What is code GREY in a hospital?

In a hospital, Code Grey typically signals a combative or violent person, indicating a safety risk from an aggressive patient, visitor, or individual, requiring a coordinated response from clinical staff, security, and public safety to de-escalate and control the situation, often focusing on non-physical restraint and safety. It can also sometimes refer to a major infrastructure failure (like a system-wide IT outage) in some facilities, but most commonly means a security/violence threat.

What does code grey mean in a hospital?

In a hospital, Code Gray typically signifies a combative or aggressive person, needing security and staff intervention to de-escalate violence or threats, often involving agitated patients, visitors, or others creating a safety risk; however, some facilities use it for other emergencies like severe weather or system-wide security threats (like cyberattacks), so the exact meaning can vary by hospital, but it's always a security/safety alert.
 

What are common causes of code gray?

o Code Gray: A facility response is activated when an individual becomes violent, threatening, or aggressive, creating a health or safety risk. The response involves clinical and security staff.

Who responds to code gray?

Code grey team members include: Clinically trained staff. Security trained staff. Public safety personnel, if needed.

What to do during code gray?

Code GRAY Combative Person Dial 7777. Stay calm and de-escalate the situation if possible. Keep distance between you and the assailant. Leave the area if need be.

Code Grey Explained

What emergencies trigger a code gray?

Assault/Violence (Code Grey)

What is the most serious code in a hospital?

The most serious hospital codes usually involve active threats to life and safety, like Code Silver (active shooter/weapon), which triggers lockdowns and immediate armed response, and Code Red (fire), requiring rapid evacuation/containment, but Code Black (bomb threat) is also extremely critical, often leading to full evacuation, while Code Blue (cardiac arrest) is an immediate life-or-death medical emergency for patients, with each color demanding swift, specific action to save lives from internal or external dangers. 

What should visitors do during a Code Grey?

All visitors in the hospital and non-patient care personnel shall take shelter in the nearest interior room or hall on the lowest level possible. Stay away from halls that open to the outside in any direction and avoid windows.

What are the 4 colors of triage?

This advanced triage system involves a color-coding scheme using red, yellow, green, white, and black tags: Red tags - (Immediate) are used to label those who cannot survive without immediate treatment but who have a chance of survival. Yellow tags - (observation) for those who require observation.

What happens after a code grey incident?

Review of the event shall occur to determine how to prevent/minimize it from occurring again. If the Code Gray represented violence or threat of violence (violence, threatening words or actions, or use of a weapon), the event must be reported as a Work Place Violence (WPV) event.

What is the code GREY protocol?

To safeguard healthcare workers and protect health institutions, the Health Department has introduced the Code Grey Protocol. This act establishes guidelines on law, order, and conduct concerning healthcare professionals, ensuring a safer and more secure working environment.

What is the code GREY for a stroke?

Code Gray is an emergency team response for inpatient stroke. Modeled after the response for Code Blue, this team quickly assesses, obtains further diagnostic studies, and provides appropriate intervention to patients who experience stroke symptoms while being hospitalized for some other diagnosis or problem.

Do Code Grey incidents impact patient care?

A code grey, for example, means that there has been a loss of a core service, which may negatively impact the level of care that can be provided to patients.

What is a grey patient?

GRAY – Expectant (not dead, but expected to not survive given current circumstances). These patients might include TBI with exposed brain, 90% TBSA burns, and the like.

What is code grey in a hospital labor and delivery?

In Labor & Delivery, a Code Gray signals a combative or potentially violent person (patient, family, or visitor) needing security assistance, an unarmed threat to safety, or sometimes a patient elopement, prompting security and trained staff to de-escalate or restrain to ensure everyone's safety, though meanings vary slightly by hospital. 

What is grey in hospital?

Code Grey - Personal threat by a patient. Code Blue - Medical emergency. Code Yellow - Internal emergency. Code Brown - External disaster.

What is the highest triage color code?

RED: (Immediate) severe injuries but high potential for survival with treatment; taken to collection point first. YELLOW: (Delayed) serious injuries but not immediately life-threatening. GREEN: (Walking wounded) minor injuries.

What does a black tag mean?

First responders bring victims, who are placed in one of four categories: BLACK (deceased/expectant): Injuries are incompatible with life. Should not be moved forward to the collection point. RED (immediate): Severe injuries but high potential for survival with treatment.

What are the 4 types of alerts and codes?

Code blue - life-threatening medical emergency. Code red – a fire or a probable fire. Code purple or pink – a missing child or child abduction. Code gray – to alert security personnel that there is a dangerous person or criminal activity happening in the facility.

What triggers a Code Grey in a hospital?

Code grey: physical threat requiring security. Code blue: cardiac/respiratory arrest or non-patient (visitor, staff) medical emergency or patient in non-clinical area also "MET call" medical emergency or deteriorating patient in a clinical area.

What does a code GREY indicate?

In healthcare and security, a Code Grey (or Gray) typically signals a combative or aggressive person, a safety risk needing security/clinical staff to de-escalate using non-physical means if possible, without a weapon, to ensure safety and prevent escalation. It's a standardized alert for violent behavior, distinct from a Code Silver (weapon) or Code Orange (hazmat). 

What is the code GREY used for?

We use Gray code primarily to prevent errors in digital systems by ensuring that only one bit changes at a time during transitions between consecutive values, which avoids glitches and misreads, especially in applications like rotary encoders, error correction, and digital communication where physical changes (like a shaft rotating) must map reliably to digital signals. This single-bit change property makes transitions smooth, reducing noise interference and false readings that occur in standard binary when multiple bits flip simultaneously.
 

What is code Adam in a hospital?

In a hospital, Code Adam (or sometimes Code Amber/Pink) signifies a missing or abducted child, triggering an immediate, coordinated search protocol by all staff to secure exits, check common hiding spots (like closets, restrooms), and locate the child quickly, named after Adam Walsh to prevent similar tragedies. This alert alerts everyone to stop, search, and look for the child, working to find them safely and reunite them with family, unlike Project ADAM, which is about preventing sudden cardiac death. 

What is code G in a hospital?

G codes are a set of codes used to describe medical procedures and services that are not covered by CPT codes. G codes are a set of alphanumeric codes. These codes were introduced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as part of the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS).

What is code 99 in a hospital?

Code 99: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Team. Code 99 AED: Cardiac/Respiratory Arrest w/Automatic External Defibrillator. Code 99 PALS: Pediatric Cardiac/Respiratory Arrest.