The most brutal medical trauma scene on TV right now
Key Takeaways
Industry Buzz
“These are not just TV plots—they are events people live through... If it helps the public understand how [...] much ER teams carry with them emotionally, then it is doing more than just telling a story. It is starting a conversation we need to be having more often." — Jared L. Ross, MD, board-certified emergency medicine physician
Medical dramas don’t always get it right—but when they do, the result can be harrowing. For many physicians, retellings of the real-life chaos and emotional toll that healthcare workers face when disaster hits can strike a little too close to home.
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A drama with real-world stakes
The Pitt, HBO’s newest medical drama, covered a range of pressing and pertinent public health issues in its first season: abortion, elder abuse, autism, burnout, drug overdoses, and one of the biggest growing threats in the United States—mass shootings.
In a scene in one of the final episodes of the season, patients with critical injuries flood the emergency room after a gunman opened fire at a local musical festival, giving viewers a glimpse at what it’s like for healthcare providers to experience a mass casualty event. The doctors urgently jump from patient to patient, with no time to change out of their medical scrubs or personal protective equipment (PPE).
Related: Doctors are finally excited about a new super realistic medical TV showAs James Lyons, MD, an emergency room doctor and medical consultant at Synergy Houses, tells MDLinx, “ideally, we would change PPE between every patient, but when lives are on the line and there is no time, you prioritize care. It is not perfect, but it is reality.
When fiction mirrors a growing threat
Jared L. Ross, MD, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and assistant professor at the University of Missouri, says hospitals are built to handle a surge in patients—but, even so, “mass casualty incidents such as large-scale shootings and natural disasters may overwhelm even the most prepared emergency departments.” In such cases, many hospitals activate an “internal disaster plan.”
Doctors and nurses from nearby hospitals may be called in to help, says Dr. Ross. And, as seen in The Pitt, limited resources—such as operating rooms or blood products—have to be allocated judiciously. “This usually means that less seriously ill or injured patients may not get much attention,” says Dr. Ross.
According to Dr. Lyons, The Pitt is scarily true-to-life: “It is fast and intense, and resources get stretched thin very quickly,” says Dr. Lyons.
Trauma isn’t just for the patients
Mass shootings are not only traumatic for victims, but for the healthcare workers as well. They may not have the time or space to process their emotions in the moment, says Dr. Ross. “Doctors and nurses may not even have time to use the bathroom, spending several hours in the heat of battle, covered in blood, trying desperately to save lives,” he said.
These experiences can leave a lasting mark—and many providers go on to emotionally struggle with what they saw, says Dr. Lyons. “Some carry that weight for years,” he says.
Dr. Lyons thinks any show that tackles a sensitive topic such as mass shootings has to do so responsibly. “These are not just TV plots—they are events people live through more often,” he says. He appreciates how the TV drama highlights what occurs during mass casualty events—the trauma, the humanity, and the teamwork.
“If it helps the public understand how urgently we need to address gun violence as a public health crisis or how much ER teams carry with them emotionally, then it is doing more than just telling a story. It is starting a conversation we need to be having more often,” Dr. Lyons says.