Color Coded for Safety

CHC caregiver inspires statewide effort to reduce patient harm

Patients at St. Charles Bend and St. Charles Redmond may have noticed a recent change in their hospital accessories. Rather than simply wearing a white identification bracelet to go with their hospital gown, patients are now given color-coded wristbands denoting their personal medical needs.

“Patient safety is our first priority,” said Vera Delevan, clinical education coordinator for Cascade Healthcare Community (CHC). She explained the wristbands help nurses and physicians easily identify patients with allergies; those who are at high risk for falls; those
with restricted extremities that shouldn’t be used for I.V.s or for blood pressure readings; and those who choose to not be resuscitated as an end-of-life decision.

The new wristbands are part of a statewide effort led by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems to standardize colors used at all facilities in the state. The program began after Laura Mason, clinical risk manager with CHC, noticed discrepancies in the colors of wristbands used between the Bend and Redmond hospitals and brought the problem to the state’s attention.

“We have not had any events, thankfully, that have resulted in problems, however the risk is there,” Mason said. “As the risk manager, I’m interested in prevention, as much as we can.”

The goal is to have health care workers who might travel between hospitals using the same
colored bands at each facility. Oregon has modeled its program after a similar system developed by Arizona that will likely be adopted by most Western states.

Before the project began, Leslie Ray, field director for the Oregon Patient Safety Commission said hospitals in the state were inconsistent in their choice of colored wristbands.

“The wristband color in one hospital may not be the same in another hospital,” she said. “That poses a potential for some real safety problems.”

In addition to receiving new wristbands at the hospitals in Bend and Redmond, patients are also asked to leave their own colorful social consciousness bracelets — like the yellow Livestrong bands — at home to avoid confusion while they are undergoing hospital treatment.

“This was a really good, proactive, preventative action we could take to reduce patient harm,” Mason said. “This is a real plus for patient care.”