It is extremely rare for a surgeon to get involved in patient codes. The truth is, surgeons simply don’t have the time to respond when a patient is coding. They have other responsibilities that they must attend to.

“Coding” is a colloquial term for going into cardiac arrest. During cardiac arrest, a patient suddenly and unexpectedly stops breathing, loses consciousness, and their heart stops functioning.

When a patient in a medical facility is coding, a team of medical professionals, sometimes referred to as a “code team”, rushes to the scene to initiate immediate resuscitation efforts.

Specific medical personnel are designated to respond to patient codes. Typically, these teams include physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists.

Theoretically, any medical professional can respond to a code. However, in practice, specific personnel are assigned this task. A surgeon would not be assigned to respond to patient codes. As you might suspect, surgeons are generally too busy performing surgery to get involved when a patient is coding.

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