this post is mainly about questions about the discovery health channel show titled: trauma life in the er. if anybody can answer these questions, thank you. i am a huge fan and just curious about some things....
1.) how do they get by with showing names, faces and diagnosis with all the hippa buzz going around?
2.) has anybody worked at a hospital when the show was being filmed?
if anybody has any insights, i would be grateful!!
That is what I was wondering, if any medical errors happened if they would edit out of the show. I bet Risk Management plays a part in the whole scenerio.
They filmed at my old hospital (twice!) pre-HIPAA, with the signs all over the place. If anyone is a fan. one of the episodes is when the gardener fell unto a six inch diameter sapling, entered at the rectom, stopped a cm short of ascending aorta. Last I heard, they are now filming a similar [but cruddier]show in Canada to avoid HIPAA.
The other "planned" shows, like "A Baby Story" can get their legal ducks in a row in advance
this post is mainly about questions about the discovery health channel show titled: trauma life in the er. if anybody can answer these questions, thank you. i am a huge fan and just curious about some things....
1.) how do they get by with showing names, faces and diagnosis with all the hippa buzz going around?signed releases
2.) has anybody worked at a hospital when the show was being filmed?
if anybody has any insights, i would be grateful!!
thanks brandie:yeah:
i worked with two docs who had done internships (i saw recent episodes and these must've been over 5 years old) - no big deal, they never said anything about it, just happened to see them in the show.
A close friend of mine is a medical student at Johns Hopkins. They recently created a new show called "Hopkins 24/7", which follows around the residents well... 24/7 :). He said everybody needed to sign a release to be on the show. I'm assuming the same would go with the patients. :-)
I thought that was going to be a series, not a reality show...?
I've seen shows where someone's died. It appears to me that they don't get permission until after the fact. I'm not sure I'd want to see my loved one's traumatic death filmed and then shown on repeats, names and everything included.
Also, I wonder if the film crew doesn't need to get the film reviewed by the Risk Management folks before airing.
Anyhow, they're fascinating shows to me and pretty tastefully done, all things considered. I've learned a lot of things that helped me understand what goes on in the ER.
In fact, if I'd started this career young enough, I'd have loved to be a flight nurse.
good point - I've seen ones where children die, how in the world would anyone want to approach getting a release on that - and the risk management portion of it.... hmmmm
I do like watching the actual shows, not re-enacted ones, because they do show you what is done wrong (those that know the difference) and you know when they're doing so much, it must be because it's on tv and someone's going to break it apart after the fact. Don't ya just love nurses (or techs, or whomever) starting IV's in a trauma and not wearing gloves... ..... um, duh. I'm so sick of seeing that! What is wrong with those people!!!
They filmed at my old hospital (twice!) pre-HIPAA, with the signs all over the place. If anyone is a fan. one of the episodes is when the gardener fell unto a six inch diameter sapling, entered at the rectom, stopped a cm short of ascending aorta. Last I heard, they are now filming a similar [but cruddier]show in Canada to avoid HIPAA.
The other "planned" shows, like "A Baby Story" can get their legal ducks in a row in advance
oh my god, that was an AWESOME episode, and kudos to the show for showing graphic images, that's what I like to see... REAL images and real interventions.
Yeah, risk management is definitely involved in reviewing it. When they taped recently at my hospital... our public relations department was with the crew 24/7. Where the cameras went, so did the PR people. They film a lot. What they can't consent they just delete. I am a trauma er nurse and a lot of families want other people to learn from their families tragedies. That's why they sign the consents. It can be humbling experience.
Original episodes of this show (my favorite on TV) last aired in 2002.
Apparently because it cost too much and took way too much time to film, along with the fact that HIPPA requires consent BEFORE the fact and as we can see on the show, there's no way some of those patients could consent before (or even after) the episodes were filmed.
I agree that the show is a GREAT learning experience for us nurses. I'm a new nurse (less than 1 year) and I just started working in ICU at a local community hospital...no trauma, but I love the trauma shows! Unfortunately, I've seen the same episodes a million times...would love to see something new!
They filmed at my old hospital (twice!) pre-HIPAA, with the signs all over the place. If anyone is a fan. one of the episodes is when the gardener fell unto a six inch diameter sapling, entered at the rectom, stopped a cm short of ascending aorta. Last I heard, they are now filming a similar [but cruddier]show in Canada to avoid HIPAA.
The other "planned" shows, like "A Baby Story" can get their legal ducks in a row in advance
Just so you know, we here in Canada believe in confidentiality too. It's called PHIPA here same deal...
I'm so sick of seeing that! What is wrong with those people!!! 
nursebrandie28, BSN, RN
205 Posts
That is what I was wondering, if any medical errors happened if they would edit out of the show. I bet Risk Management plays a part in the whole scenerio.
And, I agree, I think it is very tastfully done.
Brandie