Veteran Dies Following Delay in “Code Blue” Alert at Memphis VA Medical Center
Veteran Oversight NowShow Notes
In the latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, a VA OIG healthcare inspection hotline director discusses a telemetry technician’s failure to follow a series of communications within the time frame established in the facility’s cardiac telemetry monitoring policy delayed initiating a code blue alert, ending with the patient’s death. This edition also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from March 2024.
“Once the patient's heart rate completely stopped and they went into asystole, that should have triggered a code blue. Period.”
– Trina Rollins, VA Office of Inspector General, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Hotline Director
Related Report: Care Deficiencies and Leaders’ Inadequate Reviews of a Patient Who Died at the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee
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