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    Standardized Hospital Colour Codes

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    Richard Deo R. Alave
    The document outlines a policy directive from the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services to standardize the use of hospital colour codes across the province. It establishes 11 standard colour codes (e.g. Code Red for fire, Code Blue for cardiac arrest) to indicate different emergency situations. The codes allow for a concise and consistent means of communication among hospital staff and response during crises while avoiding panic from patients. Health authorities must implement the standardized codes by March 2012 and submit any requests for new codes to the provincial Health Emergency Management Council.

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    Standardized Hospital Colour Codes

    Uploaded by

    Richard Deo R. Alave
    156 views5 pages
    The document outlines a policy directive from the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services to standardize the use of hospital colour codes across the province. It establishes 11 standard colour codes (e.g. Code Red for fire, Code Blue for cardiac arrest) to indicate different emergency situations. The codes allow for a concise and consistent means of communication among hospital staff and response during crises while avoiding panic from patients. Health authorities must implement the standardized codes by March 2012 and submit any requests for new codes to the provincial Health Emergency Management Council.

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    The document outlines a policy directive from the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services to standardize the use of hospital colour codes across the province. It establishes 11 standard colour codes (e.g. Code Red for fire, Code Blue for cardiac arrest) to indicate different emergency situations. The codes allow for a concise and consistent means of communication among hospital staff and response during crises while avoiding panic from patients. Health authorities must implement the standardized codes by March 2012 and submit any requests for new codes to the provincial Health Emergency Management Council.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    156 views5 pages

    Standardized Hospital Colour Codes

    Uploaded by

    Richard Deo R. Alave
    The document outlines a policy directive from the British Columbia Ministry of Health Services to standardize the use of hospital colour codes across the province. It establishes 11 standard colour codes (e.g. Code Red for fire, Code Blue for cardiac arrest) to indicate different emergency situations. The codes allow for a concise and consistent means of communication among hospital staff and response during crises while avoiding panic from patients. Health authorities must implement the standardized codes by March 2012 and submit any requests for new codes to the provincial Health Emergency Management Council.

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    Ministry of Health Services Policy Directive

    Title Standardized Hospital Colour Codes


    Division Chief Operating Officer
    Branch Emergency Management Unit
    Effective Date February 1st, 2011
    Last Review Date N/A
    Next Review Date April 1st, 2012
    Program Contact John Lavery, Executive Director, Emergency Management Unit

    Rationale
    Hospital Colour Codes are used in hospitals worldwide to denote to staff various kinds of
    emergency situations. The use of codes is intended to convey essential information quickly and
    with a minimum of misunderstanding to appropriate staff, while minimizing stress and
    preventing panic among patients and visitors to the hospital. They enable a concise means of
    ensuring staff receive a common message, signaling the need for an urgent response without
    unnecessarily alerting or alarming patients, residents, or visitors.

    A number of jurisdictions have moved towards standardization of codes. The need for codes to
    be uniform is underscored by the mobility of the health care workforce. Staff who are reassigned
    to a new facility or site or who must practice in more than one facility need to be immediately
    familiar with a code identifying the nature of a given crisis and their expected response.

    A subcommittee of the BC Health Emergency Management Council, with representatives from


    Health Authorities and the Ministry of Health Services, was formed in 2009 to standardize the
    use of hospital colour codes in British Columbia.

    Policy Statement(s)
    To ensure the standard use of hospital colour codes in British Columbia, Hospitals will use the
    following codes, where applicable:
    • Code Red: Fire
    • Code Blue: Cardiac Arrest
    • Code Orange: Disaster or Mass Casualties
    • Code Green: Evacuation
    • Code Yellow: Missing Patient
    • Code Amber: Missing or Abducted Infant or Child
    • Code Black: Bomb Threat
    • Code White: Aggression
    • Code Brown: Hazardous Spill
    • Code Grey: System Failure
    • Code Pink: Pediatric Emergency and/or Obstetrical Emergency

    Scope
    This policy applies to all inpatient facilities, clinics attached to acute care hospitals, and should
    be considered for administrative and corporate support staff that work or spend significant time
    in acute care settings, operated by the Health Authorities in British Columbia.

    The following provisions also apply to the use of hospital colour codes in British Columbia:
    1
    • Hospitals are not required to use all of the standard colour codes. For example, hospitals
    without a pediatric program are not required to use Code Amber.
    • The standardized Emergency codes relate to the type of emergency, but can be suffixed
    where necessary with such terms as “alert”, “Code Green Stat”; “Code Orange CBRNE”;
    “Code Blue Medical Emergency”.
    • Code Grey: System Failure should always include a suffix to describe the impacted
    system. E.g. “Code Grey – Elevators”; “Code Grey – Paging”; “Code Grey – Air
    Exclusion”, etc.
    • Code Pink can be used for Pediatric Emergencies and/or Obstetrical Emergencies. A
    suffix should be used when calling this code (e.g. “Code Pink - Peds” or “Code Pink -
    OB”)
    • Individual departmental emergency procedures do not warrant a colour code.
    • Lockdown of a facility is a procedure and should not be called a code.
    • Code Orange should be used for mass casualties or disasters only and not for
    overcapacity or gridlock in an Emergency Department.
    • Colour codes other than those specified in this policy statement should not be used.

    Emergency Management is identified as the custodian of the codes, but is not the owner. Code
    Blue for example is a clinical response, Code Yellow, security. It is recommended that
    individual code procedures be developed and reviewed by those who have response roles on a
    yearly base. It is further recommended that code procedures be developed by committees
    comprised of those who hold the response responsibilities.

    Legal Framework
    Community Care and Assisted Living Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/default.html
    Emergency Program Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/default.html
    Emergency Program Management Regulation: http://www.bclaws.ca/default.html
    Health Authorities Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/default.html
    Hospital Act: http://www.bclaws.ca/default.html
    Accreditation Canada, Effective Organizations

    Accountability
    The health system as a whole is ultimately accountable to citizens for ensuring that it is capable
    of planning for, responding to and recovering from the impacts of emergencies. The BC Health
    Emergency Management Council (HEMC) provides emergency management oversight and
    leadership across the provincial health system. The purpose of the council is to provide
    recommendations and identify short and long-term actions and goals with the accountability
    required to achieve best practices of a comprehensive, integrated and coordinated health
    emergency management program.

    Hospital or Health Authority requests for new hospital colour codes must be submitted to HEMC
    for approval.

    Implementation
    By March 31, 2012, all Health Authorities will have implemented the ‘Standardized Hospital
    Colour Codes’ Policy Directive for colour codes applicable to each specific jurisdiction. HEMC
    members will provide a report to the Executive Director, Emergency Management Unit
    confirming implementation across their jurisdiction.
    2
    Appendix 1

    British Columbia Hospitals
     Emergency Colour Codes 
    Code  Purpose

    Code Red Fire

    Code Blue Cardiac Arrest

    Code Orange Disaster or Mass Casualties

    Code Green Evacuation

    Code Yellow Missing Patient

    Code Amber Missing or Abducted Infant or Child

    Code Black Bomb Threat

    Code White Aggression

    Code Brown Hazardous Spill

    Code Grey System Failure

    Code Pink Pediatric Emergency and/or Obstetrical Emergency

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