Codes

Charge nurses and codes in EDFlow: call, extend, clear and cancel codes, resolve paged codes, post the delay notice, merge and throttle rules, and which categories can notify patients.

Why does this happen?

Someone in the emergency department needs urgent care right now, so part of our team is with them. This may add time to your wait. We haven't forgotten you, and we'll be with you as soon as we can.

If you feel worse, tell a staff member right away.

This page is the charge nurse's reference for codes in EDFlow. For the call itself, see Calling a code.

Code alerts: active codes with type, location, time called and who called, with Extend, Clear and Cancel. — WebCaptured from build 7c7f41f on September 27, 2026

Where codes come from

Source	What happens
Console or companion app	Two-step call; the caller answers "Which patient is this for?"
Paging system	Filtered by location. Codes outside the ED are staff-only and prompt nobody (unless your site turns on "ED responds outside"). Inside the ED, you get a prompt: "Code Blue received from paging. Which patient is this for?"
EHR	Same as paging

Nobody is notified from a paged or EHR code until you answer the prompt.

Code call, second step: the chosen code type and location, who will be notified, and the final Call button, not yet confirmed. — WebCaptured from build 5003605 on September 27, 2026

Managing an active code

Post delay notice: one tap from the code strip, Codes, or the app. Anyone with the permission (including clerks) can post it for the resuscitation team. You can end it early.
Extend: +15 or +30 min, up to 240 min in total.
Clear: ends it now. Banners disappear within 10 s once the last notifying code ends.
Cancel (called in error): ends it now and adds "This notice has ended." to the patients' inbox. A push already sent can't be recalled.

Codes expire on their own at the expected duration.

Who can notify patients

Only medical codes, and only types your site enabled. Code Stroke and STEMI are staff-only by default.
Security and facility codes can never notify patients, even through the API.
The code's patient, anyone in the named zones or bays, and anyone in resuscitation are excluded. Only the notice stages receive it.

Merge and throttle

codes.notifyThrottleMinutes (default 30 minutes)

Each visit gets at most one pop-up and one push per throttle window. A second notifying code within the window updates the existing notice ("Updated …") without a new push or pop-up. The banner stays while any notifying code is active.

Screenshot pending: patient-code-delayThis screenshot is captured automatically from the running app with sample data.

WebCode-delay notice

Staff notifications

The "Code called" push to staff is off by default, because staff hear the overhead page. When on, it goes to on-shift staff with no area in the text.

Setting	Default	Allowed values	What it does
`codes.notifyThrottleMinutes`	30	15–120 minutes	Delay-notice push throttle per patient.
`codes.autoNotifyFromFeed`	false	boolean	Feed codes post the notice without a prompt (never skips the subject step).
`codes.edRespondsOutside`	false	boolean	Prompt the charge nurse for codes outside the ED.
`codes.pagingEdLocations`	[]	array	Paging locations inside the ED.

Audit and analytics

Calling, clearing, posting and ending notices are audited. Code impact on flow is reported per code type in Codes and delays, with the caution that codes often coincide with busy periods.