2222 Is The Magic Number
Hospitals around the world have an astonishing array of different emergency numbers. Japan has 370, Australia 51, Spain 51 and the Netherlands 46.
There’s a call for the International Standardisation of internal hospital emergency numbers to 2222. With one number, delays could be reduced and recall would be easy.
During a cardiac arrest, the chance of survival drops to 50% after two minutes, so every second count. Having a number that everyone knows will literally save lives.
There’s widespread support for the initiative amongst organisations and health care personnel (check the link below for more info). Many hospitals are already making the transition and hopefully it will spread worldwide.
The UK implemented the change over a decade ago and staff surveyed had a 96% correct recall of the emergency number. Before the standardisation staff said they could spend up to two minutes simply finding the correct number.
Health care staff can work across multiple hospitals and departments, having one number in all locations is a very logical step.
NSW has introduced 2222 statewide this year. Health Minister Brian Hazzard said the streamlined approach is a ‘no brainer’. We couldn’t agree more.
