Hospitals Cover Up LiveStrong Bracelets

[Lady Effingbroke]

~snip~

TAMPA, Fla. - A hospital chain is taping over patients' LiveStrong wristbands because they are yellow — the same color as the "do not resuscitate" bands it puts on patients who do not want to be saved if their heart stops.

No mix-ups have been reported, but BayCare Health Systems officials do not want to take any chances.

The popular LiveStrong rubber bracelets are sold through the Lance Armstrong Foundation as part of the champion bicycle racer's efforts to raise money for cancer research.

"It could be confusing, particularly in the situation of a code or a cardiac arrest where people have to think very quickly," said Lisa Johnson, vice president of patient services at Morton Plant Mease Health Care, which is part of the chain. "We wouldn't want to mistake a Lance Armstrong bracelet and not resuscitate someone we're supposed to."

~snip~

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[sir_captain]

1. Seems perfectly reasonable

Perhaps patients should just take them off

[greatauntoftriplets]

3. Yes., that is a good idea.

Usually hospitals don't like patients wearing any kind of jewelry in general. It can get in the way of IVs and stuff like that.

[Lady Effingbroke]

4. Yes, thankfully I've never been hospitalized, but I thought that hospitals

made patients take all jewelry off before being admitted? (Of course this doesn't include those who arrive unconscious in the ER - is jewelry at some point removed from unconscious patients?)

[sir_captain]

5. The ER I work in

does make them take all jewelry, etc, off. I'm not sure about the rest of the hospital, though.

[WindRavenX]

2. oh man that's scary

And that IS an accident just waiting to happen...
I've been wearing my LiveStrong bracelet since June.

[pleiku52cab]

6. Got mine from an anesthesiologist at Sarasota Hospital

Just take it off seems like too much of a common sense solution to this problem - lets cover them up instead. Duh

[sir_captain]

7. If the patient is lying there in their gown

they might not have anywhere to put it and might not want to lose it...

But yeah, can't totally disagree