Trust AnMed to protect you, your family and your friends while in our health care facilities. Learn about the safety and security processes we have in place to keep you safe and comfortable.
A Culture of Safety
To manage your care, AnMed uses advanced technologies and safety systems such as:
- Electronic Order System (EOS): Eliminates medication transcribing and staff interpretation errors to ensure a physician’s order is filled exactly as requested.
- Admin-Rx: Barcodes all medication for safe administration. Your AnMed caregiver scans the medication barcode and your patient identification wristband to ensure a physician’s medication order matches the dosage and medication you receive.
- Fall Prevention: Performs a fall assessment in the hospital to identify your risk of falling and tailors a care plan to prevent falls.
- Patient Identification: You’ll wear a barcoded identification bracelet in the hospital to ensure you get the proper treatment and medications.
Staff Badges & Patient ID Bracelets
Stay involved in your care by speaking up and asking questions when you have concerns. Do not be afraid to ask your AnMed care team to:
- Show their hospital ID when they come into your room. All hospital employees wear badges. If you do not see an ID badge on an employee, call your nurse immediately.
- Check your patient ID bracelet or ask your name and birth date before administering medication, transporting you, or performing procedures and treatments.
- Wash their hands before touching you
- Explain your tests or procedures, why you need them, when you will have them, and when you can expect the results
You have the right to information and involvement in decisions about your care. Learn about your patient rights and responsibilities.
Colored Wristbands
AnMed hospitals use colored wristbands to communicate important patient information quickly. Each wristband color has a meaning along with a message to reduce confusion:
- Red: Allergy to a certain medicine, food, dust, or something else
- Yellow: Fall risk
- Purple: Do not resuscitate
- Green: Latex sensitivity
- Pink: Leg or arm that can’t be used for checking blood pressure or taking blood
Preventing Infections
You can help prevent infection while you are in the hospital by following these six simple guidelines:
- Ask visitors not to sit on your bed.
- Clean your hands frequently, especially after touching any potentially contaminated surface and before eating or touching your face. Keep your hand away from your mouth, nose and eyes.
- Make sure all caregivers, family members and visitors wash their hands or clean them with an alcohol-based sanitizer before touching you. Alcohol-based sanitizers are available in each hospital room and throughout the building, for anyone to use.
- Notify a nurse immediately if an intravenous (IV) site becomes red or sore.
- Tell family and friends not to visit if they are sick.
Rapid Response Teams
Rapid Response Teams respond quickly to changes in a patient’s condition—often before a heart attack or another medical emergency occurs. Call 8500 from any phone at AnMed Medical Center to reach a Rapid Response Team.
You’ll be asked:
- Who you are
- Room number
- Patient’s name
- Patient’s health concerns
When You May Need a Rapid Response Team
You or your loved one are more likely to experience rapid changes in your condition after surgery, during medical tests or when recovering from an illness. Warning signs that may mean you’re getting sicker include:
- Changes in heart rate
- Confusion or other mental status changes
- Difficulty breathing
- Significant rise or drop in blood pressure
- Urinating less or more frequently
If you or a loved one gets sicker quickly, contact the nurse or call 8500 to activate the Rapid Response Team. The team includes a critical care nurse, nursing supervisor, and respiratory therapist who comes to evaluate you as soon as possible. The team may recommend laboratory tests, X-rays or new medications.
These actions can help patients get better and live longer. Research shows that rapid response teams save lives, reduce the length of hospital stays, and decrease the risk of breathing problems, organ failure, and stroke.
Facility Safety
When you are in our health care facilities, we have policies and procedures to protect our facilities and maintain a safe environment.
Fire Alarms & Drills
We conduct periodic fire drills. If you hear a fire alarm, please stay where you are. If there’s an actual emergency, hospital staff will let you know.
Electrical Devices
You can use only battery-operated devices in patient rooms. Electrical devices, including hairdryers, curling irons, razors, radios, heating pads, portable heaters, VCRs and other devices, are not permitted in patient rooms.