Color coding pediatric equipment and drugs helps clinicians give emergency care faster and more safely, say nurses at La Porte (Ind.) Hospital and Health Services. When children are identified with colored wristbands that identify their weight category, clinicians can quickly choose equipment and drug dosages appropriate for their size and weight.
On admission, pediatric patients are weighed, assigned to a color category, and issued appropriate wristbands. Produced by Precision Dynamics Corp., the wristbands are colored to correspond to colors on the Broselow pediatric emergency tape measure, a color-coded information and reference guide that indicates proper equipment sizes for resuscitating children. A reference at each weight zone on the tape provides precalculated drug dosages and infusion rates. At La Porte Hospital, treatment pouches used during pediatric codes and drugs provided in varying doses are color coded to match wristband and Broselow tape colors.
Called the Pediatric Code Readiness system, this color-coding scheme was launched in medical, surgical, and orthopedic units. When the system was a success, it was expanded to other units throughout the hospital.
For more information, visit the Web site of Precision Dynamics Corp. at http://www.pdcorp.com and search for Sentry SuperBand.