TV driving me nuts

micsaver

micsaver

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Like most people, before I became educated a bit in first-aid I fell for or just didn't notice all the errors and bad practices or just flat out "that would never happen" stuff that is shown on tv. That being said, I just wanted to rant and vent for a minute that one of my favorite shows (at least it use to be), Smallville, has a new character on it that is a Paramedic and the portrayal is SO BAD. I would swear that the production staff never even talked to an actual Paramedic and asked "what do you do during your shift?"

Has the bad portrayal of EMTs and Medics on tv ever made you change channel?
 
I laughed pretty good at an episode of "Fringe" a few weeks back. A guy was going to push a syringe of god-knows-what into an IV line, so he did what every TV doc does; Taps the side of the syringe and squirt a little of fluid out to remove the air bubbles. Except the guy never got the air out, so there was about 5cc's worth of air at the end that he never got rid of before injecting into the bag, so his tapping did nothing but fulfill his stage direction.
 
They probably find the worst Paramedics from the worst diploma mills that will consult for free.
 
These kinds of things on TV/movies don't drive me nuts, but they do make me giggle.
My favorite quotes:

"Severe cardiac arrest"
"He has to practice CPR on a live person to keep his certification" (yes, they actually meant conscious person)
 
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Foxbat said:
These kinds of things on TV/movies don't drive me nuts, but they do make me giggle.
My favorite quotes:

"Severe cardiac arrest"
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HAHAHAHAHA!

I always find it laughable when you see a tv patient go into cardiac arrest in an ER and there is a shot of the flat line with tones on the ECG monitor, but there are no leads on the patient. HA, or when they spend a bunch of time working on a patient but they're not intubated or even receiving O2!
 
And doing what I call Baywatch CPR with the elbows bending with every compression.
 
Bahaha. Go see Last House On The Left. You get to see the father(who'se a doctor), cauterize his daughter's bullethole perform a thoracostomy on his daughter's hemothorax with a little tube off the handle from a bottle of windex AND do elbow bending miracle working CPR all in 15 minutes!
 
Sasha said:
Bahaha. Go see Last House On The Left. You get to see the father(who'se a doctor), cauterize his daughter's bullethole perform a thoracostomy on his daughter's hemothorax with a little tube off the handle from a bottle of windex AND do elbow bending miracle working CPR all in 15 minutes!
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wow that amazing. i hope to be that awesome when i grow up. lol.
 
Elbow bending cpr saves the back!
 
medic417 said:
They probably find the worst Paramedics from the worst diploma mills that will consult for free.
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In Southern California, they're not hard to find. ;)
 
Haha, this reminds me of something I wrote out of frustration a while back.

The more I learn, the more I yell at my TV.

I know, I know. I can't expect TV to portray medical scenarios without flaw. But still... you think they could pull their heads outta their asses for 2 seconds and at least do some research on whatever they're depicting. Hell, you could even google most of this stuff. Here's some of my favorite medical TV blunders.

CARDIAC ARREST ≠ HEART ATTACK
This one really pisses me off, because it happens constantly. It doesn't bother me so much when a fictitious show makes this error, but I usually see it on supposedly informational shows like the news. They're genuinely misguiding the public. Here's a good example. This little girl did not die from a "massive heart attack". She had arrhythmia, and died from cardiac arrest. Although it's great that they televised this story, 9News is actually undermining the Brianna Badger's Foundation's mission, which is to educate the public about cardiac arrhythmias. The impact of this common mistake on public thought is evident because I know that many, many people think that cardiac arrest and heart attack are the same thing.

TV MEDICS ARE RETARDED
My dad would not allow me to change channels from some overly dramatic episode of CSI... in which one of the characters was wandering lost in the desert after being trapped under a car and yada yada yada. Now I have no idea why CSI was doing search and rescue, but of course they found her collapsed, unresponsive and pulseless. Enter the most incompetent air medical team on Earth. They landed the chopper ridiculously close to the victim without a landing zone set up and threw a non-rebreather on her and stuck her with an IV before asking questions or anything. That's the only treatment she had. They also allow her ****buddy partner guy to come along for the ride. While in the air, she randomly opens her eyes and smiles.
What the ****?!
I would rather be treated by drunk chimps. Any average joe who's taken your average CPR class knows that a pulseless, apneic person gets CPR. DUH. And why the hell would you put a non-rebreather on someone who's not breathing?! She needs a BVM and chest compressions you morons! And there is no way in hell you would have full crew, a patient, and a random dude on a chopper due to weight restrictions and HIPAA and not wanting some random dude getting in the way. Air ambulances have enough weight problems without allowing bystanders on the chopper; I have seen them take a patient and leave a nurse on scene due to weight.
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Just remember, it is there as entertainment and most that make them are not worried about what the medical world thinks.

You will learn to overlook it and just enjoy the show as entertainment!
 
It's not just shows, it's also people that attempt to pass off info from said shows as fact.

Example;

Was in Jamaica back in January, and our bus driver told everyone if you get stung by a jellyfish, gross or not, it's a proven fact that urinating on it stops the pain.


It took all I could not to correct him infront of 40 people... but I did let my family know not to listen. I said just get the vinegar.
 
1. The Official EMS Training DVD aka "Bringing Out The Dead" (1999)
Amazon
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You did NOT just recommend Bringing Out The Dead. That was such a crappy movie. The book? Was good. The end was a little stale, but in general the book was good. However the movie was terrible! I'm glad I found the book before the movie, or I would have missed out on a good read, because the movie was just... dumb. And the acting (Save for John Goodman. But I'm a huge John Goodmanfan.) was the WORST! Especially Patricia Arquette.
 
Linuss said:
It's not just shows, it's also people that attempt to pass off info from said shows as fact.

Example;

Was in Jamaica back in January, and our bus driver told everyone if you get stung by a jellyfish, gross or not, it's a proven fact that urinating on it stops the pain.


It took all I could not to correct him infront of 40 people... but I did let my family know not to listen. I said just get the vinegar.
Click to expand...

And we know why they have vinegar on hand? ... ;)

R/r 911
 
For a volunteer flick, "Ambulance Girl" is good. The book was also a good read.

For TV's version of realism, I always chuckle at the person wearing a NC with an old ventilator in the background that has bellows moving up and down.

Of course, the patient on this "ventilator" is in an ICU with a nice private room that doesn't seem to have any medical staff anywhere nearby.

One of the EMS TV shows I would like to forget is "Saved". "Rescue Me" is in the same category but at least it has good acting which makes it almost enjoyable at times.
 
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