TRAUMA Premiere, 20 Sep 09

[fireflymedic]

Kiwi,

Just go to NBC.com and you will be able to access it. Click on trauma and episode one. You'll be able to watch the junk. In all fairness though, it does show a crew doing morning checkoffs. Perhaps some changes were made? Things that were originally edited out placed back in to improve the image after such a negative response from JEMS ?

[VentMedic]

2. Didn't you know this blatant overuse of urban HEMS is what Dr. Bledsoe is describing? Only this ain't houston, it's san fransisco. Same difference though, never mind you're 15 minutes by ground, we're going to fly you anyway. Though it is almost getting that bad in a few areas that are rural. There's a little freestanding ER clinic with an ALS service less than 15 min by ground from university's level 1 trauma (yes right down the same exact street so it's a straight shot) yet they utilize flight a ridiculous amount from there. Even at worst, the far edges of the county you are no more than 30 min by ground out. I think they just like to see the pretty birds show up *sigh* - you can't fix stupid.

San Francisco has no flight services. Whatever helicopters to bring the patients to the city hospitals must land at the airport or just outside the city. San Francisco General, the trauma center has been attempting to get a helipad for at least 10 -15 years but it has been controversial due to the potential for crashes and noise. Their board had been trying to assure the community this is rare as they may have a shot at getting this helipad approved with the new hospital that is in the plans. Now, they have a TV show displaying horrific crashes in every episode.

For CA the use of Paramedics on Flight is very rare unless they have an RN with them. Most of the teams are RN/RN or Reach also has RN/RRT. In fact, RNs or MICNs do most of the CCTs in much of CA.

As for the EMS staff with SFFD, I feel kinda bad for them. They are at the mercy of whatever mess the FD gives them. They are unfortunately many years behind the rest of the country but more progressive than Southern CA.

4. There is the rare flight service (ie Maryland State Police) that fly pilot and one caregiver and utilize scene personnel if an additional provider is needed. There has been much debate over their chosen structure as to whether is is adequate or not for patient care. They are the only service that I am aware of that flies this way (if there is another please let me know).

The Trooper 2 crash had a volunter EMT on that flight who died in the crash. I am against the use of just plucking someone from the ground as it had been a practice with a couple of FD and SO helicopters here in Florida in the past few years. The ground personnel may think it is cool to be asked to ride but many are not trained adequately to be informed enough to understand the risks. Nor, have they prepared their families for this risk. Yes, being in an ambulance is also risky but the additional risks of getting into a helicoptor justs compounds it especially as a volunter.

[Kiwiology]

As for the EMS staff with SFFD, I feel kinda bad for them. They are at the mercy of whatever mess the FD gives them. They are unfortunately many years behind the rest of the country but more progressive than Southern CA.

When I was in San Fran they said they are having to figure out how to "un-merge" medical from the Fire Department since they screwed up canabalizing the Department of Public Health EMS so bad in the late 1990s.

[fireflymedic]

Vent - I understand there are no services within San Fransisco that are flight. I was simply commenting on the statement of overuse of HEMS that was stated earlier. Dr. Bledsoe speaks out against the exact things shown in the show, and while I disagree with him on some things, I understand he is an advocate for HEMS safety which I can definitely appreciate. However, most of his studies are in Texas urban areas while this show takes place in San Fransisco - that was the only relation I was referring to. I agree with you that it doesn't help with San Fran General's ability to calm the public's fears. The public is terrified of exactly what the show portrays - again another reason this show didn't think much before doing the series. Hopefully it will not be much to the detriment of San Fran General's bid to finally get a helipad. Best wishes to them.

[stcommodore]

I didnt think it was that bad for a series first episode. Third watch had a stunning debut but most shows just squeeze by the first time. We cant expect total medical correctness, have to expect action and sex. I want to give it a chance to grow and something ems related on primetime may do us some good.

[WANTYNU]

I'm not offended, I'm pissed off. You want to know why?

This is how the public sees us...

And it sucks.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Man after being away for over a year it takes dreck like this to bring me back to post.

I agree with Wendy (and just about every other post on this thread) all I can think is "there goes an hour of my life I'll never get back".

Why does this stuff happen? For the same reason that J&J still shows nurses in the back of a bus.

How's this for an Idea, if you want reality portrayed on TV, just treat jobs from NBC studios like they show us on TV! (just make sure you document what SHOULD have been done), see how quickly they change their thinking. In the meantime, it's time for "So you think you can dance" (or whatever) reruns in this Monday night slot.

If you think about it, we (as a nationwide group) touch the lives of a lot of people, and on occasion the ones who come up with this crap, no I'm not suggesting euthanasia, but I'm sure a happy median can be found (to bury the bodies)...

United we stand.

As always IMHO,

Be safe

-Wantynu

Edited September 30, 2009 by WANTYNU

[emtfan]

Adding this one to the mix. From today's New York Daily News.

http://tinyurl.com/y8co45a

[Richard B the EMT]

1) NYPD Aviation sometimes does Medivac flights. They have no on board medical personnel, so they would "borrow" an EMT or Paramedic from a ground EMS crew to fly with their patient.

2) As I forget his on line name here at EMT City, I reprint an article here, quoting our own Devin Kerins:

Truth's a casualty on NBC's 'Trauma,' say emergency medical professionals

By Richard Huff

DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR

Wednesday, September 30th 2009, 4:00 AM

Anastasia Griffith plays a knockout of a paramedic, but NBC's 'Trauma' flatlines with the facts.

NBC's new drama "Trauma" launched Monday, and for a select audience - real emergency medical services professionals - the show was a comedy.

Unintentionally.

It was so bad that anyone with the most basic EMS training would hope none of these characters ever has to save a real life.

"I have never gone from 0 to 60 with hatred so fast in my life," wrote Devin Kerins, a paramedic and the author of "EMS: The Job of Your Life," on his Facebook page.

He wasn't alone.

"Trauma" follows a team of San Francisco paramedics. The show started with two of them having sex in an ambulance, and then the episode rushed into a multi-vehicle crash on a highway, complete with heroics and explosions.

"If you're gonna have sex in the ambulance, would you do it in the middle of a major street in broad daylight?" Kerins asked.

He's got a point. And that was just one of the sillier aspects that took place in the first episode.

Full disclosure: I am an emergency medical technician and the chief of an award-winning New Jersey first aid squad. And before the naysayers say hey, it's just TV - stop. They're right, it is entertainment, not a documentary. But wouldn't it be just as easy to get the facts right as wrong?

Characters on "Trauma" repeatedly did dumb stuff. CPR was performed poorly, and one character, unbelievably, stuck around the hospital to find the name of a John Doe who died at the scene.

Wouldn't the morgue have been a better place?

At one point, a medic hit on a pretty blond victim with her arm in a sling.

"That hurts. That means it's broken," he said in a groan-inducing moment. "You've just become a priority."

He got her onto a helicopter - a vehicle used to transport only the most serious victims - prompting one of the pilots to say, "I never knew I was flying for Booty Call Airways."

People who work in any profession often find flaws in TV characters, but this one was bad. It was like having newspaper reporters on TV write stories with crayons.

"I think they forget," FDNY paramedic Yahki Langford said Tuesday, "especially with the first episode, there will be a lot of EMS people critiquing their every move."

No doubt some were. Whether they come back next week is another question.

Asked Kerins, "Is it physically possible for a TV series to 'jump the shark' before the first commercial break?"

rhuff@nydailynews.com

[emt11]

The EMS characters were dead on.

The male ALS provider with an ego from hell, does anyone here not know one of those ?

The female EMS provider screwing around, do we not know one of those ?

The male EMS provider with marriage problems because of an affair, ever see one of those ?

The new guy catching hell because he is the new guy, anybody here ever done that ?

EMS providers drinking after the shift is over, anyone here not ever thrown back a few ?

Oh! Pick me! Pick me, I know the answers!!

Of course we all can answer these questions. I'm with you hardcoreemt, I thought the show was pretty accurate too, except if I wore my uniform unbuttoned to my navel I'd get fired. But other than the lack of helmets, it was pretty close. (would all the members of the code red club please raise their hands)

[Dustdevil]

Asked Kerins, "Is it physically possible for a TV series to 'jump the shark' before the first commercial break?"

ROFL! Good call! I hope Devin comes back to discuss this with us!

By the way, the author of that article is a member here too.

I dunno that I can agree with hardcoreemt on the realism factor. The characters he describes were caricatures of themselves, portrayed in a manner that does not accurately represent the way the exist in the wild. Two problems: First, the acting was horrible. I don't necessarily put that on the actors themselves, as they are going to do it however the director tells them he wants them to do it. It is the director's job to get the characters right, not just the actors. Second, the writers simply tried to saddle each character with too much baggage. Instead of making the characters interesting and likable, it made them loathsome, and nobody is going to care enough about any of them to come back and follow them each week.

Although, I have to admit that there truly are a lot of loathsome people in EMS, so maybe that's not far off the mark.