What ACTUALLY Happens in a CODE BLUE | Cardiac Arrest in the Hospital

This week we are discussing CODE BLUE. This is in-hospital cardiac arrest in an adult patient. I discuss what a code blue is, who the members of the code team are and what their roles are, what we do during a code to attempt to resuscitate. I also talk about the reasons why someone's heart may have stopped. Finally, I explain the two different outcomes for the code: either the patient survives (ROSC: return of spontaneous circulation) or time of death is called.
Leave your CODE BLUE questions below!
TIME STAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:07 Code Blue
00:32 Code Team and Roles
02:10 MOST Important Part of the Code
03:10 Shocking (Defibrillation) and Intubation
04:50 Reasons for Code
05:02 Code Blue in Intensive Care Unit
05:59 Successful Resuscitation (ROSC)
06:57 Calling Time of Death
SUGGESTION BOX: forms.gle/zsopoMcY6Bt3D6yb9
Leave your Q&A questions here! forms.gle/jnQ88N3BobqDjhiM8
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About Me: I am an ICU doctor (intensivist) who is board certified in Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. I make videos explaining the intensive care unit and other medical things.
DISCLAIMER:
I am A doctor but I am not YOUR doctor. This video is intended for educational purposes and is not a substitution for medical care and consulting with your own physician.
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#codeblue #cardiacarrest #cpr #hospital #icu #icudoctor #criticalcare

[@TheIntenseMD]

Thank you for watching this video! Let me know which topics you want to hear about next! I post new videos every Tuesday and Friday! =)

[@lizatronnn]

My mom coded while she was in the ICU in 2018. I was in the ICU waiting room with my dad and sister when they called the code and it was the worst moment of my life. I had never felt such overwhelming helplessness. They got a pulse back and she was placed on life support and we then made the decision to take her off of it about 6 hours later. She had entered multi organ failure due to septic shock and there was nothing else that could be done. I watched this video because I’ve always wondered what happened during the code. I’ve seen plenty of media representations of a code blue and that’s always what has been in my head. Having you explain it like you did was helpful to me and I thank you for that. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to avoid anything medical related since she died but I’ve been trying to face that fear a bit more lately. Thank you for taking the time to educate others.

[@TheIntenseMD]

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I'm happy this was helpful to you. Thank you for watching.

[@imthrillz5255]

Code blues always go off when im at lunch

[@TheIntenseMD]

It always seems to happen turning change of shift for me!

[@SoulStarSketchin]

I always did wonder about this but I’m glad I was close to guessing it right. Still tho there is a lot here I didn’t know about as far as the immediate team that comes to answer.

[@TheIntenseMD]

The teams can vary slightly depending how the hospital structures their code team but these are the key people involved every time.

[@Beth20043]

I remember googling statistics like this a couple of years ago and the survival rate to discharge for in hospital cardiac arrests was like 20%. And only like 12% of people survived for even one year. Is it actually possible for a heart to completely heal and a surviours have a normal life span if for example, the reason was a drug overdose, drowning, electrocution, a temporay illness or injury in someone who was previously and otherwise healthy? Or will a cardiac arrest pretty much always eventually be a premature death sentence? I'm curious because a friend of my mum's friend has a child who almost drowned, but was saved by CPR, and I know of a couple of (young) people who have been brought back after suicide attempts. I can't for the life of me find it now, despite looking before making this comment, but I also remember seeing a page which showed the % of surviours who were still alive after 1, 2, 5, 10 and 15 years of their cardiac arrest and it kept getting lower every year it showed. :(

[@lgcopy]

I’ve subbed good content

[@TheIntenseMD]

Thank you! I appreciate your sub! :)

[@lgcopy]

@@TheIntenseMD no problem!!

[@gavinrobb85]

Interesting! Here in the UK a pharmacist is not on the arrest team. It’s usually the bedside nurse and other nurses involved in making up drugs. We don’t usually have someone documenting either. 😀

[@TheIntenseMD]

I have worked at some hospitals where the pharmacist doesn't come to a code blue. They are part of the code team where I work now. It is interesting to hear how things are done differently across the globe!

[@gavinrobb85]

@@TheIntenseMD it certainly is. And working in ICU we rarely put out cardiac arrest calls as we are essentially able to deal with a arrest and there is always a anaesthetist around anyway.

[@TheBlfan]

What's the difference response-wise between a code blue and a rapid? We had a patient go into sustained VT in the 200s. The RN called a rapid, because the patient was "fading" but not unconscious and still had a pulse. They were later criticized by the team for not calling it a code blue, the patient had a subsequent STEMI and passed in the unit. Thoughts?

[@dayacres2996]

Rapid means patient is deteriorating and critical (verge of coding) code blue is once there’s no pulse and Pt is in Cardiac arrest

[@bonnieward6144]

Rapid is when " if we don't do something quickly they will code." Code is they're dead. I've had a pt in vtach for 2 hours that didn't want cardioverted but was OK with it if his heart actually stopped. He was asymptomatic and ended up sneezing and came out of it, could've been the amio drip finally working or the magnesium replacement lol, then was transferred for defibrillator placement. I can't expect people to stand around to possibly do compressions that whole time, we left the pads on him and just fixed what we could in that time and stayed vigilant

[@mariegooch2647]

Hi Remix!!

[@jennah5578]

Kitty!