The Louisiana Hospital Association this week adopted a voluntary statewide standard for the color-coded wristbands used to alert hospital personnel to certain patient conditions. Hospitals adopting the standard will use the three national consensus colors of purple to convey do not resuscitate, yellow for fall risk, and red for patient allergies, as well as two other standardized colors for latex allergies and restricted extremities. "Standardizing the visual cues regarding a patient's condition, regardless of where that care is being delivered, should greatly reduce the potential for confusion and provide improved consistency of care," said Ken Alexander, LHA vice president of quality and regulatory activities. The association plans to publish an implementation toolkit online next month. The AHA has assembled a list of state hospital association efforts related to wristband standardization, available online.