code blue

American  

noun

1. (often initial capital letters) a medical emergency in which paramedics are dispatched to aid a person undergoing cardiac arrest.

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Etymology

Origin of code blue

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

I was the slowest doctor in the herd of physicians responding to code blue alerts for medical emergencies at the hospital.

From Scientific American • Feb. 19, 2023

Nurse Kristen Cline was working a 12-hour shift in October at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when a code blue rang through the halls.

From Salon • Jan. 1, 2021

If a patient’s heart stops or if they stop breathing, we call a code blue, and that’s when the doctor, respiratory therapist, nurses, everybody comes into the room.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2020

It was his first code blue at Woodhull, a public hospital in Williamsburg.

From New York Times • Oct. 9, 2014

“Code blue, code blue in Trauma,” blares the PA.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman