trauma: life in the ER

[byeh2004]

I've always wondered if this is realistic as it gets or if the show is scripted or what not

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[rpkall]

I don't think the show is scripted beyond the physicians being asked certain questions at certain times for dramatic purposes. For example, the producers might say something like "Could you speak about how this job affects your perception of life and death, and how it impacts your family?" And then they do. And then they splice that footage in between shots of patients as if the doc had just spontaneously said it.

As far as the dialogue during the traumas or in the patient rooms, I don't think it's scripted. I could be wrong though, so if anyone has heard otherwise, please post.

 

[teamdick]

Trauma codes are orchestrated chaos. Splicing in the recorded commentary makes it seem calmer and slows the pace. Parts probably are scripted, i.e. calmly calling CT that the patient is coming and then walking down the hall to get the results. In reality the pace is much quicker, but they have to slow it down so that the non-medical person can figure out what is going on.

 

[tigress]

I think the most manipulated part of the show is that they film for hours or days and cut it down to an hour-long program. So they can show multiple traumas and all sorts of exciting stuff, and leave out many of the realities of working in the ER, like people coming in for simple medical issues, drug-seeking people, paperwork, etc. They do sometimes show homeless people and some of the less nice aspects of the work, which is more than you can say for any other ER show, but they also make the pace seem constantly fast, with traumas coming in all the time and doctors rushing around saving lives.

Overall, though, it's an awesome show. I really like it

 

[ShyRem]

I was actually working a couple of times while this show was filming in one of our hospitals. It is NOT scripted. In fact, one of my co-workers patients made the show, and she honestly did not know they were in the room until she dropped her patient off. The one part that is a little false is the staff watches their language more and they are even more careful about what they say. There were rooms of the ER that were off-limits so staff could unwind without worrying about cameras around (that was nice). Overall, the camera crews were very very nice and stayed out of the way as much as possible while in patient rooms. And if you don't want something on camera, they won't put it on the show.

While trauma calls are organized chaos, time seems to go by faster when you're in the middle of them. You'd be surprised how much time actually goes by vs. how much time you THINK goes by.

 

[Em&M]

I think the most manipulated part of the show is that they film for hours or days and cut it down to an hour-long program. So they can show multiple traumas and all sorts of exciting stuff, and leave out many of the realities of working in the ER, like people coming in for simple medical issues, drug-seeking people, paperwork, etc. They do sometimes show homeless people and some of the less nice aspects of the work, which is more than you can say for any other ER show, but they also make the pace seem constantly fast, with traumas coming in all the time and doctors rushing around saving lives.

I agree with this poster.

I volunteer in the ED of a very large, well-known hospital (albeit, not a level I truama center...) but the pace on the show seems ridiculously fast compared to what I see. Tigress is right, there is a lot of humdrum aspects of the ER. A crowded, yet bored waiting room, docs sitting at their computers filling out paperwork. Nurses, trying to pawn off the "bad" cases on each other so they don't have to deal. Frusteration all around because there are never enough people to transport patients to the proper floors in the hospital (if they are staying), never enough staff to do anything, never enough linens, housekeeping ladies that steal stuff from the breakroom... need I go on?

Life in the ER can have some pretty intense moments but for the most part it is just day to day emergency medicine. Most patients are heart-attacks, strokes, broken limbs, OD's... standard, run-of-the-mill medical emergencies.

If the show actually showed the reality of it all, I doubt it would be quite as popular. Also, when I tell people that I volunteer in the ER, I doubt they would be as impressed if they knew the whole truth

 

[MarathonMan]

So I'm currently at my job in the ER as a tech and if I have time to post this message on SDN while on duty, then there MUST be downtime in most ER's. . really, they just pick and choose all the cases. one of the docs here was asked to submit a few patient cases on one of those shows that reenacts them and it was about this guy who had cut off his arm because he had a fetish for amputation and when he came in refused to have it sewn back on even though it was a aperfect cut. wierd. anyways, yes, exciting stuff happens occasionally, but mainly we get a lot of bs, fever, fingers slammed in car doors, drug seekers, UTI's, etc. depends on the day, ER, location of ER, etc.

 

[wends]

i love that show! its so cool!

 

[lisichka]

OMG, I just watched an episode filmed on valentine's day in LA: a little drowned girl, Ellie, who was revived... i am not a crier, but this is so emotional and touching:cry: makes me want to go into EM.
This whole episode was just AMAZING!!! I am awe struck: a 26 weeks preemie who made it ; a patient stabbed in the heart/or aorta, who died right there on the table I know it is only a documentary, but i felt as if i was there inside the ER, watching everything.

 

[HumidBeing]

OMG, I just watched an episode filmed on valentine's day in LA: a little drowned girl, Ellie, who was revived... i am not a crier, but this is so emotional and touching:cry: makes me want to go into EM.
This whole episode was just AMAZING!!! I am awe struck: a 26 months preemie who made it ; a patient stabbed in the heart/or aorta, who died right there on the table I know it is only a documentary, but i felt as if i was there inside the ER, watching everything.

The poor mom.

 

[moe_4eva]

While trauma calls are organized chaos, time seems to go by faster when you're in the middle of them. You'd be surprised how much time actually goes by vs. how much time you THINK goes by.

QFT. In the ER where I work, most trauma's take ~1 hour, but it definitely seems like 2 or 3 by the time they go to the ICU or surgery.

 

[lisichka]

The poor mom.

the mom was actually a cocaine user. docs said this could be what triggered her premature spasms. when she arrived at the hospital the baby was half-way out. so so tiny coudn't even breathe by himself. they had to intubate his tiny body.

they took the baby away from her. but after rehab she could appeal to get the baby back.

 

[SaveThisLabRat]

This whole episode was just AMAZING!!! I am awe struck: a 26 months preemie who made it

lol. Maybe 26... weeks? I'm not sure, but a 26 month old baby would definitely NOT be considered a premature baby.

 

[lisichka]

lol. Maybe 26... weeks? I'm not sure, but a 26 month old baby would definitely NOT be considered a premature baby.

sorry. you guys will be really good docs. very keen and observant. of course 26 weeks.

 

[SaveThisLabRat]

sorry. you guys will be really good docs. very keen and observant. of course 26 weeks.

You're going to be a wonderful practitioner. I've never even watched this show.

 

[scrubsaresexy]

That show infuriates me sometimes because if you look closely, very rarely is a cervical collar applied by EMS the right size. Every time I see a pt with a hard collar nod his/her head, I want to scream.

But other than that, it's a great show

 

[pseudoknot]

That show infuriates me sometimes because if you look closely, very rarely is a cervical collar applied by EMS the right size.)

Yes, but that's a realistic depiction.

 

[Wylde]

I've always wondered if this is realistic as it gets or if the show is scripted or what not

They actually shoot and stab people outside the hospital, fly them in and then make it look more dramatic. Sometimes the helicopter needs to fly in two or three times to get the right "effect"... those are the actors that die

JK, I think it is pretty realistic. Keep in mind, however, these are the most interesting cases in a level 1 trauma center (and POS cities). I think being an ER doctor is doing a lot of BS emergency room crap (checking out the kid who has a cold, etc.) with life-and-death drama dispersed in between.

 

[gump]

I really like "Trauma" also but it seems they are showing the same episodes from when I watched three years ago. Are they filming new shows?

 

[8744]

I like the show but it really should be called "Trauma Surgery: Life in the ER" because they follow surgeons and surgery residents, not their Emergency Medicine counterparts. Like somebody observed, most of Emergency Medicine is medical complaints (from the horrifically complicated to the sublimely ridiculous) with the occasional trauma thrown in. At my program there is nothing to the traumas after the airway management and initial assessment and stabilization which is usually not as involved as in the show. Trauma surgery generally "pan-scans" the stable patient and calls ortho for any broken bones after which the patient quickly vanishes from the department never to be seen again.

From our perspective, a medical code (CHF exacerbation in a elderly hemodialysis patient who is a nursing home paperweight for example) is a lot more involved than a trauma because we actually have to do something other than help surgery get the patient to the OR.