Paging for Emergencies

[Gas]

Hi all, just wondering what the paging system is like in your hospital for emergencies.

Our group has had instances where a CRNA calls for us STAT from the room, but if we happen to be in another room we can't hear the page. Our paging system only works outside the OR's, not actually in the rooms. We have asked administration to fix this, but surgeons have complained that they don't want speakers in the actual OR since it would be disruptive.

We are pushing for a paging system where a call for a STAT page would be heard everywhere in the OR area, including each room, PACU, the main corridors, the pre-op area, break lounge, etc. Calls for non-STAT issues would be heard only outside the OR's to minimize disruption.

As always, any input would be greatly appreciated.

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[lane]

Hi all, just wondering what the paging system is like in your hospital for emergencies.

Our group has had instances where a CRNA calls for us STAT from the room, but if we happen to be in another room we can't hear the page. Our paging system only works outside the OR's, not actually in the rooms. We have asked administration to fix this, but surgeons have complained that they don't want speakers in the actual OR since it would be disruptive.

We are pushing for a paging system where a call for a STAT page would be heard everywhere in the OR area, including each room, PACU, the main corridors, the pre-op area, break lounge, etc. Calls for non-STAT issues would be heard only outside the OR's to minimize disruption.

As always, any input would be greatly appreciated.

In residency each hospital I visited used a different system.

One hospital used the Vocera system with small walkie-talkie devices that would allow you to call a person directly by saying their name. You may recognize them as the good folks on Grey's Anatomy will wear them around their necks. It could also send message out to a group if you needed to call in the cavalry all at once. It was okay but sometimes had issues recognizing the party you wanted to call.

One hospital used Nextel direct connect phones. They worked well but the sound quality kinda sucked.

One hospital used an overhead paging system and every available attending would go running to the location of the emergency. It was a peds hospital so it made sense, I guess, but wasn't the most elegant system.

The hospitals I work at now use a network of Cisco phones. It seems to work pretty well, although I bet it isn't cheap. If we run out of phones we have our trusty pagers that the CRNAs can use to page us to their room. We also have a mass-paging system so texts can be sent to everyone (or a select few) on the pagers if needed. Our overhead paging system can be heard everywhere except the ORs for the same reason you have; with the Cisco phone, though, we can be called directly if we are in a room.

 

[BobBarker]

Cell phone bro

 

[aneftp]

Cell phone bro

So what happens if u are in hospital with very poor cell phone reception.

2 of hospitals I have worked at have very poor coverage in certain parts of the OR.

And both ATT and Verizon have very poor coverage inside hospital. Tmobile and Sprint are non existent inside hospital.

The minute i walk outside or near window I get perfect LTE reception.

 

[BobBarker]

AT&T and Verizon have installed equipment in our hospital to make our signal strong throughout the building.

 

[Mman]

So what happens if u are in hospital with very poor cell phone reception.

2 of hospitals I have worked at have very poor coverage in certain parts of the OR.

And both ATT and Verizon have very poor coverage inside hospital. Tmobile and Sprint are non existent inside hospital.

The minute i walk outside or near window I get perfect LTE reception.

we use cisco phones that work over the hospital wifi network for rapid communication. Still have pagers for the old fashioned FYIs.

 

[lane]

AT&T and Verizon have installed equipment in our hospital to make our signal strong throughout the building.

must be nice... my phone battery gets sucked dry from constantly looking for a network

 

[Dwindlin]

must be nice... my phone battery gets sucked dry from constantly looking for a network

Mine too. 😡

Where I am for internship we use the Cisco phones over wifi. I like it. And same here re overhead pages in the ORs.

 

[Depakote]

Our attendings have alpha-numeric pagers for the non-emergent stuff.

If it's a true emergency, we have a red button on the wall that can be hit and it makes a loud/obnoxious sound that can be heard from anywhere in the OR. Help comes running.

 

[aneftp]

only gripe I have with the in house anesthesia phones is half the time, my colleagues are too lazy to make sure they are charged.

Fortunately the trusty wall phone still works in the operating room to reach the front desk if help is needed.

 

[IlDestriero]

We have it all, and each has it's own positives and negatives. Verizon has a booster in the hospital that will work almost everywhere, and ATT works very well as well, so a phone is often the easiest method of non emergent communication. We have pagers, but everyone sends the pages to their cell phones as a text. All the anesthesia faculty, residents, CRNAs, techs, OR nurses, etc have a Vocera which works well for most, but some people have a lot of problems with the voice recognition. It's not a fan of southern accents. There are some Vocera dead spots, but the faculty like the hands free nature of the device and don't want to give it up. It's useful in an emergency, and can broadcast to the whole group.
We also have the WiFi phones for all the key players, and there is a big push to dump Vocera for the WiFi as the rest of the hospital already has.
In a real emergency, there is an overhead paging system for the OR that works in preop, postop, the OR lounge, core, OR hallways, and all the ORs. The surgeons don't get to turn it off. You can't disable the emergency system, even the biggest prima Donna can figure that out.

 

[Gimlet]

Our ORs overhead page just about everything. There's a fairly constant stream of chatter coming from the intercom, and I don't think I've ever heard the surgeons complain about it unless the volume in the room is blasting. Must just be ingrained in the culture around here.

An overhead page for "any available anesthesiologist to OR xx STAT" will get you about 20 people in the room within a minute. Usually you have to clear people out for optimal communication in a crisis.

We have Vocera too, but so many of the shared units have walked off that it's impossible to get one most days. The anesthesia techs are pretty much the only ones to use them since they have personal units assigned to them.

 

[ChiDO]

must be nice... my phone battery gets sucked dry from constantly looking for a network

Our level 1 trauma center has a Verizon tower in the basement where all the ORs are located. 5 bars all the time in the hospital..only 3G though...haha