Wristbands called patient safety risk
Tampabay: "Before you wear your cool yellow LiveStrong wristband at the hospital, think twice.

Several area hospitals are putting the brakes on Lance Armstrong's cancer organization fundraising bracelets. It's not cold-hearted backlash, but rather a safety precaution.

Patients wear colored bracelets to identify safety needs, said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services for Morton Plant Mease Health Care. Yellow stands for 'do not resuscitate.'

'It could be confusing, particularly in the situation of a code or a cardiac arrest where people have to think very quickly,' Johnson said. 'We wouldn't want to mistake a Lance Armstrong bracelet and not resuscitate someone we're supposed to.'

......The hospitals, all associated with BayCare Health Systems, use the same color codes. Purple means the patient is at risk of falling down; red means the patient has allergies; and white is an identification bracelet.

Tampa General Hospital uses purple, not yellow, to identify people who don't want to be resuscitated. But hospital spokeswoman Ellen Fis s said she sympathizes with those who use yellow DNR bracelets."
- posted by Sophont @ Tuesday, December 14, 2004