Medicine of Er How We Almost Die

Reveals the medical facts behind the fiction of the enormously popular television series, ER, recounting the true stories behind the episodes, explaining the characters' lingo, and tracing the show's occasional medical bloopers. 100,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo.

How factual are such popular, reality-based television dramas as NYPD Blue or ER? Devotees of the latter will get an eye-opening critique from coauthors Ross, a screenwriter, and Gibbs, a practicing emergency room doctor. After a dramatic opening of their own in which the reader, shot in a carjacking, is saved on the operating table, the authors handicap the credibility of the characters seen on ER. Ross and Gibbs, who have no apparent connection to the show, rate its verisimilitude fairly highly, but they unhesitatingly slam the program's errors, condemning the character of heartthrob actor George Clooney as having "the least in common with the real world of emergency medicine." On medical procedures, the authors delve into what various episodes have depicted about heart attacks, major trauma, and one Emmy-award winning C-section--which if performed in real life would have been malpractice! ("That's show biz," the authors shrug). Adding a last fillip of truth, they tabulate the huge bills various patients on the show would have incurred. Far more informative than the usual TV-oriented book, this snappily written (and soon to be heavily promoted) title is a welcome relief from the genre's fawning style. Gilbert Taylor

Fans of the television series ER who've wondered about the jargon that Mark Greene, John Carter, and the other staff bark out in the middle of the latest trauma case to roll through County General's doors can find it all explained here. Ross, a television producer, and Gibbs, an emergency room physician, use episodes of the popular show, defining the terms and procedures as they are used in real trauma care centers. They discuss how medical reality is sometimes sacrificed in the interests of a 60-minute drama, noting that the ER portrayed in the series is more like real-life ERs of 20 years ago (when Michael Crichton first penned the show) than ERs that patients experience today. The authors do a good job of describing the hows and whys of procedures and showing any disconnection between what is shown on screen and what really happens. Fun reading, this is not an essential purchase, but it is instructive, informative, and especially for fans.?Anne C. Tomlin, Auburn Memorial Hosp. Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.