Black Tag

Season 1, Episode 11

Leanne and Neal tend to a patient.

**Black Tag** is the eleventh episode of the first season of **Code Black**.

## Short Summary

The doctors find their own lives in danger when they arrive at the scene of a massive multi-vehicle accident on a highway covered in thick fog. Also, Jesse's confidence is shaken following his heart attack, while Carla's condition becomes critical.

## Full Summary

The ambulance drive apologizes for bumps. Traffic's backed up for miles, so this is the only way to get to the accident site. Leanne says they might be the only doctors on site. She tells them to keep their heads on. It's not first come, first served. They have to prioritize patients. They each get a packet of tags. Green is for minor injuries. Yellow is for more serious injuries, but not immediately life-threatening, red is emergent, and black is dead or expected death. The residents are shocked they'll be expected to put black tags on living patients, but they need to be able to decide who they can save and make sure no other doctors spend precious time re-evaluating the patient.

**8:12 PM**

**Pasadena Freeway, Los Angeles**

They get out of the ambulance and see the wreckage. They're all shocked by the wreckage. They unload as Miles Caster, the Doctor In Charge, greets them. He gets sent out to all the wrecks. He tells Heather she'll be in the field while he stays in the tent. He also tells Leanne she'll be in the tent, despite her saying she's better in the field. He sends them off to help.

Neal and Christa comes to a car holding Alice Sellers. She's conscious. She tells them the condition of Fred, her date. She's a hospice nurse. She also tells them her own injuries. Neal puts a black tag on Fred over Alice's objections and they send her back to the tent.

The hospital staff watches as the news reports on the accident. Gina asks Risa if her doctors are on site. A call comes in on the radio from the scene. Risa goes to answer, but Gina says they only talk to paramedics, no patients. Despite this, the call is patched through. Gina answers the girl, who says her name is Lily. The call breaks up, but Gina tells Lily to find people with yellow vests. The call gets dropped.

Over the edge of the road, Lily asks if Gina can still hear her.

Amy talks to Jesse about how bad the fog is. Amy says they know Jesse's discharge has been approved. He says that's private information. Jesse's roommate, Jack Rhodes, comes in and Jesse introduces them. Jesse says his chest feels tight. Amy gets him to calm down and says it's just a panic attack.

Alice is back at triage. Leanne starts treating her. When she finds out Alice is a hospice nurse, she says her aunt was, too, and Leanne's mother always used to say she had one hand in heaven. Alice is still upset about Fred. Miles sees Christa's still there and tells her it's time to go back out.

Angus sends a patient back to triage. He sees a cement truck that has spilled all over a car. He sees someone in the car. He's shocked when Kenny Wylar opens his eyes and starts asking Angus to get him out. Angus calls over Mario and Heather to help get Kenny out.

Gina calls Christa and tells her about Lily. She asks Christa to get back to her if she finds them.

They try to open the door to get Kenny out. The door won't open. He's cold. Away from Kenny, Mario says they need to black tag him. Angus and Heather disagree. Angus says to get an ax from the fire truck. Angus has saline. He needs a car that works to warm it up.

Neal sees Jason Riner walking around. Jason says his mom is trapped and then collapses. Neal carries him back to triage.

They have the fluids warmed and start an IV to get fluids into Kenny. Kenny is worried they won't get him out and asks to talk to his family. Angus tells Kenny they need to go help more people and they'll be back in 12 minutes, when the bag is empty. He tells Kenny to keep moving and not to give up.

Neal gets Jason to triage. The ambulance arrives to take patients. Jason doesn't want to leave without his mom. He gives the doctors a description of her car and Leanne promises they'll find his mom.

Malaya finds Connie Riner in her car and puts a black tag on her before moving on.

Gina gives instructions for a patient. A paramedic asks why her pregnant patient isn't being checked in. Gina says she'll have to wait a minute. Rollie then comes up and recognizes the patient as Carla. Gina figures out who she is once she hears the name. Carla passed out in a store and a do-gooder called 911. Gina hates that. She says congrats on the baby and bummer on the cancer. Once she's gone, Carla says she likes her and Rollie says she has her own style. Carla was buying ice cream when she passed out. She didn't even get to eat it. She asks Rollie for an ultrasound. She wants to check out the cargo before the plane.

Mario hears Debra Bellow call for help. He sees her two hands hit the window from inside her car, which is near fire.

Angus questions where Mario is. Heather doesn't know, but they're on their last bag of saline.

Debra is trapped. Mario kicks the door and opens it. Her leg is broken, but there's not time to stabilize it, so he just lifts her out and carries her away. Seconds later, the car is engulfed in flames.

Jesse's heart monitor beeps. He changed the sensitivity settings to warn him ahead of problems. Jack says anxiety is normal after a heart attack, but Jesse denies anxiety. Jesse thinks he had an aftershock, not a panic attack. Jack gets up to go flirt with the nurses.

Carla says she's fallen a few times. She downplays how sick she is. Rollie shows her her baby on the ultrasound. Gina comes in and says CT is open.

Kenny thinks he won't make it. He wants to talk to his family. He wants to say goodbye to his daughters. Heather dials and hands him the phone. The machine comes on. He leaves a message telling his daughter that he loves her and wants her to know she was loved. Just then Mario arrives. He's late because he had to save a woman from a burning car. They pry the door open and dig Kenny out.

Leanne is asking everyone about Connie's car. Malaya overhears and tells her she black tagged the woman inside of that car. Leanne asks about her injuries and then asks where the car is. When Malaya tells her, she goes to leave to go find it. Miles stops her, saying he'll have her arrested. Malaya offers to go check again. Leanne tells Malaya to stay there and goes out into the field.

Carla is wheeled next to Jesse. She asks what's happening with him. He says he's getting a 2-D echo after a heart attack. She's surprised he's still in the hospital eight days later. She figures out he's overreacting. She'd kill for his odds. Jesse's best quality is that he cares and the worst is that he worries. The tech comes out and says he already had a 2-D echo. Carla tells the tech not to listen to Jesse. She then tells Jesse her baby's a boy. Jesse says he'll be beautiful and smart, like his mommy.

Gary Martin calls for help for his wife. Mario and Heather rush to help her. Mario starts working on her, but then Heather points out that she's lost too much blood. She's a black tag. Gary begs them to save his wife. She's a preschool teacher. Someone calls that they have a burn victim and Mario sends Heather to help. Mario apologizes and leaves as well.

Leanne and Neal find Connie. She's unconscious, but has a pulse. Her leg is trapped. Leanne denies that Malaya made the right call. She quickly staples Connie's leg closed, but the wound goes all the way down. They can't get the leg out, but they can get her out. Leanne goes to find a saw.

Christa sees a light and cals out over the edge. Lily replies that she can hear her. She says her mom and brother are hurt. Christa starts to walk down, but falls, losing some of her gear. She wakes up to Lily asking her if she's hurt. Lily takes Christa back to where her mother and brother are. Christa's shoulder is dislocated, so she has Lily carry her bag. Katherine hurt her neck and can't move her legs. Her neck is broken, so Christa tells her it's very important that she not move. Elliot's throat and hip hurt. His trachea is fractured, so she tells him to breathe slowly and not talk. Lily says there's no reception, but she tried calling out until the battery died. Christa also has no signal.

Rollie tells Carla there's a tumor in her brain. It's pressing on her brain stem and it's aggressive. It won't be long before it kills her. He wants to call OB and induce. She says she has plenty of time yet. She agrees to an OB consult, but insists that she's not delivering the baby at 30 weeks. And she also tells Rollie not to tell Malaya. Rollie says Malaya can help, but Carla says she doesn't want to. Rollie asks her to think about it.

Jocelyn Barry is in triage. She is having trouble breathing and wants them to call her sister. She needs a chest tube. It won't be an easy one. Malaya says she thinks she can do it, which Miles says is good enough out there.

Jason's at the hospital. He asks about his mother as Rollie treats him. Rollie says he'll find him when his mother arrives.

They prepare to cut Connie's leg off so they can get her out of the car.

Lily helps Christa put stitches in her mother's head. Elliot struggles even more to breathe. Christa looks at his throat again. She sends Lily to look for a pen so she can put a trach in.

Malaya wants an ultrasound for the chest tube. It's in use, but Jocelyn can't wait. Malaya makes her best guess.

Jesse turns off his monitor alarm again and again. He then hears a flatline, but it's for Jack. He gets up out of bed. He calls of help, but they're buffing the floors, so no one hears. He quickly pulls off his own leads and starts CPR on Jack.

Gary tells Mario his wife is awake.

Elliot's turning blue. Christa needs both hands to help him, so Lily has to help reduce her shoulder.

Jesse calls for help again. He defibrillates and is able to restore sinus rhythm. An intern runs in and Jesse tells him he took care of it. He's always a nurse.

Neal and Leanne bring in Connie at triage. Miles says there are consequences for what they just did. Jocelyn was a yellow tag when she arrived, but now she might have brain damage. Neal tells Leanne their math doesn't work out. They saved Connie, but it might have cost Jocelyn her life. They load Jocelyn and Connie into an ambulance. Angus tells them no one's heard from Christa. Neal says Leanne should go back to the hospital with Connie and he'll go look for Christa.

Christa puts the trach in Elliot's neck with Lily's help. She is then able to ventilate him. Christa tells Lily she did a good job. Katherine wakes up and asks about her kids. Christa says Elliot's breathing. Katherine says she's cold, so Christa puts her jacket on her. Katherine wonders what happens if no one comes for them.

At the hospital, they unload Jocelyn and Connie.

Gina says they're overrun at the hospital, so the doctors are being called back. Neal tells her he hasn't heard from Christa and now Mario and Heather are also missing. He won't leave without the whole team. Gina says he's not Search and Rescue. He's a doctor and he needs to get back there. Neal hands up and Gina tells Risa to get extra help down there. She doesn't care where it comes from. Jesse walks in and says help has arrived. Gina says she could kiss him, but his heart couldn't take it.

Leanne updates Jason on Connie before he sees her. She's alive, but won't be able to respond to him. Connie is wheeled by. Jason yells her he loves her and she squeezes his hand. He says he'll be waiting for her when she gets out.

Lily is lying down next to Katherine as Christa ventilates Elliot.

Carla looks at an ultrasound of her baby.

Neal leaves triage to keep looking.

Heather finds Mario working on Gary's wife. He tells her to get out, but then she notices that Gary's holding a gun on Mario. He tells Heather to get to work helping Mario.

## Cast

* Leanne Rorish
* Neal Hudson
* Christa Lorenson
* Malaya Pineda
* Rollie Guthrie
* Angus Leighton
* Mario Savetti
* Jesse Sallander
* Gina Perello
* Heather Pinkney
* Jack Rhodes
* Katherine Lembeck
* Kenny Wylar
* Jason Riner
* Gary Martin
* Lily Lembeck
* Alice Sellers
* Jocelyn Barry
* Carla Niven
* Risa Park
* Amy Wolowitz
* Hannah Reynolds
* Miles Caster
* Elliot Lembeck
* Debra Bellow
* Ambulance Driver
* Fire Rescue
* Medic #1
* Medic #3
* Radiology Tech
* Intern
* News Anchor
1/32
### Main Cast

* Marcia Gay Harden as Dr. Leanne Rorish
* Raza Jaffrey as Dr. Neal Hudson
* Bonnie Somerville as Dr. Christa Lorenson
* Melanie Chandra as Dr. Malaya Pineda
* William Allen Young as Dr. Rollie Guthrie
* Harry Ford as Dr. Angus Leighton
* Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dr. Mario Savetti
* Luis Guzmán as Jesse Sallander

### Guest Starring

* Christina Vidal as Dr. Gina Perello
* Jillian Murray as Dr. Heather Pinkney
* Bruce Nozick as Jack Rhodes
* Amy Stewart as Katherine Lembeck
* Bodhi Elfman as Kenny Wylar
* Gabriel Bateman as Jason Riner
* Neil Hopkins as Gary Martin
* Maggie Elizabeth Jones as Lily Lembeck
* Erica Gimpel as Alice Sellers
* Shinelle Azoroh as Jocelyn Barry
* Shiri Appleby as Dr. Carla Niven

### Co-Starring

* Angela Relucio as Risa Park
* Gabrielle Carteris as Amy Wolowitz
* Emily Nelson as Hannah Reynolds
* Gregory Marcel as Miles Carter
* Chase Ellison as Elliot Lembeck
* Tracy Kay as Debra Bellow
* A.J. Castro as Ambulance Driver
* Cantrell Harris as Fire Rescue
* Terrence Edwards as Medic #1
* Amy Shelton-White as Medic #3
* Daniel Robaire as Radiology Tech
* Ty Chen as Intern
* Paul Magers as News Anchor

## Medical Notes

### Alice Sellers

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Intraperitoneal bleed
	+ Hemorrhagic shock

* **Doctors:**
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Fluids

Alice was in a car accident. Her right arm was injured and she said her right foot was broken. She was extracted from the car and taken to triage, where Christa said her abdomen was tense. An ultrasound showed bleeding in her abdomen, so they started a central line and gave her fluids before taking her to the hospital.

### Fred

* **Diagnosis:**

* **Doctors:**
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*

* **Treatment:**

Fred was in a car accident. His head hit the windshield. Neal examined him and then put a black tag on him, as death was expected.

### Jesse Sallander

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Panic attack

* **Doctors:**

* **Treatment:**

Jesse was still in the hospital after his heart attack, despite his discharge being approved. He said his chest felt tight and he was having trouble breathing. Amy helped calm him down and said it was just a panic attack. He ordered a 2-D echo on himself because he was worried about having a second heart attack.

### Jack Rhodes

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Asystole

* **Doctors:**
	+ Intern

* **Treatment:**
	+ Defibrillation

Jack was in the hospital. While sleeping, he coded. Jesse started CPR. He then defibrillated and restored sinus rhythm.

### Kenny Wylar

* **Diagnosis:**

* **Doctors:**
	+ Angus Leighton *(ER resident)*
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*
	+ Heather Pinkney *(surgical resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Extraction
	+ Warm saline

Kenny was trapped in hardening concrete that had poured into his car after a crash. They weren't able to get his door open to get him out, so they started him on warm fluids as they looked for a way to get him out. Mario brought back an axe and they were able to pry the door open and dig him out.

### Jason Riner

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Broken ribs
	+ Internal bleeding
	+ Lung contusion

* **Doctors:**
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Rollie Guthrie *(ER physician)*

* **Treatment:**

Jason, 8, was in a car accident. He collapsed in Neal's arms and was carried back to triage. He suspected broken ribs and internal bleeding. At triage, Leanne diagnosed two broken ribs, one of which had possibly punctured his lung. They took him to the hospital. At the hospital, Rollie took over care. Jason had vomited three times en route. They saw his seat belt sign and believed he had internal bleeding. He had a lung contusion and they took him for a CT.

### Carla Niven

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Pregnancy
	+ Acute lymphoblastic leukemia
	+ Brain tumor

* **Doctors:**
	+ Rollie Guthrie *(ER physician)*

* **Treatment:**

Carla was brought to the hospital after passing out in a store. She insisted on an ultrasound to check on the baby before she was examined. She admitted she'd fallen a few times before and had some nausea. Se was taken for a CT. Rollie then had to tell her she had a brain tumor pressing on her brain stem. He told her it wouldn't be long before it stopped her breathing and her heart. She agreed to an OB consult, but was adamant she wasn't delivering the baby at 30 weeks.

### Debra Bellow

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Broken leg

* **Doctors:**
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**

Debra was trapped in her car after an accident. A nearby fire was starting to take her car over, so Mario kicked the door to get it to open and then pulled her to safety. Her leg was broken, but he couldn't stabilize it before lifting her out of the car.

### Connie Riner

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Leg laceration

* **Doctors:**
	+ Leanne Rorish *(ER physician)*
	+ Neal Hudson *(ER physician)*
	+ Malaya Pineda *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Leg amputation

Connie was in a car accident. Malaya examined her and black tagged her for impending death. Leanne disagreed after hearing about her injuries and went into the field to find her. She had a laceration to her thigh and severe bleeding, but she had a pulse. Leanne quickly stapled her thigh, but the wound went all the way down to her foot, which was trapped. Leanne found a saw and they cut off her leg to get her out of the car. Back at triage, she was in PEA due to blood loss. They gave her fluids and moved her to the hospital.

### Lisa Martin

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Severe hemorrhaging

* **Doctors:**
	+ Mario Savetti *(ER resident)*
	+ Heather Pinkney *(surgical resident)*

* **Treatment:**

Lisa was in a car accident. Mario and Heather examined her, but the hemorrhaging was catastrophic, so they put a black tag on her. Her husband later came and said she was awake, so Mario went back to examine her again. The husband held a gun to Mario's head to get Mario to treat her.

### Elliot Lembeck

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Fractured trachea

* **Doctors:**
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Tracheotomy

Elliot was in a car accident. He had brought breathing and said his throat her. He also said his hips hurt. Christa examined him and diagnosed crepitus, meaning he fractured his trachea. She told him to breathe slowly and try not to talk. Elliot started breathing heavily and Christa looked in his throat again. His airway was closing off, so she used a pen to trach him with Lily's help.

### Katherine Lembeck

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Broken neck
	+ Forehead laceration

* **Doctors:**
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Stitches

Katherine was in a car accident. She hurt her neck and couldn't move her legs. Christa said her neck was broken, but the paralysis might not be permanent, but she needed to keep her neck stable. Christa stitched up a cut on her forehead with help from Lily.

### Christa Lorenson

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Shoulder dislocation

* **Doctors:**
	+ Christa Lorenson *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Closed reduction

Christa fell down the hill while going to help Lily and dislocated her shoulder. Because she needed both hands to treat Lily's brother, she had Lily help her reduce her shoulder dislocation.

### Jocelyn Barry

* **Diagnosis:**
	+ Pneumothorax
	+ Seizure

* **Doctors:**
	+ Miles Caster *(surgeon)*
	+ Malaya Pineda *(ER resident)*

* **Treatment:**
	+ Chest tube
	+ Ativan

Jocelyn was brought into triage. Miles helped Malaya examine her and told her Jocelyn needed a difficult chest tube. Malaya said she thought she could do it, which he said was good enough. Should couldn't find the markers because the anatomy shifted, so she made her best guest. Jocelyn started seizing, so they gave her ativan. She was then taken to the hospital.

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 8.38 million viewers.