surgeons role in codes

[joejabjab]

Are surgeons required to report to code blues?
What does a surgeon get to do during a code? tracheostomies?

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[Pilot Doc]

Varies by institution.

For a surgical patient, a surgeon will often run the code if available. For non-surgical patients, vascular access and surgical airway are common procedures.

 

[surgical06]

code blue?, is that a trauma code i.e car, motorcycle accident, shooting, stabing, fall. if a patient is considered a trauma then a surgeon and or ER doc will be present for the code. depending on the severity of the case, the surgeon will run the code. any case that requires surgical intervention is run by the surgical residents/attendings

code blue as a medicine code. surgeons are there to provide access to large veins to ensure rapid fluid and drug delivery; femoral stick or subclavian (under collar bone), these are called central lines. in a minority of institutions the surgeons also intubate these patients, but in most places, anesthesia does them.

 

[Blade28]

For ACLS codes, usually I'll be helping the resuscitation team with access.

Unless I'm on my SICU rotation, in which case I'm running the code.

 

[eiresurg]

as surgeons, we are good with our hands, therefore:

A--intubate
B--let the medicine people bag
C--get a line in

it it's a surgery patient, you're in charge

 

[Winged Scapula]

As noted above, it varies by institution.

Those that I've worked in have "code teams" which do not include surgeons or surgery residents. These are generally anesthesia and medicine residents and attendings. If they need a line, they generally put one in, and surgery gets called only if they can't get it in.

As for codes on surgery patients, yes - surgery will get called, but unless you are on the floor (which isn't generally the case except for some junior residents), the code team arrives first and by the team someone senior from the surgery team arrives, the code is already well in place. The codes are "ran" by the code team - matter of fact, I got "in trouble" with the code team when I tried to run a code on one of my vascular patients. They had a point - a team needs only 1 leader and they were there first, already running the code.

So there are no hard and fast rules - I've never intubated a patient during a code - doesn't mean I can't, but my hospitals have always had anesthesia present and they've done it.

 

[FliteSurgn]

As a resident, we responded to all codes. The surgery residents were the procedure gods. We frequently did the intubations, established central access (if necessary), and obtained lab/ABGs. Generally, the most senior person in the room ran the code. That was frequently a surgical resident.

As an attending, our hospital has anesthesia and pulmonary critical care physicians that will manage the airway and run the code. If I'm in the hospital, I will respond to see if they need venous access or a surgical opinion.

 

[shag]

At my facility, surgeons are not part of the code team. We are called if needed for patients not on a surgical service.

If one of our patients is coding, and we are on the floor, we run the code. I respectfully listen to the medicine docs on the code team, because I may be scrubbed when the next patient codes and will have to rely on them to take care of business.