I feared more for innocent bystanders than for myself or the MICU staff. Fortunately I was right. But outside MICU it was a different story. Less than a minute after my call two security guards appeared. Ordinarily two guards can take care of almost any hospital disturbance but in this case they were outnumbered.
Standard policy is to escort off the hospital grounds anyone causing a disturbance.
Well, you can't. More security guards were called up, for a total of five. A melee erupted. Punches were swung and jaws hit. Fortunately, no one had a gun or the melee would have added to our ICU census.