
    In a busy emergency room, administrators need to track the total patient load as pairs of patients are processed through triage. Starting with an initial number of waiting patients, the system needs to calculate the cumulative workload by summing the number of remaining patients after each pair is processed. The calculation should continue until all patients have been processed or there are insufficient patients to form a complete pair. For example, with 7 initial patients, the system would calculate 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 to determine the total patient-time load. This metric helps predict resource requirements and staffing needs during peak hours.
    

    
def sum_series(n):
    """
    In a busy emergency room, administrators need to track the total patient load as pairs of patients are processed through triage. Starting with an initial number of waiting patients, the system needs to calculate the cumulative workload by summing the number of remaining patients after each pair is processed. The calculation should continue until all patients have been processed or there are insufficient patients to form a complete pair. For example, with 7 initial patients, the system would calculate 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 to determine the total patient-time load. This metric helps predict resource requirements and staffing needs during peak hours.
    

    """
def sum_series(n):
    """
    In a busy emergency room, administrators need to track the total patient load as pairs of patients are processed through triage. Starting with an initial number of waiting patients, the system needs to calculate the cumulative workload by summing the number of remaining patients after each pair is processed. The calculation should continue until all patients have been processed or there are insufficient patients to form a complete pair. For example, with 7 initial patients, the system would calculate 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 to determine the total patient-time load. This metric helps predict resource requirements and staffing needs during peak hours.
    

    """
    if n < 1:
        return 0
    else:
        return n + sum_series(n - 2)