Why operating rooms are green

[@martinalooksatthings]

Phil you really know how to spin a yarn from something superficially trivial

[@I_Love_Learning]

Yeah, like a death.

[@nvrndingsmmr]

Goes to show nothing is trivial and everything is interesting if you're curious enough!

[@bobtheboneboy6531]

Superficiality is relative, I suppose.

[@FirstDagger]

If you think color is trivial and maybe your are superficial.

[@Mireaze]

We should paint all hospital rooms blood red, to help hide the mistakes

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i sense a nobel for this idea...

[@josefrietveld219]

Only red. So it was done on all ships of the line in the 1700‘s. Plenty of splinters, plenty of limb-sawing etc. Not a nice place to be at all.

[@leonardoconstantino1540]

😂😂😂

[@kaitlyn__L]

There was a video by Medlife Crisis which says that indeed was done for a time! But they realised being able to see blood on your scrubs was important 😅

[@RustyNickels]

Some situations might require a brown room.

[@ray-mc-l]

You always strike the perfect balance. Every video is informative but also entertaining. It's short but satisfying. It's upbeat but still authentic. And all the little aesthetic details fit together so well. (I'm too cheap to do the Patreon, so I'm paying you compliments instead)

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

compliments appreciated haha!

[@sergeikorolevGZ]

I love how u put the facts upfront, so we could "go watch another thing" (wich i obviously didn't, I also love how you summarize and tell the history behind this lil things)

[@anomalouswoof2554]

As a potential patient, I'm all for whatever color the surgeon and his team feels works the best for them. Want to listen to Jimi Hendrix music too? Fine, go for it. Whatever helps you perform at your peak. 😊

[@MaxVen12]

Every time you publish a video, it always makes my heart so happy! You’re a phenomenal journalist! Looking forward to your next video

[@dstarfire42]

Yes!!! Another youtuber who actually answers the title question early on. And then did the long answer and deeper story for the folks that want the details and backstory (and, to be fair, for some topics, I DO want those details and backstory). It's the perfect balance between pleasing the viewers and sucking up to the algorithm (which heavily favors videos around 15-ish minutes).

[@brettgoodrich]

“This seems like the sort of hazing that even a fraternity might say is ‘kinda unreasonable.’” 😂😂

[@CyclingSteve]

Green and amber were chosen for monochrome computer displays because they are restful colours, it would be interesting to know if there was a scientific backing to that.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Oof. I had both back in the early days. The green was really eye-exhausting. The amber was hard to see if there was much glare or sunlight. Yeah, I'm old enough that my Commodore 64 and 128 C were new when I got them. Anyone want to dance to the modem screech song?

[@gorak9000]

I think they were chosen because green and orange phosphors were abundant and cheap. When using a monochrome display (yes, some things still have monochrome displays even today), green has better contrast and is easier to see. If displaying monochrome video signals on a modern monitor where you can choose the color, green is usually the best I find

[@alles_klar]

That guy basically made the first feature request for dark mode.

[@floramew]

I have eye strain issues, and legitimately find it much easier to read white letters on black background, like the doc said. ... The, uh, the main problem with his suggestion is how to make that feasible for mass printing with the technology of the time 😂 black ink shows up on white paper much much more easily than white paint does on black, any coloring/painting/etc artist can likely tell you that dark shading is much more potent than light tints.

[@Penultimeat]

Have you tried, and I ask this earnestly; blinking more?

[@michaeldinapoli2960]

Realized dark mode on my phone and its apps has been a game changer.

[@floramew]

Do most folks with eye strain only struggle with dry eye? Wild. No, my problems are from chronic migraines. No one particular cause seems to be the root, but increased eye strain reliably leads to a migraine, at least. Dark screens help, like in night mode; warm overlays help, like in f.lux (desktop) and twilight (mobile app); when I go outside, I Literally Always wear a ball cap and sunglasses. It's not about the surface of the eye, it's the internal mechanisms in there somewhere, whether that's optical nerve or brain issue or what. Honestly I can't tell if the "earnestly" was sincere or if that's a sarcasm double reach around but either way I'd answer the same I guess, so. Lol.

[@spoonikle]

Dude knows what he was talking about. Green is just a relaxing color and black with white text is dark mode - the best mode.

[@Viper-dz2kw]

It’s funny that every time I’ve been in surgery I’ve been too hyped on anesthesia to remember any of this, I had no idea they were green until this video

[@gunnaryoung]

Dude just invented dark mode newspapers

[@susannahallanic1167]

My dad had an appendectomy, emergency life-saving, when he was around 10-years-old. That would be around 1938 or there about. He learned from his traumatic hospital surgery and long post-operative stay in the hospital, that the color green really complimented healing, restfulness, calm, quiet conversation. When it was time for me to learn to drive, he bought me a green Jeep Willys Overland. Meanwhile, the livingroom was always a pale green, his favorite car was always green. Oh my! I really did love that moss green Chevy Impala. He was the one in our family who had a professional photographer arrive to our home once every year to take not only family photographs but also portrait photographers of each member. He chose the clothing we would wear, and my color was always a green he called New Leaf Green. Thanks for reawaking all those memories. Very kind of you!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

wow what a nice green story! thanks for sharing!

[@moonasha]

strangely enough, in the past 5-10 years or so, all modern coders have switched to white on black. Before that it was all black on white. Many phones and websites now offer dark modes, or even use them as default

[@Hemostat]

It's one of my favorite colors so I'm cool with it

[@EvenFilms]

I loved all the shots of the surgery doll. Made me laugh every time.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

his life meant something after all

[@ZipplyZane]

The natural selection idea does make sense in one way: the fact that we evolved to be able to see variations in green better than other colors. That was literally my first thought when learning (from your video) that operating rooms are green.

[@MoDFoX]

Neat! I had heard it was the colour contrast, I'm glad I was able to learn a little more with this video. I like the use of green for the text highlighting.

[@reoproedros]

oh i thought that the video was about why , not how we reached to why . but i liked that there was a hint at first few seconds .

[@ewhoyer]

While the overall structure of chlorophyll is very similar to hemoglobin, a fundamental difference is that hemoglobin has iron while chlorophyll has magnesium. Still a very cool molecular convergence between the animal and plant kingdoms.

[@xliquidflames]

That's really strange. You and Adam Savage both did a video about red and green and they're both sort of medical related. His tattoo of a ruler on his arm is teal and he chose that because it compliments the reds and pinks of his skin. And then I scroll down my feed a little further and here's your video about the green of operating rooms. What's also strange is that Adam also talks about two people coming to the same conclusion or solution to a problem independently. That's not exactly what happened here but two people did arrive at similar ideas independently.

[@kaitlyn__L]

They both stem from the same basic idea, picking a complementary colour. Some of the slightly later articles shown in this video mention “pastel green or blue” which match how we do it nowadays - at least in the NHS which uses a mix of blue and green scrubs. Turquoise is the “most” complementary to red, so any blood etc will show up very strongly. And the greens and blues for scrubs tend to cluster around turquoise. Pastel colours will darken upon being touched by clear fluids, and yellow-y fluids make a decent contrast too (a bit stronger against blue than green). So high contrast but low eye strain was the name of the game! Basically when picking a colour other than white, red was ruled out pretty quickly because it made cleanup more difficult.

[@pameladaley955]

The phrase "Wry Humor" was invented for you, Phil! And I am so glad,

[@shooter913b]

Bro wanted dark mode news papers…

[@AnalogDave]

Thank you for answering the questions no one has ever asked but needed.

[@krysnb84]

This is something I didn’t think of but once again Phil gave me an interesting story in my mind hehe 💚

[@sudokode]

That struggle with the glove is real... no one looks cool trying to put on a rubber glove.

[@ChloVio]

I know Sherman didn't invent the green idea but, as someone with a cleft lip & palate, I think think it's SO COOL that's the surgery he referenced in his paper!

[@JaykPuten]

Seriously you make my Sunday mornings fun for just a bit before I gotta go be an adult, thanks Phil

[@JaykPuten]

First video I had to share with my wife of yours Phil (She's a nurse... Was very interested)

[@mikedrop4421]

The man is right about one thing. A black newspaper with white letters would be better. It's called dark mode and I'm using it on my phone to type this now. Edit: apparently I'm the second person to comment this.

[@beeble2003]

Yeah, but no. Computer screens are transmissive; paper is reflective. Have you ever tried to read white text on a dark background, e.g., in a magazine? It's a lot of work. Not only would a dark-mode newspaper be much more expensive (it'd probably need more than ten times the amount of ink) but it's physically impossible to print. First, on low quality paper like newsprint, the ink spreads quite a bit as it absorbs into the paper. Second, you can't make printing type that has fine un-inked lines in it, because that requires a narrow groove in the type. But that groove just fills with ink anyway, and you end up printing all-black. And even if you could print it, the pages would stick together and transfer ink to each other.

[@iftheshuafits4268]

Another great video about the thing I didn't know I needed to know about.

[@natev7870]

5:33 he makes the first argument in favor of dark mode

[@theoddplebs]

well, i agreed on the white letter thing with black background lol. after reading all the paper 20 hours straight, just the white of the paper itself stabs my eyes

[@DeepakThakur24]

Anesthesia allows the patients to hide the surgery stress by replacing the green doctors and and green walls with any imagery they like. Green screen yo.

[@esgee3829]

the question isn't were any muppets harmed in the making of this video, it's how bad were they hurt

[@isaM08]

5:35 I 100% agree with him. White letters on black background is top tier. We all use dark mode. I hate fully white screens, they hurt my eyes. I also leave most lights off and prefer warmer lights.

[@jamesweldon8118]

Bro casually invented night mode 5:33

[@97Corvi]

5:45 the mate invented dark mode in 1907 XD

[@Kortex42]

He was ahead of his time with the white newspaper! Now we all use dark theme

[@theow.5012]

The man just wanted dark mode in 1914, understandable.

[@sethproaps8899]

First man to argue for dark mode

[@mercster]

Thanks! I actually wondered if it was because blood shows up well when I started the video, but why white wouldn't be best didn't occur to me.

[@hopkapi]

It is at least true that greens are perceived more readily than anything else, to the point that if you're putting an LED in something, you can go with a green LED that is technically less bright than other colours, but it'll still seem super bright to a person.

[@Seraph.G]

I got surgery a month ago and this video made me question what the operating room looked like. I *thought* it was white, and maybe it was. I was already on some strong drugs by the time I got wheeled in, so I have no real idea.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

hah i had surgery last year and remember nothing about the interior design

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

My deepest condolences to the patient who passed during the filming of this video.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

if it helps, he was a terrible person by all accounts

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

@@PhilEdwardsInc That does bring me a modicum of solice. Thank you.

[@BOABModels]

You know, my wife and I have been trying to find a restful colour for our bedroom walls... hmmm Also, she's a doctor so I'll ask her for a second opinion.

[@Piemasteratron]

Human eyes are most sensitive to the colour green, that's why night vision goggles are green. But all I've heard is that the colour green is a calming colour

[@PCBmanufacturer1]

Oh, That is why they did it, Now I know. Thanks

[@drgarrett]

Green or Blue scrubs or drapes are helpful for eye strain because of color fatigue in the eye. There are 3 different cones in the retina which are sensitive to Red, Green, and Blue. Because the surgeons look at Red all day, it's helpful to be surrounded by colors that don't include red.

[@ShakespeareDoomsday]

I’m not surprised at all that the man who advocated for night mode had blue (or at least light colored) eyes. I have blue eyes and when my brown-eyed boyfriend often comes home from work, he comments on my ability to see in the dark and turns on a few lights.

[@RNSNC1SD34D]

duhhhhhh its greens because we all know math is red, history is yellow and science is green and what's more scientific than replacing someone's heart with a new one on the operating room smh

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

hmm more of a math is blue history is orange guy myself.

[@RNSNC1SD34D]

@@PhilEdwardsInc funny how our brains just assign colors to arbitrary objects

[@oppositeofh8]

this was awesome, thanks PE. another nagging question answered. 😻

[@FirstDagger]

Now do a followup on green Soviet era aircraft cockpits.

[@Teapode]

Would not say its about medicine, its about architecture. Some guy just told that green is good, some architects and investor, who has a very shallow knowlege just took it for granted. In architecture there is a lots of stuff like "Its gonna rain later today". Example of architecture thinking in 1900-1970: We have a lot of desieases and crimes in city. Should we spend more on hospitals and crime prevention ? No. Lets just buldose everything, and build new cities with patches of of grass in between, it would surely solve those issues! Grass is healing you know.

[@wobblysauce]

Also has to do with their lighting at the time… modern lighting has better CRI index that makes it easier to see

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

that makes a lot of sense!

[@vishva8kumara]

5:33 DARK Theme Wouldn't work for newspapers. Lot more ink needed and after blotting, would make it impossible to read anything. Maybe good for screen. But i differ.

[@KomradZX1989]

You are an infinitely more entertaining doctor Phil than doctor Phil 😂❤

[@kildareire]

Thumbnail of the month. 👍👍

[@WavingWorld]

I've worked in commercial construction for a few years and installed many operating rooms in hospitals. None of them were green. They were all white and tan. Where are these green operating rooms?

[@danwroy]

Lmao, great video, great ending

[@WalterBurton]

Yes! Give the surgeons what they want!

[@thehumblehufflepuff4400]

I didn't know there were such things as surgery ninjas!

[@hilol825]

Honestly? I think that, if anybody's going to be losing in this situation, it's people with green-red colour blindness, lol. For them, it all looks the same now

[@yaboisartre5844]

5:35 newspaper dark mode based.

[@mikelocalypse]

5:38 Dude invented dark mode 🤔😂

[@grey-spark]

5:39 So he's the Father of Dark Mode?

[@foamheart]

What's the Pantone number of operating room green?

[@empi1972gtv]

How about a video on Forest Service green?

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

oh that'd be fun

[@257796]

The boy in the striped pajamas is dead? You don't say......

[@spookypineapple]

OR's are not really green anymore!! All of the drapes and sterile field equipment are blue! The double gloves, the sterile gowns, and the towels are all blue!!

[@gameeverything816]

It's more like teal

[@woutervanr]

Before watching, I'm guessing becasue it's on the opposite side of the spectrum of red. So it has a high contrast. edit: huh, that's interresting

[@kaitlyn__L]

You’re not good with blood, but the felt guy was in there for an acute lack of blood 🤔 Anyway, I’d say the “shin means it’ll rain” thing is a fair bit more rigorous than colour psychology. It’s not super reliable for _rain_ but messed-up joints can be very reliable detectors of _low pressure fronts!_ Which often lead to rain if there’s enough moisture in the atmosphere but don’t if there isn’t. (This is why barometers also had hygrometers, to distinguish between the two low-pressure atmospheric states!) Everyone else has said every other thought I had; about how we are indeed more sensitive to different shades of green than other hues, and how teal being complementary to red does have some visibility/contrast benefits. Not really for the reasons our dude thought, but hey ho. Stopped clocks are sometimes right and all that.

[@pavelvasilache6111]

Halls of hospitals painted green Money talking

[@trapjohnson]

Nope to white letters on black pages. The after images stick with my astigmatized eyes for way too long.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

(we anti-dark mode people have to be secretive so as to not anger the dark-mode zealots)

[@trapjohnson]

@@PhilEdwardsInc now, complications to all these narratives, the dim mode on Twitter where they use the dark blue background as opposed to black, with white text, works wonders!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

ohh just tried it. very luxurious.@@trapjohnson

[@Alberto-mc6yk]

Do not worry...he is dead! 😂

[@IsiahTomas]

It's easier to see the blood?

[@ghw7192]

So you can't see the blood when they operate on Martians?

[@stentor1980]

Man, shots fired at Mr. Beast

[@irighterotica]

I also cannot handle looking at surgery, despite working in a slaughterhouse. Kind of funny, isn't it? Anyways, good video-you really have a knack for making the mundane interesting.

[@whycantiremainanonymous8091]

By the way, how do colour-blind surgeons operate?

[@milliondollaquestion8777]

hospital colour theory???????

[@Osdeun]

Props to Dr. Sherman for being the first dark mode advocate

[@noticiasinmundicias]

seriously that's actually impressive

[@mjw7994]

It actually does make sense to use green from a "natural selection" perspective. We evolved needing to spot small details amongst a green backdrop, whether it's berries on a bush or a predator stalking you in the tall grass. So our eyes did evolve to see discern between green and red really well. It makes sense to use it as a surrounding when you're doing surgery on the red internals of a person to help keep your red cones from getting overwhelmed.

[@beeble2003]

I'm not really convinced by this. The red and green cones have huge overlap in frequency range so, anything that overwhelms your red cones is going to overwhelm the green ones, too (or, at least, be very close).

[@CasperJoosten]

​@@beeble2003there is plenty of difference between how the cones work, though. For starters, red cones don't get overwhelmed in the same way the other cones are (don't ask me the specifics, it's been a while since I've studied this). This is why red light doesn't blind you the same as every other color light does. The best explanation for this is an evolutionary beneficial general alertness for the color red as a signal for danger. And we are capable of distinguishing between more shades of green than any other color. This could best be explained as an evolutionary need to spot small details in green environments.

[@lwardrop2453]

If our organs were more diverse in their color scheme, the color theory of using green wouldn’t work nearly as well (in color theory blue could be just as restful as green). But green is indeed substantially better than blinding whites, and it makes a bit of sense that it would allow the red cones to go through a period of significantly reduced stimulation (giving the cones a break). However, in a pinch most other cool colors (and possibly browns and greys) would work better than nothing, no need to rely on re-dying the flooring and clothes you have on hand.

[@ChicagoMel23]

We were created

[@mjw7994]

@@ChicagoMel23​ through the natural selection of genetic mutations in response to environmental pressures over billions of years.

[@dan_asd]

We were this close to this guy inventing dark mode newspaper

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i know as i was editing this, i was like, why did i not mention dark mode...

[@beeble2003]

Except that it's physically impossible to print "dark mode" on newsprint. The ink spreads as it absorbs into the paper, so you just can't print big blocks of black with narrow white lines betwen them.

[@chobies5383]

BLACK PAPER AND WHITE INK

[@beeble2003]

@@chobies5383 There's no need to shout. It's hard to make a high-enough density white ink to print on black paper.

[@NorninTGK]

@@beeble2003 Hard? Yes. Impossible? No. Expensive? Probably.

[@Glorb1]

There needs to be more people like Phil Edwards. And I love how he just makes whatever he thinks is fun and interesting to talk about.

[@BenjamintheTortoise]

Agree. He covers random things I would've never thought about... But then with each video I'm finding myself suddenly interested in the history/ explanation 😄

[@matt45540]

Thanks for giving us the simple answer and then telling the story!

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i'll try to do this when it happens!

[@Stilllife1999]

I actually Googled first before I clicked

[@matt45540]

@@PhilEdwardsInc do a short on why your name is incorporated, I thought you were a impersonator

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

@@matt45540 too many other phil edwards's!

[@TheLordOfNothing]

I offer my condolences to the family of the doll, they must be so devastated.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

there's a gofundme for a really nice felt coffin

[@TheLordOfNothing]

@@PhilEdwardsInc I would be happy to donate.

[@catherine_404]

I'm offering resurrection services. I can make it as alive as it was before the operation. I'm good with a needle, I know some stitches.

[@annetakubiak3374]

​@@PhilEdwardsInc😅😂😅

[@klein8697]

"Newspapers should be printed with white letters on black background" This brilliant man predicted dark mode and he must be respected for that (and also for all of those lives saved)

[@Amradar123]

Hmmm, how much ink or paint would be needed for "darkmode" newspaper? 😊

[@beeble2003]

@@Amradar123 And how much more would end up on your hands! Actually, a darkmode newspaper would be basically impossible. Ink spreads out as it's absorbed into the paper, especially cheap newsprint. You just physically can't leave narrow white gaps between big blocks of ink on that kind of paper.

[@Woodledude]

@@beeble2003White ink on black paper, surely? It could be done - We bleach wood pulp these days, but we could just as easily dye it.

[@beeble2003]

@@Woodledude Very hard to get a high-density white ink. You'd likely end up with mid-grey writing on dark grey paper, which would be a low-contrast nightmare.

[@therabbithat]

Dude had visual snow, I'm sure of it

[@HLR4th]

Thanks for this. I’m Red-Green color deficient. To me the “green” traffic light is white. Given that, I’m not surprised I never noticed any of the OR’s I’ve been in during medical school were green, to me it looked like an off white!

[@TwinSteel]

Here is a place for you to expand this topic: green is not the only color of OR scrubs - interestingly most of the ORs I work in prefer blue scrubs, drapes and towels - walls are also frequently blue or tan, even white - did you get a chance to talk to any surgeons, scrub technicians or anesthesia providers for this video?

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

I was originally gonna make this all about scrubs actually, but I failed to track down as clear a chronology as I did for operating rooms. The overall chaos of the scrubs scene had me change to this topic. I read some rumors that blue scrubs originated in the 50s because they worked better on televised operating theatre recordings/broadcasts. I saw the same explanation for the color of some rooms, but that wouldn't have begun until later. I imagine that modernization efforts might co-mingle with new trends in color psychology (if you can't tell, I'm personally pretty skeptical of color psychology studies/theories, but your mileage may vary).

[@cardiganweather]

I agree. Everything is blue where I am.

[@Gnarlsthe23rd]

@@PhilEdwardsInc Still do a video about scrubs!

[@TesserId]

There is actual real science on color psychology. Particularly, there are scientific studies on how the color of clothing affects a person's attractiveness (with the most distinct effects found with blue, red, and black). Also, there are sports teams that changed their uniforms from one shade of yellow (jaundiced) to a more vibrant shade of yellow, and their wins went up after the change. Green is considered the color of nature (cooling), though I'm not convinced the shade of green used in operating rooms really achieves effective psychological effect.

[@ohhowfuckingoriginal]

Effective effect

[@spongedongthiccpants2441]

5:38 are we just going to ignore how this man invented dark mode before anybody else was concerned about eye strain. This man was brave enough to complain that books were too damn bright.

[@spacekettle2478]

He must have read a LOT of books

[@thehumblehufflepuff4400]

Surgery ninjas!

[@ahwhite2022]

Are we sure he didn’t just have a big stake in an ink company?

[@thehumblehufflepuff4400]

@@ahwhite2022 he was a surgery ninja

[@thehumblehufflepuff4400]

@@ahwhite2022 he takes your kidneys in your sleep and sells them on the black market.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

The Mr. Beast gag is exceptional. I love this.

[@SAnne-pc8hc]

I sometimes wonder if some of the color changes are because of aesthetic updates. I've really only seen blue, and white for procedural items (like drapes and rooms), and usually scrub color now is about identifying a position or service. Now when I see that shade of green in a hospital (besides scrubs) it always feels a little dated.

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

i think that may be right!

[@moniepanda13]

Thank you Phil for this video! I am an Operating Nurse and working in Germany, and my very 1st time working here is that all scrubs are green. Although I knew before that the color Green soothes well when our eyes are a little bit tired. but I did not saw this coming from your video. Good job! :)

[@SevenGears]

that dead body skit was integral to this video

[@PhilEdwardsInc]

requiescat in pace

[@glennac]

08:30 This is essentially what our surgical “suites” look like today. Our institution has 6 operating rooms for inpatient and 6 for outpatient, not counting 6-8 minor procedure rooms scattered across the campus. I think with all of the modern lighting focused at the surgical site, and the lowering of the room lights, the color of the walls isn’t that important any longer. Advances in surgery lighting have made this the case for quite some time.

[@PMickeyDee]

You know, im only half way through the video so this may be addressed later. But I've been in a lot of OR's I don't remember any of them being green. I remember a lot of white & beige walls. However, the floors are a different story, they seem to be universally green.