is this one of those things that’s standard operating procedure but sounds scary if you’ve never heard about it before?
Definitely. I work public safety for a very large art festival in the desert, and you never say "deceased" or "dead" or anything like that (including "drunk" or "high" or "tripping balls") over the radio. You don't want to cause a panic, and also you're not a doctor (or, if you are, you aren't operating in your capacity as a doctor), and you don't want to bias incoming experts with bad information. We train our volunteers to describe what they need and what they're seeing (e.g. "I need medical for a mid-30s participant who is unconscious and not breathing" or "I need help with a large late 50s male-presenting participant who seems disoriented and aggressive") when making radio calls, not to diagnose. It's very standard practice.
Definitely. I work public safety for a very large art festival in the desert, and you never say "deceased" or "dead" or anything like that (including "drunk" or "high" or "tripping balls") over the radio. You don't want to cause a panic, and also you're not a doctor (or, if you are, you aren't operating in your capacity as a doctor), and you don't want to bias incoming experts with bad information. We train our volunteers to describe what they need and what they're seeing (e.g. "I need medical for a mid-30s participant who is unconscious and not breathing" or "I need help with a large late 50s male-presenting participant who seems disoriented and aggressive") when making radio calls, not to diagnose. It's very standard practice.