PRINTER'S NO. 221
No. 49 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY PAYNE, BENNINGHOFF, BEYER, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE,
CAPPELLI, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DENLINGER, FAIRCHILD, FREEMAN,
GINGRICH, HENNESSEY, KULA, LONGIETTI, MANDERINO, MARKOSEK,
MUNDY, PALLONE, PICKETT, RAMALEY, READSHAW, REICHLEY,
SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, SONNEY, SWANGER,
VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WALKO, YOUNGBLOOD AND PETRI,
FEBRUARY 5, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
FEBRUARY 5, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Department of Health to study, review and make
2 recommendations relating to the imposition of Statewide
3 standards for uniformity in the use by health care providers
4 of color-coded patient wristbands.
5 WHEREAS, A recent "near-miss" report submitted to the Patient
6 Safety Authority through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety
7 Reporting System (PA-PSRS) describes an event in which
8 clinicians nearly failed to rescue a patient having a cardiac
9 arrest because health care workers mistakenly believed the
10 patient's wristband color meant "Do Not Resuscitate" when it was
11 actually meant to convey a different message; and
12 WHEREAS, The problem was caused partly by a health care
13 provider's confusion about the meaning of a yellow wristband: In
14 that particular facility, a yellow wristband means "Do Not
15 Resuscitate," but in a nearby facility a yellow wristband means
16 that a patient should not have blood work or an intravenous
1 device placed in that particular arm; and
2 WHEREAS, There is no uniformity among health care providers
3 as to which wristband color indicates which medical message;
4 therefore be it
5 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
6 Department of Health to study, review and make recommendations
7 relating to the imposition of Statewide standards for uniformity
8 in the use by health care providers of color-coded patient
9 wristbands; and be it further
10 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
11 Department of Health to submit a report to the House of
12 Representatives summarizing the findings and conclusions of its
13 study no later than July 31, 2007.
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