Massaging The Truth

‘“ONE! Two! Three! Clear! Go again! Give me 10ccs of interfrastic spondulisation formula DH3 sub-section Hargreaves. One! Two! Three…”

‘Break it to me slowly, doctor’

Nooooo! It’s too late. It is our sad duty to tell you that watching ER will not save your life. Indeed, watching Casualty, will probably see it end in a textbook case of terminal boredom.

Having earlier in there week called for medics in hospital wards to wear green scrubs in place of staid butcher-style white coats, members of the British Medical Association have been diagnosing the telly.

And the news is that it’s not all that real. Television may very well be scripted, a form of entertainment and false.

The BMA’s members are particularly concerned about how patients’ expectations have been altered by scenes where the desperately ill (now believed to be actors) make stunning recoveries from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and electric shock treatment.

The Telegraph hears Dr Andrew Thomson, speaking at the BMA’s meeting in Manchester, tell his fellow medics that this is a “terrible distortion”.

“The truth is that many of the survivors can be terribly debilitated.”

He goes on to say that programme makers are afraid of portraying the “truth” and how the “media sugar coating of CPR leads of unrealistic expectations”.

He’s right. As anyone who has been to hospital will attest, very few doctors look like George Clooney, white coat, scrubs or mask…’

Posted: 30th, June 2005 | In: Uncategorized Comment | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink