Presented September 5th, 2018 at APSF Stoelting Conference 2018
SUMMARY
- ISMP has received numerous reports of vial and syringe swaps because of look-alike labels or caps
- Color coding is a common sense way to discourage vial or syringe swaps
- However, color coding may increase the incidence of intra-class drug swaps but these may have less of an adverse event profile when they occur
- Proving the efficacy of color coding is nearly impossible
- Changing the ingrained culture of color coded syringe labels will be nearly impossible
PRESENTATION MATERIALS
ISMP Perspectives on Standardization of Labels and Vial Colors – [PDF]
ABOUT THE SPEAKER(S)
Ronald S. Litman, DO, ML
Dr. Ron Litman is an anesthesiologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Dr. Litman is currently the Medical Director of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the Medical Director of the MH Hotline for the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the U.S., and a member of the FDA’s Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee.