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Science
Friday > Archives
> 1997
> November
> November 21, 1997
Hour Two: The Science of ER:
It's great entertainment - but is America's favorite television drama scientifically correct?
| Thirty to forty million Americans watch NBC's medical drama "ER" each week. Two of the show's eight writers are doctors, and they make regular visits to real emergency departments to observe and talk to the staff members there. But just how accurate is their portrayal of life in a working hospital emergency room? |  | A survey funded by the Kaiser Family Health Foundation, which also underwrites a series of medical education segments that some stations broadcast after "ER," found that 62% of the program's viewers listed medical education as at least one of the reasons that they watch each week. And they do actually seem to pick up little bits of medical knowledge. During an episode in which the cast dealt with the effects of a date rape, "emergency contraception" pills were used to prevent pregnancy. Although it has been known for several years that large, carefully controlled doses of ordinary birth control pills are approximately 75% effective at preventing pregnancy up to 24 hours after unprotected sex, many people -- including many doctors -- do not know of this treatment. After the program, 67% of the viewers surveyed knew that there was something a woman could do to prevent pregnancy after having unprotected sex, up from 50% before the broadcast.
But do viewers always learn correct information? A study by James Tulsky of the Durham VA Medical Center found significant differences between television's depiction of CPR and the way it works in real life. According to Tulsky's examination of several television medical series, two-thirds of patients receiving CPR survive -- while in the real world, only 7-15% of CPR recipients live. In addition, real CPR recipients tend to be much older than TV patients, and are much more likely to have serious heart conditions.
Writers for ER defend their work, however, saying that Tulsky's study is flawed because it includes data from shows like "Rescue 911," in which the very nature of the show ensures that most patients will survive. On this hour of Science Friday, we'll talk about the science behind the television drama, and about walking the fine line between education and entertainment. So get to a radio - STAT!
Guests:
Neal Baer
Producer and Writer
"ER"
Burbank, CA
Harlan Gibbs
Author, "The Medicine of ER"
Medical Director, Emergency Department
Glendale Adventist Hospital
Los Angeles, CA
James Tulsky
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Durham VA Medical Center
Duke University
Durham, NC
Books/Articles Discussed:
"The
Medicine of ER, or, How We Almost Die," by Harlan Gibbs. Harperperennial,
1997.
Related links:
Official show sites
From Warner
Brothers
For the "ER Live" broadcast
A searchable database of ER cases from 100 US hospitals
The Emergency Medicine BBS
The Virtual ER
American College of Emergency Physicians
American Academy of Emergency Medicine
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