Bed 4

As I've said before, I never used to be superstitious before I started working in the ED, but these days I'm pretty sure Bed 4 is cursed.  I don't know if somebody wheeled a stretcher under a ladder or broke a mirror or strangled a black cat or whatever in there, but it seems that any patient brought back to that unlucky spot has an elevated risk of going septic and coding.

I took care of no less than three truly sick (as in the ER definition of sick, not "I've had sniffles since the AM," but "very likely to die in the next few minutes") patients in Bed 4 last night.  Two of them coded, and the other dropped her pressure and required a rapid intubation, central line, gallons of fluid and every drip known to man before getting her up to the ICU.  And that was just in one shift.  I don't know why a black cloud hangs over that room, but I do know that if I'm ever a patient, it's not where I'll want to be treated.