TRAUMA - Episode 9 , 23 Nov 09

[Dustdevil]

I have watched this show from the first episode. I was prejudiced against it from the start as far as reality comparisons. I too groan when something ridiculous is shown. What has surprised me is that I am beginning to like the show! I agree with others that it has so many technical errors that it would almost qualify as a training film in how not to do the job on that basis.

Excellent summation. My thoughts exact. However, regardless of how much it has grown on me over time, I have to say that this was the WORST episode of them all, so far. I'm plenty surprised that Wendy found it more tolerable than previous episodes.

"Somebody's gotta tell her she just lost her husband." They seriously need better writers.

"Ya just did, Probie!" Should've been the next line. It's a good thing I'm not on the set. I'd be yelling, Cut! Cut! Cut" Until they fired me.

I noticed the same thing. The dialogue is just bland. They go to great lengths to make medics look smart, but totally drop the ball when it comes to making us look human or the slightest bit witty.

Wasn't triage a bit too close to the still burning airplane?

As soon as I saw that, I predicted it would be the most noticed gaffe in the episode. I'm surprised I was wrong. I guess the crash site isn't nearly as cinemagenic if there aren't a lot of emergency vehicles in the immediate vicinity, but it results in a serious lack of a staging area when they are all pulled right up to the fire. Scene safety, anyone?

The boys at Alameda Field are crying the blues now like us, because yes, they have real foam and stuff.

By the way, has anyone been over to firehouse.com to see how the firemonkeys are whining about this show? I bet it's entertaining, to say the least.

A couple of scenes rang true. The elderly lady from the plane crash. Comforting her in the back of the rig, listening to her go on about her family, we do a lot of that. I guess everyday is thanksgiving where I work.

Yeah, I agree. It was good to see them with a patient with human needs, and not just another bloody mess of a "trauma" victim. Indeed, it is our most common patient, even from an MCI.

"So what are you?"

"I'm . . . not going." The writers missed taking a chance here too. Rabbit is a Māori from New Zealand and they could have gotten a whole thing out of that.

I got the impression that they were intentionally setting us up with some suspense, in order to keep us watching in order to find out just what he is. Although, I'm surprised that there was not an outraged response from LULAC about the disgusted tone with which he denied being Mexican, as if there were something horribly wrong with being Mexican. But now I am interested to find out exactly what Marisa is!

I am impressed they set the clock correctly on the monitor. It read 1527, and their shift ended at 1500, which is just when the plane crashed.

Wow, nice catch! Kudos to the continuity people for working that out. Gives me some hope for the quality of this production crew.

1) Series observation- I know of no helicopter that is that quiet while doing a "Hot Load" (loading while the blades are still turning, if memory serves me correctly), or even on the inside during flight.

Hehe... my best friend is a helo pilot, and we laugh heartily at that inaccuracy every week. We text each other constantly during each Monday's episode with a running commentary of the show, much like this one.

4) Rabbit turns down Marissa's invite to meet the "wild cousin"? WTF?

20) Rabbit goes against type to blow off the date with Marissa and cousin.

11) Rabbit seems to revert to character, and accepts the date with Marissa's cousin.

Dude, while I admit to a prejudice towards Latinas, I honestly don't find Nancy even the slightest bit hott. Not even her personality is attractive. She's a train wreck. But then again, so is Rabbit, so perhaps it is Kismet. They deserve each other. But seriously, I'd have hit Marisa's cousin like the hammer of an angry God.

But I think they went a long ways to develop his character by doing that, and then cancelling to go with Nancy instead. Shows he's not so shallow as to just take a sure-thing one-nighter, and would rather go to comfortable ground with someone he shares a deeper bond with, even if she isn't as hott.

5) Putting a frozen turkey into a deep fry cooker is not recommended, as indicated by the resultant explosion.

Haha... when I saw that Allstate commercial a week earlier, I immediately thought to myself, "I bet they work that into the next Trauma episode!" Talk about predictable!

Note: Stupid board stopped letting me use quotes at this point.

6) Must be local protocols, again. I'm restricted to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns, but have been told not to use any reference to a 4th or higher degree burn.

I don't think it's so much a protocol thing as it is an education thing. Just like many medics never learn that there is anything beyond A&O x3, most probably never learn that there is anything beyond a third degree burn. You can't report what you don't know. But the only times I have ever seen 4th degree burns in my career have been in combat or post-mortem. It's definitely nothing a civvy medic is likely to ever have to report in his career.

7) Tyler has not mentioned to his folks he's gay. I wonder if they'll show a family reunion when he does?

It'll be another huge wasted opportunity if they don't! They're good at missing wide open opportunities with this show though.

13) Alameda Naval Air Station must have different protocols for jets without landing gear down than JFK. No foam on the runway as a lubricant and fire retardant for the crashing aircraft? ( Going by memory, I really don't know of they do that at JFK, either)

I found that interesting too. Although, it appears that there wasn't time to prepare that fully. And it's been about thirty years since I went to ARFF school, so I'm not even sure if the foam thing is still SOP or not.

14) For an active Naval Air Station, I saw neither sailors, Marines, or any security placed on the SFFD personnel, while they were on the military reserve.

18) Can anyone in the military advise me if they'd allow a civilian aircraft to make an emergency landing on the reserve? It was too quickly done, as I see it, but I don't know how it works in the real world.

There is very rarely any reluctance to allow an emergency to land at a military installation. The exceptions would be quite unique, like a base with alert-status nukes. Even then, I've seen it allowed on multiple occasions. If it turns into an actual MCI (as opposed to an uneventful belly landing), it's a clusterfark. Air bases don't have adequate security forces on hand for a large influx of civilian personnel on an emergency basis. It takes them weeks to plan staffing for an open house or air show, and all off-duty hands are committed. Getting off duty personnel to respond is something that isn't likely to happen, as most are off base without communications. Consequently, there will be a shortage of security personnel on a naval or air force base, and they will be stretched pretty thin.

16) Rabbit and Nancy get into what I know as "Proximity Suits" to actually get into the burning aircraft to perform the search for the baby's mother. I donno, wouldn't Fire fighters do that, and bring the body (or corpse) out to the paramedics?

That was my second biggest "WTF?" moment for me, second only to him bailing on Marisa's prima. It takes two paramedics to search an aircraft wreckage? They have SO many paramedics tending to patients, that there are two of them just standing around with their thumbs up their arses, ready to go on a snipe hunt? And the firemonkeys are all SO busy that none of them could make the search? Or, more importantly, the firemonkeys are SO incompetent that they missed the victim on their searches? That's another one that the IAFF ought to be up in arms about.

22) Rabbit just shows up at Nancy's family dinner, and gets invited in. Real or Reel life?

Well, if you blinked, you missed it, but he was officially invited. He didn't just show up uninvited.

24) Rabbit and Nancy kiss. I guess the writers are going to keep us in suspense as to what is going to happen to this couple. Is that a thin red thread binding them at the ankles?

They banged in the premiere episode, and it obviously wasn't the first time. I think they're going to constantly go back to each other, through a series of brief and meaningless relationships. Like I said, they deserve each other.

What bothers me is that the directors are wearing out the core cast very quickly with this bullshyte. There are five regular medics and the pilot. That's it. The two doctors and the nurse are secondary characters. The supervisor and anyone else are tertiary characters. So far, they have managed to get most everyone in the core cast laid, mostly with each other. Once they are screwing each other, the show is dead. There will be no room for growth after that. Love interests are the perfect way to introduce new characters into the show, but they are completely blowing that angle. If necessary, I'd gladly take one for the team, and volunteer to be Marisa's new love interest, in the interest of saving the show.

Thanks for keeping these things going, Richard!

Edited November 29, 2009 by Dustdevil

[VentMedic]

13) Alameda Naval Air Station must have different protocols for jets without landing gear down than JFK. No foam on the runway as a lubricant and fire retardant for the crashing aircraft? ( Going by memory, I really don't know of they do that at JFK, either)

14) For an active Naval Air Station, I saw neither sailors, Marines, or any security placed on the SFFD personnel, while they were on the military reserve.

This Air Station has been closed since 1997. Most of it is now in ruin and there have only been the rare sighting of a sailor or Marine in that little city. Their budget and the Federal (EPA) regulations probably didn't allow for too many props or extras. Since the Navy is still in control of much of the property and the City of Alameda (Historical regs) leasing the rest, no explosives were used. I also believe some of the Navy property still on that base is off limits to being filmed.

Sidenote, the Mayor of SF just fired the head of the city's film commission.

[Dustdevil]

Sidenote, the Mayor of SF just fired the head of the city's film commission.

LOL! pwn3d

[Richard B the EMT]

Sidenote, the Mayor of SF just fired the head of the city's film commission.

Was this because of Trauma?

Also, can you, or anyone, provide a link re this firing?

[VentMedic]

Was this because of Trauma?

Also, can you, or anyone, provide a link re this firing?

No it wasn't because of Trauma although there were some expensive oversights in the contract. It was mostly political and probably has more to do with the affiliations of this person's husband, actor Peter Coyote. He is actively supporting Jerry Brown for Governor instead of SF's Mayor Newsom who was her boss. It also saves the city of SF about $132k for her salary which isn't very much by Northern CA standards.