This happened a while ago when I was undergoing daily radiation treatments after a lumpectomy. The waiting area for radiation is divided into mens/womens and is sort of a combination locker room/lounge area. I was chatting with the other women and one elderly lady happened to mention that she was there waiting for her husband, who was on “the other side” getting treatment for bladder cancer. When her 80-something husband stepped into the room with his hoodie* unzipped (he needed his wife’s assistance to zip him up), I called out jokingly “Heads up ladies! Man on the floor!” Then I commented “Oh, look at that slab of beefcake showing off…” He grinned and assumed a couple of flexing-his-biceps poses, and everyone laughed (some applauded). Suddenly four nurses/aides ran into the room with a sense of urgency and stopped abruptly when they saw the laughter and clapping. “Who,” one angry nurse asked in measured phrases, “called out a ‘man on the floor’ alert??” Oops. I sheepishly confessed, adding “It was just a joke – y’know to lighten the mood….” They were not amused, but after they left the crowd in the lounge laughed even more. So I guess I did brighten some folks’ day, but not so much the attending staff.
*Radiation patients typically wear a zippered hoodie with nothing underneath for appointments to avoid the time spent changing out of clothing and locking it in a locker.
TL,DR: I jokingly called out “man on the floor” in a hospital, not realizing it signaled a medical emergency.
Comments
They can’t expect everyone to know hospital codes, I can’t say it’s your fault or your f up, at least you brightened a few peoples’ day
This happens often on my unit. When a new patient arrives to the unit whoever sees them first announces it on the radio.
“227 is on the floor.”
“Literally in the floor…?”
“Correction, 227 is on the unit.”
Where were you treated for cancer that the staff was so ill-tempered? That’s a shame.
I once did something similar in the ER. The pain meds for kidney stones had kicked in and I was loopy. I dropped my phone and loudly said “man down!”. People came running thinking I had fallen out of my bed. I felt so guilty.