MovieChat Forums > Critical (2015) Discussion > full of silly mistakes

full of silly mistakes

posted 9 years ago by lynniepinnie22
19 replies | jump to latest

As an ex staff nurse, I can never understand why directors don't find out what it actually is to work in a hospital. Or even find out what blood looks like. In episode 2 the blood being infused looked like red water. That isn't what is looks like at all. And a senior nurse bossing a junior doctor? I've never seen that. Nurses and doctor have a completely different roles. On Critical, it concentrates on the 'golden hour' with a trauma team being called to A & E to deal with it. However, what would you do with your usual patients every time you are called to a trauma. If you had 2 or 3 a day, that'd be 3 hours a day that you would be away from the wards, clinics, surgeries. How does that work?
Also, at the end of ep 2, with 20 minutes to go in the golden hour, Lennie James starts an operation. Within that time, he's scrubbed his hands, (at least a 5 minute job) cut her open, and ordered someone to get an aortic clamp, (that, by the way, he should have checked was there because as consultant it is his job to ensure everything he needed was there). Go the clamp, and handed over to the general surgeons. Never could all that happen in that short space of time. Next they'll be de-fibbing someone who has flatlined, another common mistake in medical dramas.

[–] kate39 9 years ago

It's set in a Major Trauma Centre. They have rotas where the trauma team leader (either an Emergency Medicine Consultant or a Consultant in a surgical specialty, usually vascular, general or orthopaedics) is on call for 24 hours. In a UK MTC, SOPs vary but usually the trauma calls are attended by the TTL plus the on-call anaesthetist, on-call orthopaedic reg, EM reg/SHO, Trauma Nurse Practitioner and two A+E nurses. In the series they don't defib asystole. They carry out 2-minute cycles of CPR with adrenaline every 3-5 mins.

[–] lynniepinnie22 9 years ago

I was being sarcastic about defibbing asystole. It is a common mistake made in tv programs. Defibbing a flatline is useless, as the 'shock' stops the heart. Used when the heart is fibrillating, to try and get it back in a n a normal rhythm. In the programe, the orthopod actually mentioned about 'getting back to the ward' which is why I thought the trauma team were being called away from their usual duties.

[–] lynniepinnie22 9 years ago

[–] bee_peter 9 years ago

Agreed.

I've only watched Ep1 but it was laughably inaccurate. Makes me wonder whether they even bothered to have a medical advisor at either script writing or filming.

Did they not do research at either an actual A&E, MTC, HEMS or Ambulance Service before writing?

[–] capdjq 9 years ago

British Shows, have no money to hire consultants.

[–] kate39 9 years ago

The end credits list about a dozen medical advisors nearly all of whom work in Major Trauma Centres. Some of them have posted elsewhere about their experience on the show. Interestingly a lot of the criticism they've had (largely wrongful in their view) has come from people with no direct experience of working in a current British MTC.

[–] facebook-68647 9 years ago

Did anyone notice that the patients date of birth was 1st January 1900 . That made her 115.

[–] kate39 9 years ago

In Major Trauma Centres patients need to be assigned a date of birth before the information is known so that they can be entered onto the computer system. 01/01/1900 is the standard entry where date of birth is unknown.

[–] jimsaf-346-520057 9 years ago

Medically this is actually pretty accurate (work in an MTC with occasional duties to cover). Very impressed with the set (seems pretty expensive to me), the mannequins (best Ive seen in a medical drama) and the monitoring. Compare to House, Casualty, Holby city, Greys anatomy - all of which deal very loosely with medical facts.

My issue with Critical is the pants script and often wooden acting. Everything else appears to have the ingredients of a good drama (well done producers).
It is far too melodramatic.

A real complicated trauma is dramatic enough.

By the way - character playing the Ortho reg is appalling.
And the ST2 (played by Kimberley Nixon) acts like she hasn't qualified yet.
Senior sister (played by Neve McIntosh) is overplaying her role (not her fault but the script writers) - a senior sister would not be questioning/obstructing the SpRs or the consultant so overtly - unless she wanted to lose her PIN.

The ED consultant (played by Peter Sullivan) is machiavellian in such a way that he is believable.

[–] jimburston 9 years ago

As someone who has absolutely no idea how an MTC is run, I find the medical aspects of this series so far very entertaining. My issue with it so far is when the drama kicks in, which I feel is very cliched and insulting to some of the other roles involved. The first is Lennie James' character - an ex-Army surgeon who has PTSD from working in Bastion. A film on his laptop shown in last nights episode shows him involved in a firefight dealing with a casualty. This is completely inaccurate as unless involved with MERT would not leave Bastion - all a bit of a Greys Anatomy copy and cliched. He is also questioned why there is a 3 month gap between him leaving Bastion and working at the MTC. maybe he took some leave after returning equipment and leaving the Army???
I also feel the way the paramedic was portrayed as a dopey hanger-on was possibly a bit insulting to paramedics, and I agree with comments above that the Ortho reg character is very flaky. It feels very americanised in good ways and bad. I like the modern feel and hi-tech approach, but not the 'if you're not in the team, you're a biff and to be looked down upon'.
Last nights episode was a wee bit predictable, and short changed. It builds up with the casualty possibly having some ghastly ebola-like disease only for the last few minutes 'no he hasn't - that's ok, lets crack on!' feel to it.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jensmile1 9 years ago

For starters, they need to stop answering their mobile phones with their gloves on.

[–] pass-76187 9 years ago

Not just answering mobiles with gloves on they shouldn't be switched on

[–] pass-76187 9 years ago

Doesn't it bother all medics out there that they always yell for O positive when the only universal blood group is O negative They're killing all the patients with O pos blood who have A Or B pos or negative and O negative big bloop really

[–] pass-76187 9 years ago

I do however like the show and like all new shows they're finding their feet . I believe if it goes to another series it will get less wooden its trying to cram into 1 hour a trauma and learn about the main characters which will in time fall into place . And the person who said about the nurse talking out of turn to a Dr I've seen it in real life a jumped up sho wanting to align a patient which would have killed her and a staff nurse and sister did exactly that told the sho to shove it and the sho was torn a few strips by her reg for not reading notes and not listening to why no one would do as she ordered!

[–] kate39 9 years ago

Not a mistake at all. Most of the UK Major Trauma Centres now use O pos for uncrossmatched male patients and reserve O neg for females.

[–] pass-76187 9 years ago

Yes but the patients have been male and female .

[–] kate39 9 years ago

They've ordered O pos for males and O neg for females

[–] drew01-2 9 years ago

Kate, your input on this thread has been teriffic .. thanks !