MISTAKES ON "TRAUMA: LIFE IN THE E.R."

[MadrasEye]

sorry to rip off the previous thread.
Has anyone else noticed mistakes in patient care on the show?
I feel that the following thing I saw on the show was wrong.

. A trauma resident decides to wait for a CT scan in a baby who was involved in an MVA. The baby's vitals were unstable, and warning signs of hemoperitoneum were present "swollen belly" "massive trauma in a pt. with a falling BP", and I felt Laparotomy was the way to go. The baby coded in the CT Scanner. this took place at Vanderbilt.
In the words of Carlos Pestana, "The diagnosis is this far away (holding his fingers about three inches apart)" stressing the importance of a scoop and run policy, and the urgency of laparotomy in some cases. The three inch thing refers to the width of the abdominal wall in a normal midline laparotomy incision.


Has anyone else seen similar "mistakes" on the show?
K

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[Cassidy61]

Just remember that you weren't there for the whole situation. I have run across a similar situation in med school where a pt coded in the CT scanner when we all knew that it was a ruptured AAA. What you don't know and what they would never admit on camera is that the surgery team may have not been there. Especially on nights where there are multiple traumas going to surgery, you sometimes have to sit on your hands until the third call OR team can arrive from home. So, often instead of sitting on their hands, the physician in charge will at least get a CT while the team is assembling to know for sure what they are dealing with. It may not be the correct answer on a multiple choice test, but life is not always perfect!

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'll move this to the Lounge for you guys.