Have you ever sat in the hospital and heard the different codes going over the loudspeaker and wondered what the heck they are talking about. Last week I was sitting in the ER and heard those codes going over the speaker. I knew what most of them were having previously worked in a hospital but I wondered how many people are familiar with those codes. The first thing to learn about hospital codes they are not universal however I have picked the ones that are more common. Also, there is a secret that hospitals use to communicate situations that you might not realize. They frequently will page a doctor such as Dr. Stork if an OBGYN is being paged. However, those Dr. codes are generally hospital-specific. Colors are the only codes that seem to be more consistent. So here is my summary of those codes:
| Color | Description |
|---|---|
| Red | Fire |
| Blue | Medical Emergency, Usually cardiac arrest |
| Green | Hospital Evacuation |
| Pink | Infant/Child Medical Emergency, Usually cardiac arrest |
| Orange | Significant public emergency in the area putting hosipal on alert |
| Yellow | Missing Patient |
| Amber | Missing Child/Child Abduction |
| White | Agressive patient, Mental Health Issue |
| Black | Bomb Threat |
| Grey | Infrastructure Failure |
| Purple | Hostage Taking |
| Brown | Chemical Spill |
| Silver | Active Threat like a shooter etc. This is a newer code |
Please note I am not a doctor. I am only someone who has some education in this area, I have a serious obsession with understanding all things science including biological, and medical. My thoughts and insights should never be used over that of a medical doctor. And for gosh sakes if you have to ask should if you should see a doctor…go see one!
