Playing by the rules?
Asystole - Rulebook
Surgeons vs. medics: Asystole is played by two competing teams.
ORDER OF PLAY
Preparation:
Shuffle the cards. Split yourselves into two rival departments: "internists" and “surgeons”. Everyone sits in a circle alternating between internists and surgeons.
Use the online ECG timer below on your device (for example - a smartphone); alternatively you can use a different timer with a time limit of 90 seconds for each round.
Game round:
The internists go first and choose someone from their team to be the first patient, who is given the pile of diagnosis cards face-down. The ECG timer is then started. The patient must describe the diagnosis shown in bold on the card without:
showing the card to their team, or
using any component of the diagnosis term, or
using any of the forbidden words listed below the term on the card.
HOW TO PLAY
Your patient is trying to describe their symptoms but can't find the right words… and their heart rate is getting faster and faster… It's up to you to diagnose them correctly before they go into asystole!
Two departments go head-to-head to diagnose the greatest number of patients.
A rivalry as old as time itself: internists vs. surgeons.
Asystole Round 1: Illustration of gameplay with 6 players. The internists diagnose terms that the medical patient tries to describe. The director of the surgical department monitors the history-taking process by looking out for the forbidden words.
The history-taking process is closely monitored by the director of the rival team who sits adjacent to the patient for any hint of negligence (ie use of any forbidden words).
If the internists correctly guess the diagnosis term being described by their patient, they win that card.
If the patient uses any of the forbidden words/phrases or their component parts, the card goes to the rival surgical team.
However, if a forbidden word listed on the card has already been said out loud by the internists during that round of guessing attempts, it may then be used by their patient to describe the diagnosis in question.
If the patient cannot or does not want to describe a certain diagnosis, the card also goes to the rival team.
As long as the timer is still running, the patient can then pick up a new diagnosis card and continue to describe their list of ailments. Once the patient goes into asystole - a continuous tone on the ECG timer - the round is over.
At the end of the round, each team gathers up all the cards they have won. To continue the example above, the internists collect the cards that were diagnosed correctly, while the surgeons collect the cards that were not diagnosed or were subject to negligence (ie use of any forbidden words).
Next:
The responsibility of history-taking then shifts to the other team.
The rest of the game proceeds in a clockwise direction (see Figures 1 and 2 for illustrative examples). The internists are now responsible for checking whether any forbidden words are used in the process.
The timer is started again, and play continues as before.