We Filmed A Man Dying In The ER. A Sad & Beautiful Moment

In 1988 my team and I recorded this incredible sad but very real moment in the emergency room at in Level I Trauma Center Detroit Receiving Hospital. Our assignment was focused on the stresses emergency room nurses are under on a daily basis, on a moment by moment basis Emergency room nursing is very stressful as emergency room nurses are responsible for providing care to patients with serious, life-threatening conditions. ER nurses must be able to think quickly and make critical decisions under pressure and they must be prepared to handle a wide range of medical emergencies from trauma injuries and heart attacks to strokes and respiratory distress. In addition to the fast-paced and high-stress nature of the job, emergency room nurses also often work long hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays. They may also be exposed to physical and emotional strain, as they must sometimes deal with difficult and traumatic situations, such as caring for patients who have been involved in accidents, suffered abuse, or experienced other types of trauma. I decided to have my crew sit in the hospital during the day and night shifts and film what we saw. I felt that the first step in helping nurses and doctors and other hospital support personnel to reduce stress would be to admit the circumstances that they are under on a day-to-day basis - circumstances very often of extreme stress. My crew captured this moment, a moment that we could not create and a result that we did not expect. Filming this story inside an emergency department with the freedom to go anywhere and see anything gave me a profound appreciation for what hospital work is like, for how much I as an American citizen appreciate the doctors and especially the nurses and especially the ER nurses who do this incredible work saving lives day, after day after day. This film was made in 1988. What has changed since? Advancements in technology and medical treatment have led to an increase in the acuity and complexity of patients being treated in emergency departments. This means that emergency room nurses today may be dealing with more critical and complex medical situations than they were in the past. You might be asking what percent of those who go to the emergency room with an emergency die there. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, between 2010 and 2020 the percentage of deaths that occurred in the ED declined from 32.3% to 13.9%. I would like to thank those who place advertising on this video. Their support allows me to continue presenting clips from my archives. Franciscan emergency room. St. John’s emergency room. Yale pediatric emergency room. Valley Hospital emergency room. Midland emergency room. Saint Elizabeth emergency room. Bethesda North emergency room. St. John’s emergency room. Detroit receiving Hospital. emergency department. emergency room. ER. ER statistics. David Hoffman Filmmaker