<P> Hospital emergency codes are coded messages often announced over a public address system of a hospital to alert staff to various classes of on - site emergencies . The use of codes is intended to convey essential information quickly and with minimal misunderstanding to staff while preventing stress and panic among visitors to the hospital . Such codes are sometimes posted on placards throughout the hospital or are printed on employee identification badges for ready reference . </P> <P> Hospital emergency codes have often varied widely by location, even between hospitals in the same community . Confusion over these codes has led to the proposal for and sometimes adoption of standardized codes . In many American, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian hospitals, for example "code blue" indicates a patient has entered cardiac arrest, while "code red" indicates that a fire has broken out somewhere in the hospital facility . </P> <P> In order for a code call to be useful in activating the response of specific hospital personnel to a given situation, it is usually accompanied by a specific location description (e.g., "Code red, Second floor, corridor three, room two - twelve"). Other codes, however, only signal hospital staff generally to prepare for the fallout of some external event such as a natural disaster . </P>

What does code red mean in the emergency room