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May 6, 2023 · Code blue is a hospital code for a medical emergency that requires resuscitation. Learn what situations trigger a code blue, what happens during a code blue, and other common hospital emergency codes.
- Overview
- Code blue
- Code white
- Code red
- Code purple or pink
- Code gray
- Code green
- Code orange
- Code silver
- Code black
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Each hospital code refers to a specific emergency situation. For example, “code blue” refers to a life threatening medical emergency.
“Code purple” indicates emergencies in children. Other codes refer to fire, the need for decontamination, and more.
Code blue means that there is an urgent medical emergency. This is usually a patient in cardiac or respiratory arrest. Other codes denote other emergencies, such as an active shooter or hazardous waste spill.
Hospital codes are a quick way to tell hospital workers who needs to attend to an emergency situation, what they need to bring, and what they should expect.
Hospital staff should consult their manual for details about their hospital’s codes, since practices can vary from facility to facility.
In this article, learn all about the meanings of different hospital codes and their benefits.
Code blue means that someone is experiencing a life threatening medical emergency. Usually, this means cardiac arrest (when the heart stops) or respiratory arrest (when breathing stops).
All staff members near the location of the code may need to go to the patient.
In previous years, code white had the same meaning as code blue, but it specifically referred to medical emergencies in children and babies. Some hospitals may still use code white instead of code blue for pediatric medical emergencies.
For example, some hospitals may still use code white to alert staff that a child or baby is in respiratory or cardiac arrest, or to signal that they are experiencing another serious medical emergency.
Treating children sometimes requires smaller or specialized equipment, or even different medical procedures. Having a different code for a pediatric emergency alerts staff to these unique needs.
Other hospitals now use code white to indicate a mandatory evacuation. This could involve the entire hospital, or it may involve just one or two areas of the hospital.
Code red alerts staff to a fire or probable fire. To respond to this code, staff must follow the hospital’s fire protocols, which typically require evacuation.
Patients near the fire who cannot move on their own will need assistance to escape the fire. The code will often come with information about the fire’s location.
Code purple alerts hospital staff to a missing child or child abduction. Some hospitals use a separate code, code pink, to denote an infant abduction.
The code should also include clear details about the child, what they were wearing, where they were last seen, and, if applicable, clear details of who they were last seen with.
At some hospitals, code gray is a call for security personnel. It might indicate that there is a dangerous person in a public area, that a person is missing, or that there is criminal activity somewhere in the hospital.
A hospital may use code gray if someone, including a patient, is being aggressive, abusive, violent, or displaying threatening behavior.
Security personnel can assist other hospital staff to resolve the situation or remove the person from the premise if necessary.
Code gray may also include a description of the dangerous person and their current location.
Hospitals tend to use code green along with other codes, as it indicates that the hospital is activating an emergency operations plan.
Some hospitals also use a code green to denote a mass casualty event, such as groups of survivors of a mass shooting arriving at the hospital for treatment.
Code orange is a call for medical decontamination, usually due to a hazardous fluids spill. For example, a hospital may call a code orange if toxic chemicals spill in an emergency room, or if a bag of patient blood spills on the floor.
However, some hospitals use code orange to call for help with a violent or combative patient.
Code silver alerts hospital staff to an active shooter in the hospital. The code alert will likely include information about the appearance and current location of the shooter.
Hospital personnel should follow the hospital’s active shooter protocols, which may include locking doors or evacuating to a specific location.
Some hospitals use code silver and code gray interchangeably. However, the Joint Commission — whose recommendations the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security support — updated its standards in 2010 to recommend the use of code silver as a distinct code from code gray.
However, in 2014, the Recommendations for Hospital Overhead Emergency Codes — by the Florida Hospital Association — advised using plain language instead of a code for an active shooter situation and using code gray specifically to announce the need for security personnel.
Code black indicates a bomb threat. The code tends to include relevant information, such as the specific location of the threat.
If there is a person in the hospital threatening to bomb the building, the code may also include a description of the person.
More specific threats are more credible. So, people who receive bomb threats over the phone should remain calm and gather as much information regarding the purported bomber as possible.
Each hospital will have an evacuation protocol in the event of a bomb threat.
Code blue is a code for a life threatening medical emergency, such as cardiac or respiratory arrest. Learn about the meanings and examples of other hospital codes, such as code white, code red, code silver, and code black.
Apr 14, 2023 · Code blue means a medical emergency, such as cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest, within the hospital. Learn about other hospital codes, such as code red for fire and code black for bomb threat, and why some hospitals are switching to plain-language alerts.
Jul 25, 2022 · A code blue is a hospital code that indicates an adult is having a cardiac or respiratory arrest. Learn what happens during a code blue, how to use CPR, intubation, defibrillator and medications, and other emergency codes.
In many American, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian hospitals, for example "code blue" indicates a patient has entered cardiac arrest, while "code red" indicates that a fire has broken out somewhere in the hospital facility.
Code blue refers to an emergency situation in a hospital in which a patient is in cardiac or respiratory arrest. When code blue is activated, a team of healthcare professionals comprising doctors and nurses (known as the code blue team) will be responsible to render immediate care to the patient.
Sep 27, 2022 · Code blue is a hospital emergency code that indicates a patient is in cardiac or respiratory arrest and should not be moved. Learn the meaning, purpose, and protocol of code blue and other hospital codes in Australia.
