Just Heard

[sonrisa]

Oct 18, 2013 10:57:09 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

I'm finding it hard to believe that "code blue" was not originally intended to be a code in the general sense of the term. I am going to need some SOURCES.

It may very well have been. I'm just saying that the era when yelling "code ____" would help maintain a calm and uninformed waiting room has long past. It hasn't been secretive for years. Most of the people know something is wrong, even if they can't decipher the specific color.

When naming a new stroke code they went for obvious to avoid confusion among staff rather than choosing an obscure color and compromising patient care. While blue is standard, the less common colors are not standardized across hospitals so there can be real confusion. For example, the "we need security and psychiatry" code colors differ at the hospitals where DH has worked and it ends up  confusing for staff. However, like child abduction, it's one of those codes where secrecy from the target matters so they can't just yell "Code Crazy Combative Person!"

[sonrisa]

Oct 18, 2013 11:04:40 GMT -5 @scottydeux said:

 some people don't exist day-to-day in the hospital world?  

Some people rarely set foot in a hospital, or when they do, it's sometimes for very frightening/daunting procedures, and are on high-alert. kwim?  

Sure, but unfortunately a large percentage of people in the hospital are not unfamiliar with hospital setting because they or a loved one is frequently ill, or has a chronic condition, or has some other medical problem that needs a lot of care. Making the few people who never visit hospitals a little calmer is a nice goal but not nearly as important as having effective and efficient care in an emergent situation. And that is what codes are for - to have an effective and efficient team ready to respond to an emergency situation and having a way to call them up that the rest of the staff can remember easily and call out when the need arises. As PP mentioned, obscure colors means everyone has to stop and look it up. That compromises patient health and hospital safety. 

[ginap]

Oct 18, 2013 11:11:44 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Oh wait, I lied, they call it to a specific place. So, if grandma is on the second floor and they call it on the fourth, you know she's ok.

Also they scream code whatever 3rd floor loudly and repeatedly until everyone is there.

Ok Code I'm done for real.

Yes.  When I was in labor and C went into distress and they had to whisk me to the OR I heard code pink, 3rd floor as I was being raced through the hallway.  My parents were in the waiting room and heard it but had no clue what it meant so there was no panic.
Also, I was at the hospital getting blood work done yesterday and heard a code white, labor and delivery which made me very sad as I think a code white is child needing immediate resuscitation.  

[eddy]

Code Bored

[sonrisa]

Oct 18, 2013 11:15:20 GMT -5 @scottydeux said:

Oct 18, 2013 11:14:08 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Sure, but unfortunately a large percentage of people in the hospital are not unfamiliar with hospital setting because they or a loved one is frequently ill, or has a chronic condition, or has some other medical problem that needs a lot of care. Making the few people who never visit hospitals a little calmer is a nice goal but not nearly as important as having effective and efficient care in an emergent situation. And that is what codes are for - to have an effective and efficient team ready to respond to an emergency situation and having a way to call them up that the rest of the staff can remember easily and call out when the need arises. As PP mentioned, obscure colors means everyone has to stop and look it up. That compromises patient health and hospital safety. 

Seriously, people aren't going to be able to remember that, but they can remember the entire anatomy/physiology (or most of it) of a person.  Come on, now.

1) Codes aren't just for the doctors. Staff of all sorts need to know about codes. See my combative person example. Security are the main people alerted by that code.

2) As I mentioned, the code colors differ between hospitals. Doctors and nurses often will work at a variety of hospitals (either as locum tenens or because they moonlight, or other reasons). Anatomy doesn't vary. In an emergency situation, you don't want people standing around saying "today is wednesday so grey means what again?" You want emergency procedures to be second nature. 

3) Again, your comfort as a visitor is not the hospital's first priority. It is a nice thing to have on the list, but not central. Caring for the person in the emergent situation is. If you are the one with the emergency, you want everyone to be on their best game. The same should be true for the person in the next room over. 

[Deleted]

Oct 18, 2013 11:17:43 GMT -5 kevin arnold said:

Oct 18, 2013 11:11:55 GMT -5 ste said:

The codes aren't for you. They're for the people who can actually DO something about them.

And I imagine in these kinds of situations when it's imperative to mobilize a special team immediately, their primary concern is not tiptoeing around it so as not to incite worry among hospital visitors.

Exactly... patient care trumps the feelings of the hospital visitors.

[MWOS]

It seems important to tell you that a fire here is code Greenleaf. What the actual fuck. Also there was a code stroke 5 minutes ago. I'm a code purple penguin right now.

Sent from outerspace

[sparkythelawyer]

Oct 18, 2013 10:00:33 GMT -5 @sloanpeterson said:

When I worked at a hospital we had several diff codes. Code Pink was a baby was missing, code yellow meant someone was misbaving, and plain old code meant get your asses here quick we are losing this person

At the hospital my ex bf worked for, the misbehaviour code was "Mr. Speed." Always made me chuckle.

[dirtyred]

Oct 18, 2013 9:42:30 GMT -5 Captain Serious said:

I get all this, but I thought the whole point of the code system was to alert the appopriate people without broadcasting to the entire hospital that someone in a particular area is having a specific medical emergency.

rWell, if they announce "code anything," people are going to figure out that there's a problem. My current place of employment uses colors (code green, code yellow, etc) which is a pain because no onecan remember what all the colors stamd for. I like "code stroke" as it's pretty clear what's happening and who needs to respond.

[sparkythelawyer]

Oct 18, 2013 11:11:55 GMT -5 ste said:

People. If your loved one is in the hospital and you hear "code ANYTHING" on their floor, you're going to panic. Let's be real.

The codes aren't for you. They're for the people who can actually DO something about them.

Truth.  They had to call a code blue for the husband during his hospital stay because his misbehaving and still pretty sedated ass extubated himself and they needed to get that shit re-inserted P-D- Freakin-Q.  I got why they were doing it, but it still freaks you out when they announce "Code Blue" and your loved ones room.  And then I had to basically hip check his mother and throw her into the hallway because she was losing her shit.  

But I agree.  The code was not for me.  They were for the doctors that literally hurtled Dukes-of-Hazard style over the nurses station desk to get the situation taken care of.  My needs as a family member were a very distant second place.