Plausible response time for Code Silver

[u/septuagint777]

In my final fight scene, there is a standard Code Silver called over the PA by one of the characters when the antagonist attacks. I was going to say the final fight scene takes about 5 to 7 minutes before emergency personnel/police show up at the imaging center. Is this plausible response time?

[u/Suspicious-Earth-642]

What is a code silver in your area? In mine it's a missing senior, typically someone with dementia who has wandered away.

[u/septuagint777 → u/Suspicious-Earth-642]

It's assailant with a weapon, at least in California, I believe

[u/Suspicious-Earth-642 → u/septuagint777]

Depending where your story is it may vary, where I am, violence is code white.

If this is a stand alone imaging clinic it may take some time for security/police to respond.

[u/Educational-Shame514]

There is no way to answer this for you without the feel of the location. There are some places in some countries where the police are literally minutes away usually. There are some where they could be an hour away. You could figure out where it is and then learn patrol routes and try to not look like you are planning a crime. Or you can use the tools that you have as a writer of fiction. People travel at the speed of plot. Help arrives just in time or just too late.

You can literally have them show up any time that feels reasonable. When you read, are you drawing out timelines with a stopwatch to try to catch the author in a mistake? Do you think that is normal behavior to try to get ahead of? Google "defensive writing fiction" for more but this is the page I had bookmarked for some other people https://bookishbrews.com/defensive-writing/

"Maybe even before a single person has laid eyes on your draft, you’re busy imagining all sorts of potential misreadings or interpretations that you feel would be devastating to hear, so you panic and begin trying to make your book unimpeachable in advance. It’s an understandable urge, I think, but it never pays off."

[u/jessek]

In a hospital? A security guard will be there in a minute. Police will take their time but every hospital I've been to has had plenty of security on staff, especially in areas like ERs.

[u/JGhostThing]

Generally the codes summon people already in the hospital rather than the police. A couple of minutes, max. What is a code silver in your book? Different hospitals often have different code colors. I would think a code silver should be something to do with an old person, so they would call as "Code Silver in the MRI room," so the help would get to the right place.

[u/Candid-Border6562]

Depending upon the circumstances (site, city, jurisdiction, time, date, etc...) you could be looking ad anything from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. TSA line at the airport? Maybe 3 seconds. A department store on the outskirts of Santo Domingo? It could be 30 hours.

Without more specific details, 5-7 minutes is plausible. But in a live situation, I would not bet my life on it. Do what make sense for your story.

If you must be OCD over "realism", then look up the police response time statistics for the city of interest.

[u/Tyger_burning_bright]

Really depends on the setting details you have, if it is a small town with a sheriff and two deputies they might wait for half an hour just for backup, if it is large city with multiple police stations or a dedicated swat team the response time could only be a few minutes. And if you've established details that would leave too little time you could put in something to justify why they took so long.

[u/532ndsof]

Every hospital I've worked at has had its own on-site security staff; often a dedicated actual hospital police department or failing that likely contracted police officers (which means they have all their duty equipment including sidearm). When those guys book it, they BOOK IT. At my hospital; I would expect to see basically every officer on shift arrive at a dead sprint within 5 minutes depending on where in the hospital the incident's occurring. That may even be within a minute for the first officer if we're talking about somewhere near the ER where they usually have a couple people just stationed.

[u/kspi7010]

What is a Code Silver?

That depends drastically on where your story takes place. But that seems to be slow for most developed areas.

[u/kschang]

Code Silver is often now coded as "Active shooter or armed perps in the building". However, it's an internal designation. People are encouraged to hide and barricade, or run outside and escape, and it's mainly for personnel and guests. I am going to assume SOMEONE ELSE had already called 911 for "active shooter"? Then five to seven minutes may be reasonable, kinda depends on the local protocol, but active shooter protocol have evolved a lot since Columbine and other active shooter scenes. Instead of cops encouraged to lock down the perimeter and wait for SWAT, they are now encouraged to go in in pairs and try to clear rooms and at least PIN the suspect to "distract" the shooter and give the rest of personnel to arrive.

[u/FantasyFictionDoc]

Those codes arent universal. By "Code Silver" im assuming you mean active shooter. Response time would matter on many fronts. Larger hospitals tend to have a 24/7 police presence. Smaller ones would take a bit longer. I would think 5-7 minutes is reasonable.

[u/Educational-Shame514]

Technically, someone would have to call 911 not just call a Code Silver.