Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

mixed messages

Ah, the language of color. Take, for example, the many meanings of the color yellow…

“Live Strong” is a popular cancer research fundraising effort that has embraced yellow as its primary color. However, the St. Petersburg Times reports that some Florida hospitals have begun covering up patients’ “Live Strong” bracelets, as they may be confused in a crisis situation with the bright yellow “Do Not Resuscitate” bracelets those hospitals use to identify certain patients. (“Wristbands called patient safety risk” - 12/10/04)

Patients are asked to remove the wristbands or cover them with white tape, she said.

“It could be confusing, particularly in the situation of a code or a cardiac arrest where people have to think very quickly,” Johnson said. “We wouldn’t want to mistake a Lance Armstrong bracelet and not resuscitate someone we’re supposed to.” …

The hospitals, all associated with BayCare Health Systems, use the same color codes. Purple means the patient is at risk of falling down; red means the patient has allergies; and white is an identification bracelet.

(Links found via Al’s Morning Meeting.)