If You Hear A “Code Brown” In A Missouri Walmart Get Out

Many larger stores or spaces may have an internal shorthand list of codes that employees use to communicate with each other or that management can use to communicate with their employees. I've even worked at radio stations where the receptionist may have a code or two to summon other employees to the reception desk to help handle someone who's upset or has a specific problem.

One major store, Walmart, has various codes to inform employees about what's happening without necessarily tipping off shoppers.

One that isn't so secret is Walmart's Code Adam. Code Adam was created by Walmart stores in 1994 and uses the name Adam in memory of Adam Walsh, the six-year-old son of John Walsh, host of Fox's America's Most Wanted, who went missing at a Sears store in Florida. When a Code Adam is called at a Walmart store, there are specific things employees must do to help locate the missing child. Wikipedia has a great rundown of what happens when Walmart or other stores call a Code Adam.

Did I mention that many stores, shopping malls, supermarkets, amusement parks, hospitals, and museums participate in the Code Adam program? Congress enacted legislation in 2002 that mandates all federal office building and base or post exchanges on military bases enact the program.

That said, Code Adam isn't the only code Walmart uses. You may hear other codes that indicate you should leave the store as soon as possible and at least one code that makes you rethink heading to your car if you're wrapping up your shopping trip.

Over on Quora, one Walmart sales floor associate posted what Walmart's different codes mean. This was a few years ago, so it's possible Walmart could have changed them, or moved on from them as more and more of the codes become known by Walmart's customers. Then again, I don't think I've ever heard Walmart publicly broadcast any color-coded message throughout the store while I've been there shopping.

According to Shelby Osburn, the Walmart worker who put these codes on Quora, here are Walmart's color codes:

• Code Adam- Lost Child
• Code Brown- Acts of violence being committed in the store
• Code Green- hostage situation
• Code Blue- bomb
• Code Red - fire
•  Code Orange - chemical hazard
• Code White - injury/accident
• Code Black - severe weather

As I scrolled down the article, it was interesting to see different employees and users take on Walmart's code system. Most are similar to the above, but perhaps for a Code Brown, someone called it a "shooting situation," while for a Code Black, someone just labeled it a "tornado." That said, generally, all the meanings are more or less related to the definitions above.

One person who worked at Walmart said that most codes aren't audible to shoppers anymore. I suspect that with the internet, cell phones, walkie-talkies, and the like, it's a little easier to keep internal communications more internal than ever.

That said, if I ever hear a Code Brown, Green, Blue, or Red from an associate's walkie-talkie or a store announcement, yes, I will make for the exit as soon as possible. If it's Code Black, the store might be safer than your car or trying to make it home before Mother Nature unleashes her fury outside.

So now you know what those codes in Missouri Walmarts stand for, whether you remember hearing them years ago and were always curious about them or want to file them away in case you hear one. At the very least, it's a cool bit of Walmart trivia and history.