Medical Slang

Altered mental status; a change in awareness or thinking.

A corpse processed for the mortuary

A phlebotomist or lab tech who draws blood

A small walk-in clinic, no appointment needed.

A homeless patient with no fixed bed of their own

Going through delirium tremens (alcohol withdrawal)

Mortality and Morbidity conference — the meeting where the team dissects what went wrong.

Anaesthetists

Implying symptoms are psychological, not organic

General surgeons

Mature content — open to view.

IV pain/sedation cocktail

A fascinating, unusual case or lesion

Polite-sounding code for a morbidly obese patient.

Motor vehicle collision; a car crash.

Casualty Evacuation on any available transport.

Emphysema patient who stays pink by breathing hard

When the patient's notes have vanished mid-ward-round.

A catheter placed in a large central vein near the heart.

Eyeball test for anaesthetic fitness — could you picture this patient browsing Woolworth's?

Normal saline; 0.9% sodium chloride IV fluid.

Patient's wet the bed, get the cleanup kit.

Return of Spontaneous Circulation — the pulse came back.

See champagne tap; also generic praise for a clean result

Mature content — open to view.

Shortness of breath; difficulty breathing.

Flowers at the bedside suggest a well-supported patient

Advanced Cardiac Life Support; the cardiac arrest protocol.

Mature content — open to view.

Dead Right There — the patient is gone before you even unbuckle the gurney.

A demanding patient on the call bell for trivial requests

'Little Old Lady in No Apparent Distress'

Endotracheal tube; the tube placed during intubation.

Mature content — open to view.

Mature content — open to view.

'High-Velocity Lead Poisoning' — a gunshot wound

Officially 'Within Normal Limits'; joked as 'We Never Looked'

A combat medic or Navy corpsman.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; chest compressions and rescue breaths.

Infant abduction (or paediatric/neonatal emergency) alert