Touted by NBC as, "the first high-octane medical drama to live exclusively in the field where the real action is," Trauma has a lot of work to do in order to gain the respect of real emergency responders. The first blow came from a review published on the Journal of Emergency Medical Services website before the pilot episode aired on September 28. JEMS Editor-in-Chief A.J. Heightman slammed the show, referring to one scene that involves a multi-vehicle accident and a gasoline truck as being, "forced to watch some of the most unethical EMS behavior you'll ever see."
For responders that tuned in to see for themselves, very few made it to the end of show before turning the channel. Not even minding the characters' bizarre quirks and problems, it was more of being embarrassed and even a little shocked by how these paramedics were portrayed professionally.
Disastrous Portrayal Goes Beyond Street Medics
Flight paramedics and nurses have more reason to be offended than anyone, with a show that uses a helicopter for anything - even leisure rides. What the general public might not realize is that helicopters are used for certain criteria such as ground transportation greater than 30 minutes to the closest ER and even then, only if the call is for a major trauma or critical cardiac patient. The only seemingly justifiable trauma on the show that might have warranted a flight was a young boy bleeding from the neck and floating in and out of consciousness. But even that scene was marred by enough procedural inaccuracies that it was ruined. First off no helicopter, or even ambulance for that matter, is going to take a patient with only one medical person on board. Second, the parent not just riding along but being asked to assist in a critical procedure. In the real world, even the patient compartment of an ambulance is off limits for passengers.
Second Episode Offers No Hope for Second Chance
The October 5 episode included a scene where an ambulance responds to a shooting and is required to wait on law enforcement to secure the scene. Yes, this is a real world practice. This crew however, pulls right up on scene and in plain sight of the victim's friends. No, this is not a real world practice.
Even though this show is a drama and wants to deliver action packed sequences and believable characters that viewers can relate to, the effort gets lost in all of the distracting, technical mistakes. What made shows like ER and Emergency! so fun to watch for the responder community was identifying with their patients, procedures and problems, as well as wondering how they might handle that same call. With Trauma, those elements are too incorrect and often times too ridiculous to relate to, leaving nothing for responders to identify with other than getting fired.
