Condition L at UPMC (Come out, come out, wherever you are!)

The Post-Gazette has an article on the lawsuit that resulted from a patient, Rose Lee Diggs, being found dead on a freezing rooftop after she had wandered away from her room in December. Diggs had a history of wandering and it took the hospital over 12 hours to find her after she was reported missing.

What I found interesting in the article was this:

Following the death of Ms. Diggs, UPMC officials created a plan that would require prompt and extensive searches for any patient that went missing in the hospital system.

Called "Condition L," the plan involves a hospital-wide alert, and every available employee joins a coordinated search of the medical complex.

"UPMC is confident these initiatives will further ensure the safest environment possible for our patients," Mr. Wood said. "We have had a small number of Condition L's called, and in every case the patient has been located."

I find this interesting because a patient at UPMC told me that that when they did a test of "Condition L" a few weeks ago, there were hospital staffers wandering around asking each other, "What are we supposed to do?"

Moreover, according to what staffers told this patient, the volunteer who was playing the lost patient ended up falling asleep in her hiding place, eventually woke up and was so tired of waiting to be found that she came out of hiding and, uh, "unlost" herself. (I guess the patient ran out of patience.)

I'm just wondering if UPMC counts that as "in every case the patient has been located."

Olly olly oxen free!
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