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A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
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4. A backup method. To ensure safe medication delivery,
you might also find it useful to list a patient's allergies on a
red chart sticker and affix that to the IV tubing near the drip
chamber. This additional alert all but guarantees awareness of
a patient's precautions, and is particularly useful when
patients waiting in a chilly room have tucked their arms — and
their red allergy alert wristbands — under the blanket.
5. Patient preparation. Many of you use color-coded
chart stickers or inserts, hanging signs or flags to indicate
a patient's readiness for surgery, but everyone knows that
red means stop and green means go. Laminated, traffic-
light-colored paper hands on tongue depressors stand out
among all the items at a pre-op patient's bedside and
wave providers on to the next action. While the green
hand clears a patient for their transport to the OR, the red
hand means they're still waiting on a lab test results check or a consent form signature.
6. A call to attention. You don't always need a red flag to
indicate caution. Red is a state of mind. And when the OR
is a noisy, chaotic place, a "Red Zone of Silence" can clear
the air of distractions that could lead to surgical errors.
This mandatory moment of peace and quiet, called just
before closing, turns off the music, stops unnecessary
conversations, prohibits the answering of mobile phones and allows the team members
tasked with closing counts to complete and verify the job.
— David Bernard
