“It doesn’t really happen that way,” explained Chai. On “Grey’s Anatomy,” a wound over a patient’s carotid artery throbs menacingly and then pops open, throwing a wide, red streak across a doctor’s lab coat and blouse. It spatters across surgical masks and gowns and spurts dramatically from incisions. If you do this procedure, this is how much blood you should see.'” It may be only a coincidence, but since the committee disbanded in the 1980s, medical shows have been awash in sticky red liquid.Īnd TV blood is used to highly dramatic effect. Robert Mills, media and editorial director at the American Medical Association, said that the PAC used to let TV directors know how to make scenes realistic. And by then, you either get them back or you don’t.” 2. “So you’re shocking them after three minutes of CPR, or after EMS has been doing it on the way there. But most times, you’re doing things in increments of three minutes,” he added. “Maybe in a pediatric situation, if it’s a kid, we may work on them for 45 minutes or so. Peter Chai, who teaches emergency medicine and medical toxicology at the University of Massachusetts.

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The doctors soap opera