Watching these shows now that I know more about the medical field is a whole new experience. I recognize that they have to get around certain things for creative license or whatever, but still things are quite laughable.
For example-in House, Three Rivers and ER they have thrown patients on ECMO and within a small amount of time the patient is off ECMO and walking out the door. Really? is all I have to say. My fave was on Three Rivers when the dude is in heart failure yet on a nasal cannula, goes on ECMO and is still talking and not intubated and the ECMO pump is just this teeny thing and there's no nurses at the dude's bedside. For your information-this is an ECMO pump:
It's a little more than a no-man operation here.
While I'm writing this I'm watching Grey's, an episode from season 2 where they have the baby quints in the NICU. This is my fave:
The one kid has hydrocephalus and immediately got a shunt-really? REALLY? Yeah, first you have to evaluate for a reservoir which takes weeks, then another several weeks/months before they even THINK about placing a shunt.
One kid has gastroschesis (guts on the outside). Apparently they're doing a staged closure but the remaining intestines are all wrapped up close around the baby's abdomen. They should be up in a bag with no pressure on them so you can evaluate for necrotic bowel.
One kid apparently has hypoplastic left heart syndrome and they're evaluating for a norwood-I'm pretty sure that kid would have to be bigger and probably needs to be on more support than this 1kg kid is.
One kid has bad lungs-no big deal-The kid gets apneic and immediately they're intubating. Really? We wish! It's called blood gases, increasing O2 support-pulling out high flow, cpap, then intubation. Usually takes hours.
Anyway I used to hate people like me who complain about the medical misinformation that gets tossed around on these shows. And it doesn't deter me from watching these shows-if I didn't what would I do with my time?
Maybe I just wish that in the real world things would happen as fast as they do on television.
3 comments:
That is funny, when Courtney and I lived together, she would say the same thing about medical shows.
OK...your post should come with a dictionary for us lameons. I now deem you a medical snob with charm.
Way to go J's...when I was called for (maybe) Jury duty that was one thing the "lawyers" mentioned..."Now, you KNOW that those medical/lawyer shows aren't real....right???RIGHT???? hahahaha!
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