Let’s be completely honest here and say that movies aren’t meant to educate people on what happens in emergency rooms, since they’re not. They are there to entertain and to give people an experience that isn’t entirely realistic but can pass muster at a glance unless those watching have worked in the medical field for any length of time. There are plenty of errors that go into these movies since the actors are just that, ACTORS. They’re not doctors, not physicians, and as smart as some of them are, they typically lack the experience to do much of anything other than passing a bottle of Tylenol to someone with a headache. But with the right cast and the right situation an ER can look like a bustling and professional place since plenty of people would argue that each emergency room in every city, state, and even country is bound to be different. That’s true, but one thing they have in common is that they’re expected to be professional and cut the dramatics the moment that a patient is in their care. It’s the job of those working in the ER to keep people alive, not become their friends. It’s entirely possible that a lot of doctors will come to care about their patients, but what movies won’t tell us is that it’s a lot more clinical most times than we want to think about.
Here are a few things that the movies get wrong about emergency rooms.
5. Not every patient that comes into the ER is near death or in danger of expiring.
There are set hours when it comes to most hospitals and clinics, and when a person needs attention right away or has something wrong that can’t be helped by putting ice on it, the ER is the place where a lot of people go. Many people try to stay away from the ER in such cases since they cost a bundle and without insurance could easily place a person in debt for the majority of their lives for something that turns out to be a simple injury. But the fact is that those that come into the ER aren’t always at death’s door, as believe it or not, pregnant women have been admitted through the ER simply because the regular hospital services were closed. Yes, pregnant women that were doing just fine but were there because the baby was coming at an inopportune time. Hey, it happens.
4. Insurance companies tend to have a stronger presence in the ER than most movies will depict.
Like it or not, a hospital is more than a place of healing, it’s also a business, and it’s run in that manner by insurance companies that are paying out for certain care and medication. If your policy is expired or hasn’t been paid up in a while then it’s very possible that insurance companies will deny payment for your care. It’s brutal, it’s rude, and it can definitely put a damper on what a hospital can do for you, but it does happen. One might think that insurance companies shouldn’t be able to deny a dying person, but remember what was mentioned above, not everyone coming into the ER is going to be in critical condition.
3. Typically the ER nurses and staff will not rush out to a patient in the parking lot with a gurney.
This is something you tend to see a lot of in movies, someone is staggering into the parking lot, or into the building, or just to the front stoop, and people come running out and either have a gurney with them or have one coming. This isn’t about to happen unless you show up bleeding to death or showing visible signs of trauma. Even then one would have to be inside where there’s an actual doctor on hand to see this, or it could be that the next trip from the ER could be to the morgue since they’re not usually on pins and needles waiting for someone to come into the parking lot with a grievous injury. It’s brutal, but it’s the truth.
2. There is a lot of paperwork and busywork that goes into the ER and not a lot of downtimes.
This is another part you don’t get to see a lot of but will notice if you ever have to use the ER for anything. Depending on what city you’re in it could be that the ER will be packed with people waiting to be seen, or people filling out paperwork while they’re in pain, or both. The endless paperwork that needs to be done so that the hospital is covered, the patient is covered, the staff is covered, and the insurance companies are kept happy is so extensive that one can’t really be faulted for staying away from the ER as much as possible since each trip means more paperwork, and the staff knows this better than anyone.
1. There’s not as much chitchat or prompting when the ER staff is working with a patient.
The ER staff won’t be wasting breath when they don’t need to since depending on the status of their patients they’ll be a clinical a possible when making observations and trying to get through the process to keep the person alive and far from danger. But no, you probably won’t hear ‘Stay with me’ or anything similar when a person is coding since the staff members need to communicate with each other when trying to keep people healthy and capable of making it through a visit.
A lot of times an emergency room is either very busy and people are doing their best to keep up, or it’s sedate and there’s still a ton of stuff that needs to be done on a regular basis, especially in this day and age.
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