[RandomCitizen12]

Wiktionary says crump means "(intransitive, US, medical slang) (of one's health) to decline rapidly (but not as rapidly as crash)."

[tptacek]

There are several doctors here, one of them could pop in and tell us if crumping and crashing are interchangeable. I actually thought "crumping" was the more severe thing to say.

[ghufran_syed]

I often use them interchangeably, but “crashing” implies it’s a bit faster (and therefore more obvious), whereas “crump” implies it can be a bit slower. So a “crashing” patient implies you have to run in the room and do something immediately, but a patient who “crumps” might gradually get worse over several hours, have to be put on a ventilator, require pressors, but with much less drama maybe?

I think “crash” gets used more in the past tense, whereas “crump” gets used maybe equally in both future and past tense? e.g “that patient you signed out to me crumped a couple of hours later” , but also, say when leaving a shift, in the future tense, “the guy in bed 6 is admitted to medicine, but let me tell about him in case he crumps”.

[DowagerDave]

my understanding is "crump" as in crumple, fast but not immediate deterioration. I believe you can crash at the end of your crump.