Emergency Codes

The CHA Hospital Preparedness Program is conducting a brief survey to determine how hospitals have used the “Guidelines for Developing Best Practices to Assist California Hospitals Prepare for and Respond to a Water Disruption” since its October 14, 2011 release.

All hospitals are encouraged to respond to the survey regardless of whether or not they have received or reviewed the documents. To complete the survey, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/WaterDisruption. The survey deadline is Monday, February 13, 2012.

The draft guidance was published for hospitals to use in preparation for the 2011 California Statewide Medical and Health Exercise, as well as for water disruption planning activities. To access the draft guidance, go to:www.calhospitalprepare.org/h20

In 2011, the Public Health Emergency Preparedness grant instituted 15 Public Health Emergency Capabilities.The Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) is moving to a Capabilities approach in 2012. The Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has released the HPP Capabilities (see the attached Healthcare Preparedness Capabilities: National Guidance for Healthcare System Preparedness). A letter from Dr. Nicole Lurie, the ASPR, introducing and describing the HPP Capabilities is also attached.

The document initiates the release of federal documents describing changes in the PHEP and HPP grants in 2012. The PHEP and HPP Capabilities will be aligned (see table below for a summary of the two sets of Capabilities). On January 20, the U.S. HHS is scheduled to release the HPP-PHEP Capabilities Planning Guide (CPG) which will discuss the relationship between the two sets of Capabilities and describe the intent, completion and reporting requirements.

CDPH is undertaking a statewide planning process to determine how to implement the new HPP Capabilities as well as their alignment with the PHEP Capabilities for California. Information on this process will be forthcoming.

• ASPR 2012 Healthcare Preparedness Capabilities
• 2012 HPP Capabilities Release Letter

The complete results of the 2011 Hospital Emergency Code Standardization Survey, conducted by the California Hospital Association (CHA) in partnership with the regional associations, is now available.The survey assessed statewide hospital emergency code usage and revealed improved code consistency among facilities.

Of the 240 responding hospitals, 3 out of 4 reported implementation of the code recommendations issued by the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) in 2000. These hospital emergency codes included codes for a variety of incidents including fire, adult medical emergency, infant abduction, bomb threat, combative person, person with a weapon/hostage situation, hazardous material spill, and emergency alert.

Hospital associations have advocated for the adoption of a standardized code system for more than a decade. Currently, 21 state hospital associations have similar programs with only one—Maryland—legally mandated. Three national health care organizations also provide standards—American Hospital Association, US Army Medical Command, and Hospital Emergency Incident Command.

The final results of the survey illustrate ongoing progress in hospital emergency code implementation among California health care facilities.

• Download the full report

In an effort to help improve overall patient safety and quality of care - and reduce potential harm - in hospitals and other healthcare facilities across the state, the HASC Safety & Security Committee and AllHealth Security Services recently released an updated version of its Healthcare Emergency Codes guide.

According to Aviva Truesdell, senior vice president of AllHealth, standardization and uniformity of emergency codes can assist hospitals in numerous ways. For example, due to the mobility of today's healthcare workforce, many hospitals share physicians, nurses and other staff. As such, it has become increasingly important for healthcare professionals to have a standard set of emergency codes that are easily recognized and understood from one healthcare facility to the next.

The implementation of a common code system across all facilities would reduce potential confusion among staff responding to different emergency incidents, and would facilitate communication between hospitals and public safety authorities during regional or statewide natural disasters or terrorist incidents.

Please click here to access online PDF and Word versions of the Healthcare Emergency Codes document located on the HASC website.

Contact: Aviva Truesdell (213) 538-0710

The Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) Safety & Security Committee and AllHealth Security Services have released an updated version of the Health Care Emergency Codes guide. The copyrighted information is available at no charge for any hospital seeking to implement uniform emergency code standards for their facility. Hospitals can even personalize the guide to their specific needs using the Word version of the document.

The guide was originally created after the committee surveyed California hospitals in 2006 and discovered there was little uniformity for responding to emergency situations. The committee determined it was vital for hospitals to implement uniform methods of dealing with specific emergency scenarios, to help ensure the safety of patients and staff members – no matter where they work or seek care.

In addition to providing standardized emergency codes, the guide also offers suggested “best practice” actions and procedures for responding to each code.

The updated guide ensures compliance and conformity to the National Incident Management System (NIMS), Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), The Joint Commission and other regulatory and accrediting agencies. The updated guide includes the following new code “Code Green” for patient elopement – and “Code Triage” was expanded to include an “Alert.”

• Download the standardized set of uniform codes and guidelines