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

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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.

[renestanley]

Great Video. Is anesthesia a part of the code blue team or who can intubate the patient?

[imthrillz]

Code blues always go off when im at lunch

[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.

[gavinrobb]

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. 😀

[Beth]

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. :(

[greensahuaro]

Baging with the person's normal RR is good, but not on compression and if known BP is liw, ti bag gently but not two slow, just not strong!

[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?

[greensahuaro]

Sorry, the first extra ought to be oxygenation. We can bring a heart back, but not a brain.