a previously agreed-upon name of a nonexistent doctor at that institution to the location of the emergency; for example "Dr. Stevens to Room 312" meant "cardiopulmonary arrest in room 312" since all the docs knew there was no Dr. Stevens there and that this was an agreed-upon signal. This was obviously a small hospital where everyone knew each other, and this likely couldn't work in most hospitals nowadays.
But to all the fans of "Grey's Anatomy," I'm sorry to disappoint you. You'll have to see the upcoming episode to find out what they mean by "Code Black."
Related Topics: Everyone Loves Crime -- On TV, Quality vs. Quantity: TV Guidelines for Kids
Technorati Tags: greysanatomy, TV, codeblack
So I had no idea what a colleague from our Executive Office meant when she asked me earlier today about the meaning of "Code Black." She said lots of people wanted to know, since "Grey's Anatomy" has an upcoming episode with the same title.
I told her that I honestly don't know what the "Code Black" on TV is going to be. I do know that doctors often use the term "Code" as slang for a cardiopulmonary arrest happening to a patient in a hospital or clinic, requiring a team of providers (sometimes called a "code team") to rush to the specific location and begin immediate resuscitative efforts.
Every hospital or clinic has its own system for disseminating information about emergencies, and lots of them seem to use the term "Code" plus a color or number to signify exactly what kind of emergency is occurring. I know "Code Red" and "Code Blue" are both terms that are sometimes used to refer to a cardiopulmonary arrest, but other types of emergencies (for example bomb threats, terrorist activity, child abductions, or mass casualties) may be given "Code" designations too.
Some hospitals (and all the ones on TV, I'm guessing) still announce "Code" emergencies over a public address system, but others simply notify the necessary personnel by means of pagers. One of my favorite medical bloggers, Gruntdoc, shared some observations in his blog last fall on the necessity - or not - of making overhead announcements of "Codes" in hospitals.
From a patient perspective, it can be frightening to hear a "Code" call on the loudspeaker. The first hospital where I worked (in my home town, as a candystriper, eons ago) had a system to inform doctors and staff about emergencies while preventing fear among visitors and families of patients. They simply paged a previously agreed-upon name of a nonexistent doctor at that institution to the location of the emergency; for example "Dr. Stevens to Room 312" meant "cardiopulmonary arrest in room 312" since all the docs knew there was no Dr. Stevens there and that this was an agreed-upon signal. This was obviously a small hospital where everyone knew each other, and this likely couldn't work in most hospitals nowadays.
But to all the fans of "Grey's Anatomy," I'm sorry to disappoint you. You'll have to see the upcoming episode to find out what they mean by "Code Black."
Related Topics: Everyone Loves Crime -- On TV, Quality vs. Quantity: TV Guidelines for Kids
Technorati Tags: greysanatomy, TV, codeblack
8 Comments:
HOSPITAL CODES:
CODE BLUE
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
CODE YELLOW
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS INCIDENT
CODE RED
FIRE
CODE ORANGE
BOMB THREAT
CODE PINK
INFANT / CHILD ABDUCTION
CODE SILVER
HOSTAGE SITUATION
CODE BLACK
VIOLENCE
It's alwayts interesting to see examples of the system. At our hospital, Code Orange is used for a hostage situation, and some of the others are different too. And Code Black has sometimes been used to refer to computer/electronic malfunctions.
Good Inside! I dont know such system exist in hospital!!
AT OUR HOSPITAL WE ALSO DO NOT HAVE A CODE BLACK. WE DO USE CODEES BLUE (CARDIAC) RED (FIRE) WHITE(BOMB) SEEMS AS THOUGH ALL HOSPITALS ARE DIFFERENT
I guess we're old-fashioned: Announcements come over PA. Code black is our bomb threat.
Our small town hospital has a list of codes posted by the Nurses' Station for everyone to see, and 'CODE BLACK' is a terrorist or bomb threat. It's apalling that medical professionals don't even have a clue as to the guidelines and procedures of their own hospital. If they take ten minutes to take a look at the emergency procedures guide that is present at the Nurses' Station or the front desk, they don't have to wander around the hospital asking others "what's that code mean?" WHEN IN DOUBT, LOOK IT UP!
At my hospital, these are our codes:
CODE RED=FIRE
CODE BLUE=CARDIOPULMONARY ARREST
CODE PINK=INFANT ABDUCTION
CODE PURPLE=CHILD ABDUCTION
CODE ORANGE=PSYCHIATRIC ESCAPE
CODE SILVER=COMBATIVE PERSON ARMED WITH WEAPON
CODE GREEN=COMBATIVE UNARMED PERSON
CODE BLACK=BOMB, TERRORIST THREAT
CODE YELLOW=HOSTAGE SITUATION
CODE GREY=HAZMAT SPILL IE. SHARPS, RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
CODE MEDAIR=OXYGEN, MEDICAL AIR, AND/OR SUCTION SYSTEMS FAILURE
CODE GENERATOR=POWER FAILURE
CODE SYSTEM=COMPUTER SYSTEMS FAILURE
CODE OMEGA + DEPARTMENT =EVACUATE SPECIFIED DEPARTMENT
CODE ALPHA=FULL-SCALE EVACUATION
CODE DELTA=FULL LOCKDOWN
CODE GAMMA=TOTAL FAILURE OF ALL SYSTEMS
CODE BETA=ALL AVAILABLE MEDICAL PERSONNEL TO ER FOR MULTIPLE TRAUMAS EN ROUTE
TRIAGE 1=INTERNAL DISASTER
TRIAGE 2=EXTERNAL DISASTER
this is socal RN again. I forgot to add one more important detail: You might be wondering why we have so many codes at my hospital. Well, we have a secured Psych Dept., Peds, Er ICU, CCU, Burn unit, and many more, totaling out to 10 floors and 3 admin buildings, so we have alot of things that happen on a daily basis. I just thought you may want to know.
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