From James Bawden:
Emergency Latest Canadian Reality Outing
Don’t get me wrong –there are some reality shows I wouldn’t miss: Dog The Bounty Hunter, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars. And a few even are Canadian or at least Love It Or List It (Hillary Clinton’s favorite show) was until it returned last week with episodes made south of the border. The latest Canadian entry is the finely made Emergency which premieres Thursday April 16 at 9. It has nothing to do with the old fictional series Emergency –I remember visiting the set of that one to interview Julie London. Continue reading.
Sounds like it could be interesting. It also sounds like a better ER than our local one. My husband went there for what turned out to be gallstones. Here was this 300-pound 6 foot 4 guy covered in tattoos with tears in his eyes and I felt sorry for the poor nurse who told him the doctor would be back in an hour and a half after his supper so my husband would have to wait to see him. We have a new hospital but not enough doctors to staff it . Our OR has been closed for two years because the surgeon left. And with the news that the Conservatives are cutting even more money from health care transfers to the provinces, despite rising costs, and so much of our healthcare is becoming privatized, I’m really worried about what that’s going to do. I hope that this Emergency show is realistic but I worry that the admin will put unusual effort into making their ER look good rather than treating it as they would if a show wasn’t being made about it.
It’s about the patient stories rather than the overall picture of the ER. With all these types of shows, the production crew needs to not get in the way and to get consent for any patients they film. So don’t expect an incisive look at the state of health care — the stories are like mini dramas to figure out what’s wrong with the patient. And he’s wrong about the size – the hospitals shown are among the busiest ERs in Canada.