Pune’s Sassoon first hospital in state to implement code blue for emergency cases

Code blue is generally used to indicate a patient requiring resuscitation or otherwise in need of immediate medical attention, most often due to respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest

The Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) will implement a code blue system to address emergency cases that are admitted to the facility. Patients in need of medical emergency will receive a response through the code blue brigade in just 120 seconds.

SGH is the first government hospital in the state to deploy such a team for medical emergencies and the system will be operational by the end of this month, said officials. (HT FILE PHOTO)

SGH is the first government hospital in the state to deploy such a team for medical emergencies and the system will be operational by the end of this month, said officials.

Code blue is generally used to indicate a patient requiring resuscitation or otherwise in need of immediate medical attention, most often due to respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest.

In the event of a medical emergency in the hospital, it will be announced through a public address system. Also, the code blue team can be called by dialling seven numbers from any department of the hospital. This team will rush to the concerned patient within 120 seconds and give them the required emergency treatment.

Dr Sanjeev Thakur, dean of BJ Medical College and SGH, said the code-blue team will provide life-saving medical attention to patients during the emergency.

“The team will handle emergency cases like cardiac arrest, and stroke amongst others. Handling emergency patients is different in comparison to regular trauma or critical patients. The team has undergone special training required to handle emergency cases,” he said.

The code blue team has around 10 to 12 members and will be available round the clock. The team will include doctors, anaesthetists, pharmacologists, nurses and attendants amongst others.

Around 3,000 patients visit the outpatient department of SGH daily, said officials.

The initial 10 minutes during cardiac arrest are considered to be significant as a patient is likely to survive if treated during this initial time. Keeping this in mind, the code blue system will start in SGH.