>> The hospital operator announced four codes in the span of forty-five minutes. This means that in less than one hour, four people were actively dying and, to use the passive voice, assistance was requested to help prevent the irreversible.

Four codes in forty-five minutes is impressive. There is only one “code team” in the hospital and though not all members of the team are necessarily required in a code, each code can last anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour. Thus, four codes taxes the code team system.

The first code was in the lobby of the hospital. (Not a good place for a code.)

The second was on a medical ward of the hospital.

The third was on the same medical ward, but seven rooms down.

The fourth was in one of the intensive care units.

The operator sounded non-plussed by the third code.

>> In the cafeteria, a woman was carrying a tray that held what looked like a grilled cheese sandwich (mmm…). As she passed by the shelf of cookies, her walking speed decreased and her eyes surveyed the confections. Turning away, she resolutely murmured, “I do not need one of those.”

>> A female physician, long white coat ballooning open, stealthily crossed a hallway and entered a restroom. The door was clearly marked “MEN”. This classification did not phase her. Before the door closed completely behind her, however, she suddenly lurched backwards and re-opened the door. She was grimacing.

>> Two people were guiding an empty gurney out of an elevator. The gurney did not initially clear the elevator doors. The two people attempted to steer the bed out again, this time with success. After making a wide left turn, they guided the bed to turn right into the main hallway. The right side of the gurney then bonked into the corner. They backed up the bed again and completed the turn. Like an obstinate shopping cart, the gurney began to veer left, despite their best efforts to maintain a straight path. The bed then banged into the left wall of the hallway. To compensate for the bed’s deviant tendencies, they purposely oversteered the bed to the right. The bed then collided into the right wall.

>> Written on the ER board: “Drumstick versus eye.” It was unclear if the eye injury was due to a stick used with percussion instruments or a poultry leg.