Patient Identification

You may have noticed when reading some of my articles that I use four-letter alpha codes for some of my patient stories/species-specific articles. This is an extension of working within the rehab center. To make it easier to identify a specific patient, each one is assigned a patient ID, which consists of their species alpha code, year of intake, and intake number for the year.

Common Alpha Codes

Here are some common alpha codes I may use and what their species’ common name is:

• DIVI —> Virginia Opossum

• TAST —> Chipmunk

• SYFL —> Eastern Cottontail

• SCCA —> Eastern Grey Squirrel

• ODVI —> Whitetail Deer

• EASO —> Eastern Screech Owl

• RTHA —> Red-tailed Hawk

• RSHA —> Red-Shouldered Hawk

• COHA —> Cooper’s Hawk

• BWHA —> Broad-winged Hawk

• BAEA —> Bald Eagle

• CAGO —> Canada Goose

• MALL —> Mallard

• EABL —> Eastern Bluebird

• NOCA —> Northern Cardinal

• EAPH —> Eastern Phoebe

• BRTH —> Brown Thrasher

• CAWR —> Carolina Wren

• HOWR —> House Wren

• TECA —> Eastern Box Turtle

• CHSE —> Snapping Turtle

How are Alpha Codes Created

You may notice that the alpha codes for birds are fairly straightforward. It is usually a combination of the first few letters of each word in their common name (NOCA = NOrthern CArdinal, EASO = EAstern Screech Owl, MALL = MALLard, etc.). It gets a little trickier when it comes to deciphering the mammals and reptiles. Their alpha codes are abbreviations of their scientific names (Sylvilagus floridanus (eastern cottontail) = SYFL, Sciurus carolinensis (easter grey squirrel) = SCCA, Chelydra serpentina (snapping turtle) = CHSE, etc.).

Why Use Alpha Codes & Patient IDs?

There are a number of reasons we use abbreviations and numbers as patient identifications. The main reason is to make it easier to identify a particular patient in the database, as well as on their cage cards, and when referring to a patient in conversation. Because the MWRC is a learning-based facility, we use these IDs instead of names to encourage the students to have a more professional view of patients instead of perceiving them as pets. It makes it easier to plan the recovery and treatment of patients when they are not viewed in a personal way. While everyone who works within the rehab field has compassion and empathy for each patient, an over-attachment can, and has, been detrimental to the patient themselves. This leads in to a bigger discussion, which I plan to talk about later. Essentially, using the IDs is a universal method to refer to a patient and create healthy views towards a patient.