Hospitals rely on a coding system to detail the many emergency situations for which their staff must be prepared. Hospital emergency codes might refer to a medical emergency such as a code blue (or cardiac arrest), but color codes also cover a whole host of other threats like code silver for an active shooter, code black for a bomb threat, code orange for a hazardous material spill, code amber for infant abduction, code pink for infant cardiac arrest, and code white for a combative or violent person. For this blog, we will look specifically at a code blue situation and how SimplyCast can help maximise your staff's response during a cardiac emergency.
When a code blue is called, every second is crucial. These situations must be dealt with immediately and often require additional staff to assist.
Many hospitals use a manual process to call employees when they need more staff members to come in, but in such a stressful situation, emergency managers don't have the time to call or text each staff member individually. When someone doesn't pick up their phone, valuable time is lost. So, how can emergency managers most efficiently mobilize hospital staff? With an automated recall solution.
Let’s go over an example to make this situation a bit clearer:
A local hospital, ABC General, has just had a code blue called for a patient. The situation must be dealt with as soon as possible and the floor is currently severely understaffed to handle the situation.
Currently, ABC General has a staff member who manually contacts employees when they need extra resources. Instead of using this process, they are looking to implement an automated solution that sends out a mass notification with the click of a button. After this mass message is sent out, employees will be able to quickly respond to indicate whether they can come to work or not.
In this blog, we will go over the steps to implement an automated recall solution to alert staff in the event of a code blue.
Step 1: Staff Registry
The first step of the process is to build an accurate database of staff who will receive a notification when a code blue is called. The database should incorporate all staff information such as names, titles, contact information, and job responsibilities.
It is essential to keep all this data up to date, as you may need to select how many of each employee type you need to respond and you want to be sure it is as accurate as possible. This data can be collected and updated via an online form. When each person fills out the form, their information will be stored in their profile in a central database.
Step 2: Message Templates
After building a database of your staff, emergency message templates should be created. Having messages already created will help you be more prepared when a code blue is called.
Code blue messages should be set up so that a single button press can tell employees when and where they are needed. When creating your message, it is important to include details about the situation and any specific requests for specialized staff that are required.
Step 3: Send Recall
Once the templates have been created, you must simply send out the message. Your staff members can choose their preferred method of communication: email, SMS, or voice (phone call).
Another message can be sent once all needed responders have confirmed they are available. This will ensure that everyone knows the situation's status and when all needed staff has been gathered. These recall messages can be sent with the click of a button, which makes them much easier than a manual process.
Step 4: Reports
The last step of the code blue notification process is your report. During an emergency, messages can be tracked in real-time. After the event has occurred, your solution will create an in-depth report that shows how your messages were engaged.
These reports provide management with valuable data that can be used to optimize messages in the future. Your report will show key details such as each staff member's response, who received the message, and the time messages were sent.
Interested in an automated recall solution for code blue situations at a hospital?
If your hospital is looking to improve its code blue emergency response process, SimplyCast has you covered. Here at SimplyCast, we have built a solution using our contact management and recall tools that can be used for an automated staff recall process during a code blue situation. Our solution is customizable and can be used in hospitals of all sizes.
Click the button below to request a one-on-one demo from our team. Let us show you how an automated staff recall process can improve efficiency in code blue situations.
Interested in how else SimplyCast can help your hospital's emergency response? Why not see how our platform can help you in the event of other standardized codes, such as a fire ( or a code red), or a missing infant or child (code amber).
