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In healthcare environments, professionals often deal with numerous medications at the same time. These items may be given in pill form, intravenously, or by syringe. Regardless of how they are administered, the ability to properly identify them in emergency situations or at other times is extremely important. Administering the wrong medicine might be life-threatening to the patient and is simply not good for any facility.

ASTM International defines standards for how the drugs placed in syringes are color-coded in healthcare environments such as clinics and hospitals. These standards have been defined to avoid dangerous medication errors in every area of the healthcare industry. Colored label tapes may be pre-printed to display the name of the medication in addition to the following optional information:

• Expiration Date
• Medicine Dosage
• Date & Time
• Person’s Initials

Colored label tapes meeting ASTM standards for anesthesia syringes offer a reliable identification method. This helps in preventing confusion or misidentification resulting from completely hand written labels. Each is color coded by medication to make it easy to place the right identification marker on the anesthetic syringe.

How Does Colored Label Tape Increase Accuracy?

Specialty labels for syringes are designed based on ASTM color standards to ensure easy identification and improved patient safety. Sizes and color backgrounds are determined by drug classification and ASTM standards. Tapes typically have the drug name printed on them and areas for dosage, date, time, or initials. For example, muscle relaxants are red fluorescent with black text while narcotics are blue with black text. Relaxant antagonists, narcotic antagonists, hypotensive agents, and other drugs have a colored stripe as defined by ASTM standards.

Colored label tapes may also be obtained to meet individualized anesthesia needs such as a specific drug name, size, dosage, or special colors. These identifying labels may even have a barcode for scanning. Beyond the variety of colored label tapes offered for this purpose in healthcare and pharmaceutical facilities, syringe labeling provides the following benefits:

• Increased Patient Safety
• Prevention of Drug Misidentification
• Prevention of Syringe Swaps
• Circumvention of Compliance Issues
• Avoidance of Hospital or Facility Litigation
• Securement of Occupational Health & Safety

Medication errors arise from many factors with syringe swap and misidentification remaining at the top of the list. The use of colored label tape reduces the chance of these errors by making it easier to identify anesthetic drugs in rushed or busy environments. ASTM color standards prevent misidentification due to similar drug names and appearances.

Having these supplies available in the required counts and colors guarantees that the drugs are marked correctly. It also eases the troubles of working with an extensive number of medications. Each unique label makes it easier to identify the medications. When you combine properly coded colored label tapes with a dependable provider, these systems become increasingly reliable.

At Shamrock Labels, we have been on the leading edge of anesthetic syringe labeling innovations since 1969 including the switch to pressure-sensitive alternatives. Our colored label tapes offer a dependable answer to meeting ASTM standards as well as specific facility needs. Need to know more about our products? Give us a call today and we will be glad to discuss your needs!