Code Blues Across the Hospital: ER vs ICU, First Codes, and the Ones That Stay With You

Banter At The Bedside · Mar 17, 2026 · 1h 7m

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In this episode of Banter at the Bedside, we’re talking about codes — the first ones, the chaotic ones, the ones that still stick with you years later.

From ICU to ER to floors and even elevators, we share real stories about what it’s actually like to run a code in different parts of the hospital. We talk about freezing during your first code, team dynamics in the room, why location matters more than people realize, and what happens after the room clears.

An ER physician joins the conversation to break down how emergency department codes differ from ICU codes — what works…