code...danger?
So on Grey's Anatomy they called it a "code black". At MGH I hadn't ever heard of such a code. Apparently at BWH it's called a "code white". The other day at work I hear an overhead page "attention code white". I pause...look at my co-worker code white?...oh right that's the one about a...bomb? "Isn't that a bomb scare?"..."yeah it is"... So being that it's a hospital and would only ever be evacuated in the most extreme of circumstances, such as if part of the building has already collapsed on itself, they make this annoucement to the employees hoping to not upset patients, follow it with no explaination, and repeat "code white still active" every 15mins for 2+ hours. So basically every 15mins it's a reminder that you are in fact trapped working in a building that potentially could have a bomb in it, though there is nothing you can do about it. I was just like this can't be real there's no way, as if somehow I was going to be able to sense the difference given absolutely no information. Some of the nurses and doctors called home to their families and told them about the threat and made sure to get their (potentially) one last "I love you" in. One nurse said "well I wasn't going to risk anything because if it happens to be real we've got potentially 16floors crashing down on us...my husband said that he'd be willing to come dig me out though". It makes the day a little more interesting knowing that you work in the basement of a tower that you are being told has a bomb in it. The variety of ways people responded was interesting cause some were totally serious and calling home while others were like "dude do you think they'd make us work later and help with the rescue work if we survived? or maybe we'd get to go home early?". I was told that it was quite the rarity for this code to be announced and for it to last for as long as it did, hence why some people freaked. Anyway as you can tell the building did not blow up and I was not trapped underneath tons and tons of concrete, it's just scary to think that it all could've gone entirely differently. I didn't exactly take any of it seriously but I will say that I breathed a nice sigh of relief when I heard the "all clear code white". It just made me think a little about the profession I'm getting myself into because in most other places of employment they would have evacuated until everything was clear instead of expecting everyone to stay inside and just wait for the concrete to potentially come crashing down on them. Or in a blizzard/earthquake/flood etc other jobs would be closed yet with a hospital thats when you're needed the most.
Today at work it was the stupid fire alarm and "code red" that went off for about an hour. Supposedly there was a fire on the floor below ours. The alarm says "if you hear a sound after this message please follow your floors safety plan" we hear the sound...what do we do? nothing. Everyone looks at each other and keeps working. It's just weird. I know they cant evacuate a hospital or even upset the daily runnings a little but if thats the case why do we have these codes? Everyone was like "well youd know if you smelled smoke etc that you had to do something" So I was like "wait so we have all these alarms and yet we wouldnt do anything until we were in immediate danger giving us minimal time to do anything". I think they need to just have one that means get out now sound in the particular area and leave everyone else alone. That way people dont get confused and when something real happens just assume its fake. PS- BWH uses ARCE instead of RACE, what kind of hospital does that?
So the other day I found out that a friend of mine was attacked walking home friday night and had been in the hospital for 3 days without me having any idea. I only found out because someone tried calling him and when he called back we found out where he was. I was totally dumb founded, like this couldnt have happened. It scared the hell out of me. I also found out that he was staying in the hospital that I work at too so he'd been right there all along and I just had no idea. I felt horrible that I hadnt visited or anything and Id been right there, though there was no way of me knowing. He almost had to go in for surgery again this week and if he had he would've been brought out to the PACU after, where I work. So if I hadn't found out from someone else I could've potentially ran into him coming out of the OR and been like "um hi? what's even going on?", that woulda freaked me out. I was on his floor bringing patients up a few times and had no idea he was there, like I said I woulda freaked if I happened to stumble into his room. It turns out I walked past the ER on friday night on my way home just 1-2hours before he was brought through the same doors. Anyway I did eventually get to see him and find out that he will be ok. I ended up stopping in a few times while working cause I couldnt get what happened out of my head. It was nice having someone to visit at work again but It pained me to know why he had to be there and I didnt enjoy work much that day at all.
What was odd was that in orientation, as with any hospital, they burned HIPPA shit into our heads even more so than other hospitals. I signed like 3-4 papers saying I wouldnt look into info that wasnt my business or tell people shit etc. They gave scenarios that were like "Joan asks you if you would find out if her neighbor Sam Brown is doing well etc. What should you tell her?"blah blah blah. I always was just like dude this is simple and stupid let it go. Well never did I think that I would be presented with one of those situations. Like I could've easily gone into the computer and looked up any of his health information and Jess was even like "dude you can find out for us" etc. I was like "yeah I have access to that...oh shit that's TOTALLY a HIPPA violation, there is no way I'm gonna do that". Like I wasn't gonna go get juicy details or anything but being a health nerd I was curious of exactly what procedures were done, how they went, if his chest xrays were ok, or if his RBC count was plummeting etc. Things that he was a little hazy remembering the details ok and I couldve look it up but I didn't. That is when I realized how actually important that stupid HIPPA shit is and the need to burn it into our skulls. I also thought that I wouldn't really want to know anything that he didn't want to tell me and was probably better off not knowing the details, plus if I were in the same position I'd want the same respect. Hence the purpose of the law. It was just odd that I didn't fully get it until now.
NUPD received a call from a parent who said his son had been robbed and stabbed twice the night before in the Fenway area while walking home at 1 a.m. Boston Police responded to the emergency and the student was taken to Brigham and Women's hospital. He had been confronted by seven males; one of them did the stabbing after seeing the 20-year-old did not have much money. The student went into surgery and his current condition is unknown. The case is under investigation.
Side note- I think Im driving to Canada with Jess tomorrow/in a few hours
Today at work it was the stupid fire alarm and "code red" that went off for about an hour. Supposedly there was a fire on the floor below ours. The alarm says "if you hear a sound after this message please follow your floors safety plan" we hear the sound...what do we do? nothing. Everyone looks at each other and keeps working. It's just weird. I know they cant evacuate a hospital or even upset the daily runnings a little but if thats the case why do we have these codes? Everyone was like "well youd know if you smelled smoke etc that you had to do something" So I was like "wait so we have all these alarms and yet we wouldnt do anything until we were in immediate danger giving us minimal time to do anything". I think they need to just have one that means get out now sound in the particular area and leave everyone else alone. That way people dont get confused and when something real happens just assume its fake. PS- BWH uses ARCE instead of RACE, what kind of hospital does that?
So the other day I found out that a friend of mine was attacked walking home friday night and had been in the hospital for 3 days without me having any idea. I only found out because someone tried calling him and when he called back we found out where he was. I was totally dumb founded, like this couldnt have happened. It scared the hell out of me. I also found out that he was staying in the hospital that I work at too so he'd been right there all along and I just had no idea. I felt horrible that I hadnt visited or anything and Id been right there, though there was no way of me knowing. He almost had to go in for surgery again this week and if he had he would've been brought out to the PACU after, where I work. So if I hadn't found out from someone else I could've potentially ran into him coming out of the OR and been like "um hi? what's even going on?", that woulda freaked me out. I was on his floor bringing patients up a few times and had no idea he was there, like I said I woulda freaked if I happened to stumble into his room. It turns out I walked past the ER on friday night on my way home just 1-2hours before he was brought through the same doors. Anyway I did eventually get to see him and find out that he will be ok. I ended up stopping in a few times while working cause I couldnt get what happened out of my head. It was nice having someone to visit at work again but It pained me to know why he had to be there and I didnt enjoy work much that day at all.
What was odd was that in orientation, as with any hospital, they burned HIPPA shit into our heads even more so than other hospitals. I signed like 3-4 papers saying I wouldnt look into info that wasnt my business or tell people shit etc. They gave scenarios that were like "Joan asks you if you would find out if her neighbor Sam Brown is doing well etc. What should you tell her?"blah blah blah. I always was just like dude this is simple and stupid let it go. Well never did I think that I would be presented with one of those situations. Like I could've easily gone into the computer and looked up any of his health information and Jess was even like "dude you can find out for us" etc. I was like "yeah I have access to that...oh shit that's TOTALLY a HIPPA violation, there is no way I'm gonna do that". Like I wasn't gonna go get juicy details or anything but being a health nerd I was curious of exactly what procedures were done, how they went, if his chest xrays were ok, or if his RBC count was plummeting etc. Things that he was a little hazy remembering the details ok and I couldve look it up but I didn't. That is when I realized how actually important that stupid HIPPA shit is and the need to burn it into our skulls. I also thought that I wouldn't really want to know anything that he didn't want to tell me and was probably better off not knowing the details, plus if I were in the same position I'd want the same respect. Hence the purpose of the law. It was just odd that I didn't fully get it until now.
NUPD received a call from a parent who said his son had been robbed and stabbed twice the night before in the Fenway area while walking home at 1 a.m. Boston Police responded to the emergency and the student was taken to Brigham and Women's hospital. He had been confronted by seven males; one of them did the stabbing after seeing the 20-year-old did not have much money. The student went into surgery and his current condition is unknown. The case is under investigation.
Side note- I think Im driving to Canada with Jess tomorrow/in a few hours