Hospital emergency codes are coded messages often announced over a public address system of a hospital to alert staff to various classes of on-site emergencies. The use of codes is intended to convey essential information quickly and with minimal misunderstanding to staff while preventing stress and panic among visitors to the hospital. Such codes are sometimes posted on placards throughout the hospital or are printed on employee identification badges for ready reference.

Hospital emergency codes have varied widely by location, even between hospitals in the same community. Confusion over these codes has led to the proposal for and sometimes adoption of standardised codes. In many American, Canadian, and Australian hospitals, for example "code blue" indicates a patient has entered cardiac arrest, while "code red" indicates that a fire has broken out somewhere in the hospital.

In order for a code call to be useful in activating the response of specific hospital personnel to a given situation, it is usually accompanied by a specific location description (e.g., "Code red, second floor, corridor three, room two-twelve"). Other codes, however, only signal hospital staff generally to prepare for the consequences of some external event such as a natural disaster.

Summary This table is a simplified summary of the emergency codes documented in this article. Note that there may be additional nuances to meaning and cause in individual regions, and some uncommon codes or callouts are omitted for brevity. More information is given in other sections.

Standardised colour codes Australia Australian hospitals and other buildings are covered by Australian Standard 4083 (1997)

Code black: security needed, someone is armed, and is a threat to themselves or others Code grey: security needed, someone is unarmed, and is a threat to themselves or others Code blue: life-threatening medical emergency Code brown: external emergency (disaster, mass casualties, etc.) Code orange: evacuation Code purple: bomb threat Code red: fire Code yellow: internal emergency MET call: a medical emergency that is not cardiac or respiratory arrest; not a code blue situation, but one that may escalate to code blue Code pink: a mother is going into labour unexpectedly, or there is a newborn medical emergency, Code green: in some hospitals, indicates an urgent Caesarean section

Canada Alberta Codes in Alberta are prescribed by Alberta Health Services.

Code black: bomb threat/suspicious package Code blue: cardiac arrest/medical emergency Code brown: chemical spill/hazardous material Code green: evacuation Code grey: shelter in place/air exclusion Code orange: mass casualty incident Code purple: hostage situation Code red: fire Code white: violence/aggression Code yellow: missing patient Code 66: rapid medical intervention to prevent the patient deteriorating

British Columbia Codes used in British Columbia, prescribed by the British Columbia Ministry of Health.

Code amber: missing or abducted infant or child Code black: bomb threat Code blue: cardiac or respiratory arrest Code brown: hazardous spill Code green: evacuation Code grey: system failure Code orange: disaster or mass casualties Code pink: paediatric emergency or obstetrical emergency Code red: fire Code white: aggression Code yellow: missing patient Code silver: active shooter Code purple: neonatal resuscitation Code 77: stroke Code 99: incoming trauma

Manitoba Codes used in Manitoba as defined in WRHA policy,"Codes: Standardised Emergency"; policy No. 50.00.010"Codes: Standardized Emergency" . Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Accessed May 7, 2025.

Code red: fire Code blue: cardiopulmonary arrest Code orange: disaster (external influx of patients) Code green: evacuation Code yellow: missing patient/resident Code black: bomb threat/search Code white: violent incident Code brown: internal chemical spill Code grey: external air contamination (exclusion) Code pink: abduction (infant, child, dependant adult) Code 25: medical emergency

Nova Scotia The following codes are in use in Nova Scotia.

Code black: bomb threat Code blue: cardio/respiratory arrest, choking, or other life-threatening emergency Code brown: hazardous substance spill/release Code census: emergency department overcrowding Code green precautionary: evacuation (precautionary) Code green stat: evacuation (crisis) Code grey: external air exclusion/shelter in place Code orange: external disaster/reception of mass casualties Code pink: paediatric emergency and/or obstetrical emergency Code red: fire Code silver: person with a weapon Code white: violent person/situation Code yellow: missing patient/client

Ontario In Ontario, a standard emergency colour code system is used, with minor variations for some hospitals. Additional clinical codes, such as code transfusion, code trauma, code 99,etc. etc.

Code amber: missing child/child abduction Code black: bomb threat/suspicious object Code blue: cardiac arrest/medical emergency Code brown: in-facility hazardous spill Code green: evacuation (precautionary) Code green stat: evacuation (crisis) Code grey: infrastructure loss or failure Code grey button-down: external air exclusion Code orange: external disaster Code orange CBRN: CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) disaster Code pink: cardiac arrest/medical emergency – infant/child Code purple: hostage taking Code red: fire Code silver: active attacker Code white: violent/behavioural situation Code yellow: missing person

Quebec The following codes are in use in Quebec.

Code black: bomb threat/suspicious object Code blue: adult cardiac or respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness Code brown: in-facility hazardous spill Code green: evacuation Code orange: external disaster Code pink: paediatric cardiac or respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness Code purple/lavender: infant/neonatal cardiac or respiratory arrest Code red: fire Code white: violent patient Code yellow: missing or lost patient Code silver: active shooter

Saskatchewan Codes used in Saskatchewan, prescribed by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Code red: fire and water Code orange: incoming casualties/expanded services Code green: evacuation/relocation Code black: bomb threat/suspicious package Code purple: hostage taking Code white: aggressive/hostile/combative person Code yellow: missing person Code blue: cardiac/respiratory arrest Code brown: hazardous material/chemical spill Code silver: active assailant/person with a weapon

Yukon The following codes are in use in Yukon.

Code black: bomb threat Code blue: cardiac or respiratory arrest Code brown: hazardous material Code gold: earthquake (Yukon has the highest seismic activity rate in Canada) Code green stage 1: partial evacuation to a safe area within the building Code green stage 2: complete evacuation of the building Code grey: shelter in place/air exclusion Code orange: mass casualty Code red: fire Code white: aggressive behaviour Lockdown: violent situation/hostage taking Code yellow: missing patient

United Kingdom

In the UK, hospitals have standardised codes across individual NHS trusts (England and Wales) and health boards (Scotland), but there are not many standardised codes across the entire NHS. This allows for differences in demands on hospitals in different areas, and also for hospitals of different roles to communicate different alerts according to their needs (e.g., a major trauma centre like St. George's Hospital in South London has different priority alert needs to a rural community hospital like West Berkshire Community Hospital). Some more standardised codes are as follows:

Code black: hospital at capacity – no available beds for new admissions from A&E. A code black is declared by the hospital's general bed manager, who then relays this to the local ambulance service and posts updates for local healthcare services such as GPs and district nursing teams. Code red: This is the United Kingdom's rapid response code. This call gets specialist doctors and trauma teams to the location for assistance in things like major traumas and deteriorating patients in situations like choking or airway compromise. This call also can be used to activate a major hemorrhage protocol in the event of a massive bleed. This call is referred to as code red, staff assist, trauma protocol or rapid response. This is the only emergency protocol which has a code. The only other is what is announced as a mass casualty protocol not any codes. This is to show a major incident has taken place like a terrorist attack and the protocol is activated to alert specialists and begin special emergency procedures like mass casualty triage and decontamination. Major haemorrhage protocol: activated via the code red system. A peri-arrest call is put out, but the transfusion lab is also alerted. A specified number of units of O-negative packed red blood cells, and sometimes fresh frozen plasma and platelets, are immediately sent to the location of the call. The transfusion lab will cross-match any saved blood samples for the patient, or await an urgent cross-match sample to be sent. Once this is done, units matching the patient's blood type will be continually sent until the major haemorrhage protocol is stood down.

Otherwise, non-colour codes are mostly used across the NHS:

2222 (crash call or peri-arrest call): dialling 2222 from any internal phone in nearly all NHS hospitals will connect the caller immediately to the switchboard. The caller can then specify the type of cardiac arrest or peri-arrest call (usually adult, paediatric (or neonatal) or obstetric) and give a location (eg "Adult cardiac arrest, Surgical Admissions Unit, ground floor B block" or "Obstetric peri-arrest, obstetric theatres, 4th floor maternity wing") and the switchboard will bleep the members of the relevant cardiac arrest or peri-arrest team. Some UK hospitals do not have a peri-arrest team, and the cardiac arrest team can be used for urgent medical emergencies where cardiac arrest is imminent. 3333 (security alert) 4444 (fire alert) "Fast bleep" codes: a 2222 call for a specific member of staff. For example, in status epilepticus, it is not necessary to call the crash team (as is done in cardiac arrest) but a fast bleep can be made to the on-call anaesthetist to come urgently. Trauma call: adult (trauma centres only): usually called over a PA system across the emergency department, triggering a "trauma call" paging request to all members of the trauma team: including a trauma surgeon and senior members their surgical team, an anaesthetist and ODP, emergency medicine consultant or registrar and members of their team (this will be usually be an FY1 or SHO). Trauma calls are similar to "resus codes" used in the US. paediatric (trauma centres only): triggers a "trauma call" paging request to all members of the paediatric trauma team – including a trauma surgeon and senior members of their surgical team, often additionally a paediatric surgeon, a paediatric anaesthetist, ODP, (paediatric) emergency medicine consultant or registrar and members of their team (this will be usually be an FY1 or SHO).

United States