Patients and visitors in Washington hospitals may have noticed a change in the way emergency calls are made over a facility’s public address system. The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) recently led a statewide campaign in collaboration with member hospitals to standardize the way hospitals announce emergencies in their facilities. Hospitals began implementing the new code calls Oct. 1.
The newly standardized language utilizes plain language to announce most emergency codes rather than cryptic “color” codes, making it easier for staff, patients and visitors to understand emergent situations in hospitals. The change is voluntary for Washington hospitals but strongly recommended by WSHA’s Clinical Excellence Committee, which is a governing body comprised of hospital leaders from across the state.
The change to plain language follows endorsed best practices from numerous federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The only legacy color codes that remain in use are “code blue” for cardiac or respiratory arrest and the nationally recognized “AMBER alert” for a missing youth. The new codes will combine the type of alert (i.e. “facility alert”) with alert details (i.e. “fire alarm”) and the location (i.e. “emergency department”), followed by any other relevant instructions (i.e. “evacuate”). Most emergency events will be cancelled with the call “all clear.”
WSHA previously led work to standardize hospital emergency code calls in 2009, assigning colors to most types of hospital emergencies, such as “code red” for a fire and “code orange” for a hazardous materials spill. In the years that followed, hospitals began to supplement the standardized codes with some of their own, resulting in widespread variation across the state. The change to standardized, plain language codes will reduce confusion, especially for staff members who work in multiple hospitals.
“The change to plain language emergency code calls will make it easier for staff, patients and visitors to understand emergent issues happening in hospitals,” WSHA President and CEO Cassie Sauer said. “There will be no need to use a reference card to know what is happening, allowing for a quicker, more efficient response. These alerts will also be more useful to those with limited English proficiency, cognitive impairments or sensory difficulties, which is important. Everyone deserves equal access to emergency information.”
Though several other states have already successfully implemented plain language emergency codes, Washington state is an early adopter of this change. WSHA will continue to work with hospitals across the state to help implement the procedural changes.
