Emergency Codes

CHA, in partnership with the Regional Associations, conducted a brief survey of hospital emergency codes in California. The survey concluded on August 20, 2009. Standardization and uniformity of emergency codes can assist hospitals in numerous ways. For example, due to the mobility of today’s health care workforce, many hospitals share physicians, nurses and other staff. As such, it has become increasingly important for health care professionals to have a standard set of emergency codes that are easily recognized and understood from one health care facility to the next. 

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. 

The 2009 Disaster Planning for California Hospitals Conference, From Readiness to Recovery, will present a special session titled “Hospital Emergency Codes in California — Why Standardize?” The information from this survey will be analyzed and incorporated into this presentation.
  

May 8, 2009 - 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.

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