Does it bug anyone else that the ER staff seem to have unlimited access to the hospital roof? I've never worked in a hospital, but it seems odd to me that the roof seems to be so easily accessible. Do they all get a key or something when they join the ER? This just seems really weird to me!

-- Cherry Hoffner (hoffner@mail.icongrp.com), February 04, 2000

Answers

It's not totally absurd. Many hospitals have a helipad on the roof (we've certainly seen this before on the show), so staff would naturally need to have access to it. I don't find it very strange at all (even though all my helipads are on the ground outside).

-- Mike Sugimoto (phloem@fumbling.com), February 06, 2000.

Mike? Just how many helio pads do you have?

Just curious...

-- Patrick O. (secom@hotmail.com), February 08, 2000.

You have obviously never spent days or weeks on end in a hospital with a very sick spouse or child. The boredom becomes almost unbearable if your loved one is "out" most of the time, and a little curious browsing combined with a medium amount of daring will get you on the roof of most hospitals!

-- Jim Constable (thedude1@mindspring.com), February 11, 2000.

Hospital in our town has 6 floors and there is an outside rooftop area to go smoke or eat at picnic tables but there are bars to prevent anyone jumping or falling off (it is just outside the peds area). They erected a barrier for the smokers so the children don't seem the endless smoking each time they look out the window. At Christmas they string up lights saying Merry Christmas across the bars that you can see from the parking lot or driving down the street.

-- rabbitoy (icon51@aol.com), February 11, 2000.

I worked at a hospital for 10 years and the door to the roof was always locked

-- tina (superslomo@aol.com), February 11, 2000.