I don't know why I continue to hold out hope (no pun intended) that these quasi-medical shows will finally see fit to portray surgical/operating room scenes with at least some small degree of truth. But I guess that's just not in the cards. In the Pilot episode of this show, there were at least two scenes where actors portraying surgeons were seen scrubbing up for surgery. In each of these scenes, surgical masks were seen dangling, hanging only by the lower ties, while the actors continued to speak while scrubbing. This is obviously done to give the actors more 'face time' although it is definitely NOT the way it's done in the operating room. In an actual operating room, the masks, which contain a malleable metal rib on the upper edge, are put on and adjusted to eliminate air leaks around the nose BEFORE scrub up is commenced. And I can tell you from over 30 years experience in the operating room that voices can be clearly heard through the masks so the producers of this show cannot claim that they had to deviate from standard practice in order to allow the actors to be heard. No, the masks are left down solely for the purpose of giving the actors more 'face time', time in which everyone can see their entire face and observe their expressions. However, while this departure from standard practice was bad, there was an even more egregious error, specifically when the female surgical resident is seen in the operating room standing directly behind and very close to the scrub nurse's instrument tray while she watches her soon to be husband undergoing a crainiotomy and she is NOT even wearing a surgical cap to cover her hair!! Where do these shows get their medical consultants? Anyone who has been in an operating room in the past 30 years knows that a cover of some sort, cap or hood, is ALWAYS worn to cover the hair during surgery, especially an open procedure such as a crainiotomy.
Don't these producers realize that their shows can be just as good while following modern day standards? And that they don't have to trample all over commonly accepted practices in order to get people to watch. The details I've mentioned are of little consequence to anyone other than those of us who have spent our careers in medically related fields so I can't see how it would hurt to simply follow accepted medical and surgical practices rather than make such obvious deviations for the sole purpose of giving the actors a few seconds more 'face time'.
sleeper1428
