Code red at hospital emergency rooms may soon be a thing of the past. A trial period is nearing completion that will determine if the code system actually works.

It has been more than five years since hospitals in Monroe County initiated the emergency room color code system. It was intended to alert emergency medical service units as to how busy each ER is.

On May 1, hospitals began a 120-day trial period of working without the code system because emergency department directors determined it wasn't working the way it was intended.

"Hospitals and the emergency departments are busy not necessarily because of the number of ambulances that are arriving, but the number of patients that are waiting in patient beds and in patient bed capacity," said Dr. Jeremy Cushman, EMS medical director for Monroe County and an ER physician at Strong Memorial Hospital.

The trial period was agreed upon by emergency room directors and EMS providers as both aim to make emergency room care more accessible.

"Code Red" indicated a very busy emergency room and an EMS crew may have been advised to transport a patient elsewhere. During the trial period, patients are brought to the hospital they request, or where they will receive the best care.

"We'll continue working with the hospitals while they tweak the system so that it can provide better flow,” said LaShay Harris of Rural/Metro Medical Services. “We've seen some changes where the triage delays that we have experienced have been lessened. You're going to have those delays occasionally, but not as frequent."

So far, doctors say the trial has been a success.

"Patients are continuing to go where they want to go and where they clinically should go, and our EMS drop times or the amount of time it takes an ambulance to get back in service has not changed and in fact actually be trending to be better," Dr. Cushman explained.

When the trial period ends, doctors believe the elimination of the emergency room code system will become permanent.

Monroe County EMS