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Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH
Directed by	Kevin Eastwood
Produced by	David Moses, Andrew Williamson, Louise Clark, Kevin Eastwood
Cinematography	Zachary Williams
Edited by	Tanya Maryniak, Joanna Gyurkovics, Eddie O.
Music by	Terry Frewer
Production company	Lark Productions
Distributed by	Knowledge Network
Release date	21 January 2014
Running time	60 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH is a six-part medical documentary series which premiered on British Columbia's Knowledge Network on January 21st, 2014. It follows doctors, nurses and staff at Vancouver General Hospital as they cope with real patients from the city of Vancouver and surrounding area. VGH is the second largest hospital in Canada and British Columbia's only level 1 trauma centre. Stories of stabbings, car accidents, heart attacks, and life threatening disease are shown alongside everyday cuts and sprains, drunks, and other minor cases, and episodes contain graphic images of wounds, blood, and/or routine and invasive medical procedures.

The series was directed and co-executive produced by Kevin Eastwood, produced by David Moses, and executive produced by Andrew Williamson and Louise Clark of Lark Productions.

Episodes

#	Episode	Original Airdate	Episode Summary (from Official Site)
1	No Typical Day	21 January 2014	Dr. Campbell tells us there’s no typical day in the ER, as he examines a patient with a 10” blade sticking out of his chest. The gurneys rush past into a world filled with shocked hearts, broken bones poking through skin, and a battle against Darwinism. We meet Dr. Gill who must intubate a patient who can’t move his neck and treat a nurse who has had blood splash in her eyes. Dr. Theoret’s shift throws him into a race against the clock while awaiting the arrival of a tragic stabbing case.
2	Talk To Me	28 January 2014	If the ability to communicate with a patient is one of the most important diagnostic tools available to caregivers, the staff of the ER are in for a challenge. While Dr. McKnight must discover how to talk with a deaf and blind patient in order to form a diagnosis, Donna, a registered nurse, meets a dog who can tell her when a patient is about to have a seizure. We learn giving information is sometimes as difficult as getting it as Deb, the ER’s social worker, must share terrible news with one patient’s mother.
3	Full Moon	4 February 2014	The full moon plays havoc with the ER. Landon, the Charge Nurse, tries to prevent the ER from being overwhelmed when a growing number of victims of apparently random attacks arrive in the trauma bay. An outbreak of bedbugs is averted and Dr. Shirzad treats Krista, an ER nurse who collapses on duty. Dr. Campbell takes the lead on a cardiac arrest, where he is faced with a doctor’s most difficult decision – whether to continue or cease efforts to resuscitate a dying patient.
4	Downtown	11 February 2014	Operating an emergency room in a large city presents its own unique challenges for the ER. Paramedics Rick and Kelly extend the reach of the ER into the streets of the city and provide on-site treatment to all levels of Vancouver’s social spectrum in one shift. Registered nurses, Maddie and Patty, have to take measures to combat the ER’s daily dose of violence and drug abuse, while Dr. Rose treats an accident from a construction site and faces the horror of a multi-vehicle collision, with a quickly depleting blood supply.
5	The Donor	18 February 2014	The staff of the ER are reminded of their connection to the community and a world of give and take. Dr. Theoret sees a guitar playing walk-in patient with a twisted knee and Dr. Morrison treats a woman who shattered her pelvis in a fall. The Air Ambulance brings in cases from across the province, including the victim of a severe motorcycle accident to Dr. Campbell. TJ, one of the ER nurses, is awarded a Queen’s Jubilee medal for her outstanding military service and a patient’s family provides a stranger with a precious gift.
6	Watch Me	25 February 2014	It’s a day of beginnings and endings as Marwa, a young Unit Co-ordinator begins her training with Yasmin while Carolle, a veteran social worker, starts her final shift before retiring from a lifetime of service. VGH is also a teaching hospital where students from across the province, and the country, come to do their residency. We follow the challenges Drs. Campbell, Shirzad and Lee face as they mentor several residents who may become the next generation of ER physicians.

Development and Production

The series was conceived by Knowledge Network CEO Rudy Buttignol to depict the everyday experiences of the medical personnel who care for people in crisis.

Lark Productions, Vancouver General Hospital and Vancouver Coastal Health partnered to develop the series, and spent six months in negotiations to decide how to give the production crew maximum access while ensuring no patients suffered privacy violations, and that proper consent was obtained from everyone who appeared on camera..

Filming took place over an 80 day period between February and May 2013. Approximately one third of VGH's staff opted out of participating, thus requiring the production team to blur their faces if they happened to appear in a scene that was used in the final edit. The camera crew also avoided filming certain patients undergoing mental health issues, due to the difficulty of obtaining informed consent, but were present for hundreds of other traumas without complaint from hospital staff or patients.

Release

Episode 1, "No Typical Day" premiered on January 21st, 2014 and attracted Knowledge Network's largest recorded premiere audience for a doc series. The entire series is currently available to stream on its official website to viewers with Canadian IP addresses.

Critical Reception

Pamela Fayerman of the Vancouver Sun wrote "It has gripping life-and-death drama, a fast pace, and all the mayhem of a Hollywood action film...For unpredictable drama and insights into the mindsets of health professionals who choose this line of chaotic work, the series seems unbeatable." Marsha Lederman of the Globe and Mail wrote that the series "tiptoes through an ethical minefield in order to deliver what its creators strongly believe is important television; a peek behind the curtain at the hugely pressing issue of public health care.". VGH emergency staff also spoke highly of the program. ER physician Dr. Shahin Shirzhad, featured in the show, told Global News: “We’re often dealing with resource issues, bed problems, not enough space or money to prepare care for everybody the way we’d like to...I think it’s been good at giving a very realistic picture of what we experience.”

Director's Cardiac Arrest

During a break in filming, director Kevin Eastwood traveled to Los Angeles on business with a colleague. Outside a car rental office, Eastwood suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed. His colleague dialed 911 and administered CPR until paramedics arrived, and Eastwood was defibrillated four times in the ambulance before his heart started beating again. He spent 10 days at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center recovering, and a cardioverter-defibrillator was surgically implanted in his chest.

Eastwood told The Georgia Straight that by the time he returned to filming at Vancouver General Hospital, word of his incident had spread among the staff. "They're the ones who keep underscoring how incredibly rare it is for somebody who has that kind of spontaneous cardiac arrest to, first of all, survive, and even those who survive, there are a small percentage who do not have brain damage. Less than 10 per cent survive in the first place, and a fraction of those are not permanently damaged." "This show changed my life," Eastwood says.

External Links

• Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH at IMDb
• Official Site: Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH at Knowledge Network

References

Category:2014 Canadian television series debuts Category:2010s Canadian television series Category:Knowledge Network shows Category:Canadian documentary television series Category:Canadian television miniseries Category:English-language television programming Category:Canadian medical television series Category:Television shows set in Vancouver Category:Television Documentary series Category:Canadian television programming