"Stupid" question of the day!

[JanessaG, BSN]

Ok so I keep hearing and seeing the term "crump". I get the general idea of this, I know it's bad and we don't want this, but I have no clue what it means

Is this a general term for when the pt goes south? Or is there a specific set of circumstances/pattern/symptoms the pt displays?

Thanks for all the wisdom I know will come :bowingpur

[ukstudent]

It's the same thing as "heading south, "circling the drain", "going towards the light".

It just means the point when a pt starts to go bad, eg. goes into respiratory distress, goes septic and the blood pressure drops, etc.

[fromtheheartRN]

crump: verb: In ambulance jargon, to die on the way to the hospital, has been used to describe computer crashes in hospitals too.

Example: The driver is hurt pretty bad, he'll probably crump on the way.

[nightmare, RN]

Now that's a thing I have never heard of.Must be a US term.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

We use "crump" in Canada too, to indicate that the patient's condition has deteriorated. It usually means a slide toward a bad outcome. It always means the nurse has worked really hard! In our unit "crump" is less severe than "crash", meaning we didn't need to do compressions. We also us the term "broken" to denote a patient who has not had a good shift. As in, "She was doing well on conventional ventilation, but we broke her when we turned and suctioned, and she ended up on the oscillator."

[JanessaG, BSN]

Thanks for all the responses. That makes sense and good to know! :)