It has gripping life-and-death drama, a fast pace, and all the mayhem of a Hollywood action film.  Except a new television series that will begin airing later this month is about real-life experiences as they unfold in the emergency ward of Vancouver General Hospital. 

The weekly, six-part series on the Knowledge Network premieres Jan. 21 and is said to be the first Canadian documentary series filmed inside an ER. 

If the first hour-long episode of Emergency Room: Life and Death at VGH is any indication, the show is not for the faint of heart, as cameras capture patients undergoing invasive, life-saving procedures.  Cameras are fixed on gaping wounds, including one of an intoxicated, needle-phobic patient who insists his hand be stitched up without any freezing.  The patient flirts with a nurse in a bid, it would seem, to distract himself from the pain of having a doctor stitch his wound closed. 

For unpredictable drama and insights into the mindsets of health professionals who choose this line of chaotic work, the series seems unbeatable.  They admit thriving on the adrenalin rush of trauma cases — as more than one nurse or doctor states: “You never know what’s coming through the doors.” 

Humour, especially the wry, droll form, is a common way to cope in the ER, and it is on fine display on the part of both the health professionals and some of the patients.  Says one hospital worker to another after a patient has swallowed their own vomit: “Can you still call it vomit if it’s swallowed?” 

Dr. Doug McKnight, head of the emergency room at VGH, said the documentary doesn’t gloss over the fact that people die in the ER, despite the best intentions of health professionals. “ Bad outcomes do occur on a daily basis by virtue of the fact that it’s where very ill people go.  We’re all born to die, and it can be quite depressing, but hopefully what comes across for those who watch this series is that people are doing their best to save lives.” 

In the first episode, nearly a dozen doctors and nurses try to resuscitate a young patient, but after a prolonged effort, a doctor makes the call to stop chest compressions. 

They talk about the defeats and also the risks of the work, evidenced by an incident in which a patient’s blood splatters into a nurse’s eye.  In another scene, paramedics wheel in a male patient with a 10-inch serrated knife buried in his chest.  Surprisingly, the man is still conscious and goes straight to surgery as ER doctors deem it too risky to try to extract the knife themselves. 

Near the end of the first episode, a trauma team is assembled and police called to secure the ER when a helicopter brings in a young, severely wounded female who has been stabbed in an assault that also injured a child who was sent to BC Children’s Hospital. 

The Knowledge Network partnered with Vancouver Coastal Health and Lark Productions to create the series.  The goal was to give viewers an insider’s view of the ER.  Today, the network launches a companion, interactive website — knowledge.ca/er — and on Jan. 15th, a special premiere of the series will be held at The Imperial on Main Street for ER staff.  Also in attendance will be Knowledge Network CEO Rudy Buttignol, Mary Ackenhusen, the COO of Vancouver Coastal Health, and executives of Lark Productions.