A Code Yellow in a Hospital is not a common occurrence but if you are a visitor or spending time in a healthcare facility you should know what it means.
Code Yellow is a hospital emergency alert for a missing patient or visitor. It calls for a quick, organized search while keeping things calm.
In this guide, I’m going to share with you the details of a Code White, how staff should react.
Code Yellow in Hospital
A Code Yellow is typically called when a patient leaves the medical facility or a visitor is unaccounted for.
Situations that might trigger a Code Yellow include:
- Patients who wander off during a medical evaluation
- Patients not returned by family members or guardians from an authorized leave
- Patients believed to have been discharged from the hospital who are not in their room
Staff spring into action to quickly locate and account for the missing patient.
A Code Yellow becomes a Code Gray if a child patient is missing or patients with cognitive impairments wander away from their supervised areas.
These situations are considered high-risk and prompt a more extensive search of the hospital campus.
What to Do During a Code Yellow
When this code is called, staff in certain hospital departments receive an alert. This prompt response initiates a search for the missing patient.
Staff who know what to do during a Code Yellow are better equipped to react quickly and help locate a missing patient or visitor.
During a Code Yellow, staff in the following departments receive an alert:
- Nursing units
- Emergency department
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Other hospital departments where the patient was last seen
Communication
Using SBAR, a standardized communication method, helps keep team members informed of updates and the patient’s status.
Also, Security and law enforcement can be called in to add extra support and resources.
Relatives and visitors are also good to involve. Keeping them informed of the search efforts helps to get their cooperation and ease their worries.
Also Families and guests should know how hospitals handle situations like this so they can help and follow procedure.
Hospital Staff Responsibilities
Security and hospital staff work together during a Code Yellow. Security is notified immediately and begins a search of the hospital while staff continues to care for other patients.
Hospital staff play a critical role in a Code Yellow. They help security with the following:
How do hospitals search for missing patients?
When a patient wanders off a hospital follows a specific protocol to find them. The protocol is in place for just this situation and helps staff react fast.
Situations that trigger a Code Yellow are:
- Children
- Elderly patients with dementia
- Patients taken out of their room for a walk or other authorized activity and don’t return
- Patients who have been discharged and not picked up by family or friends
Patients with cognitive impairments like Alzheimer’s are also Code Yellow targets.
Standardized Codes Across Different Hospitals
Standardized emergency codes, including Code Yellow, are important for ensuring consistency in how hospitals respond to emergencies.
These codes help quickly convey the situation to staff and aid in maintaining a safe environment.
However, different hospitals may use different codes for various situations, which can cause confusion for traveling nurses and other healthcare professionals who work at multiple facilities.
External Agencies
A Code Yellow is called for an external disaster situation. Hospital staff may need to contact local law enforcement and other agencies for assistance.
Hospital staff should provide as much information as possible about the missing patient to external agencies and do so quickly.
This helps agencies respond to the situation more quickly.
Hospitals should also provide updates throughout the search and keep lines of communication open with external agencies.
Read More : Code White Hospital
Code Yellow Case Studies
Reviewing case studies about Code Yellow situations at other hospitals helps illustrate best practices and opportunities for improvement.
A large urban hospital, for example, quickly located a missing child within 30 minutes and activated its Code Yellow protocol.
Another hospital, a smaller community medical center, struggled with a delayed recovery of a missing patient.
The situation highlighted the importance of clear communication and designating a leader to coordinate the search.
Bottom Line
So there you have it. As I said that Code Yellow’s are for quickly alerting staff when a patient or visitor is missing.
Finding missing patients quickly is key to a hospital’s safety and satisfaction score. Technology, communication and training can help a hospital’s response to a Code Yellow.
