Monday, September 28, 2009

Review: Trauma

I would have been better off watching Dancing With The Stars and gaining favor with Martha than watching Trauma on NBC.

The premise is about EMS in San Francisco, and the focus appears to be on three Paramedics, one of them helicopter-based. That – just by itself – to me is absurd. But I’ll talk about that in a bit.

As I watched, I noted a few things that really, truly got my attention. First: who gives Versed to someone that is behaving like an a-hole? Hopefully nobody, but I have to be honest in that while I thought it was totally inappropriate, I also thought it was funny; I’m sure there were times that many of us would have liked to have done that, but we all know that it is wrong at the least, and grounds for a lawsuit at most.

Also: I know that ultimately we’re watching made for TV drama, but come on – working a code at an MCI? Please…

At the very least, the people who developed this television series did not do their research. They couldn’t have talked with those of us who do this for a living every day, and they certainly didn’t check facts, at least as far as patient care protocols are concerned. And – of all places – why did they set it in San Francisco? That is the biggest mystery to me as it is the most unlikely place I can think of where helicopters would even be a thought in terms of deployment. If I am wrong about that I would really appreciate being told that. And tell me why. That would be most appreciated. Otherwise, I simply think the premise is not logical.

Most helicopter-based EMS applications that I know of usually utilize them for Critical Care transport, meaning the flight crew is composed of a pilot and either a RN/EMT-P or double EMT-P configuration. I know of none that are simply pilot/EMT-P; that has to be fictionalized. Plus, if such a concept existed (pilot/medic), having a medic like the one portrayed here would give any sane person second thoughts about helicopter-EMS transport. I know it would for me. And the whole cricothyrotomy thing with the pediatric patient just struck me as crap, much like when Fr. Mulcahy did something similar with a jack-knife and a pen on an episode of M*A*S*H years ago.

If I have offended anyone by the harsh tone I’ve taken here, I apologize. But I am offended by this program; it has the potential of giving real EMS providers a black eye, because so many people believe what they see on television is portrayed accurately. Not this time, though. NBC really blew it out their collective ass.

4 comments:

Adoro said...

Not that I have any authority whatsoever, but if it helps, I thought it was crap, too.

I haven't been certified as the most basic EMT in YEARS and recently had a nightmare involving an MCI. The first thing I did in the dream...find a notebook for triage purposes. Weird.

In my dream, I looked at a dead man who maybe wasn't really dead...a Code wasn't even a consideration given all the other casualties.

So if an ignoramus like myself can even dream in triage (never mind the color) then how hard would it be for people who know nothing to simply pick up a widely-published textbook and READ that and use it as a template for the scene?

Personally, I think reality, even ATTEMPTING reality goes a lot further than dramatic intervention that would never be done in real life.

Remember a few years ago, ER? Did you ever watch that? Do you remember a scene involving a doctor who had been involved in some kind of chemical incident BAGGING herself? Um...HELLO?!

OK, ending rant now. I may be an idiot and completely uneducated and unexperienced, so hopefully my testimony will actually bolster what you're saying in a really ironic way.....

Ckemtp said...

AD summed the whole thing up nicely over on his blog.

I tried, but my opinions pretty much agree with you.

Hey, NBC. Get some REAL paramedics advising you real quick like.

TOTWTYTR said...

See my comment on AD's blog. Really, it's so silly to worry about this type of thing.

Nor can we really be worried about morons who might think this is real. They are the same ones that think that Judge Alex is a real judge.

Martha said...

At least they don't portray as drug addicted, with questionable morals and having sex with anything pants like Nurse Jackie does. Take me back to Roy and Johnny on Emergency please. I actually used to have a cap like nurse Dixie McCall...ah those were the days....