Pocono News Section

ER" Leaves Legacy In Hospital Emergency Rooms

ER" Leaves Legacy In Hospital Emergency Rooms - Friday, April 3, 2009 at 10:52AM EST

" Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Friday, Apr 3, 2009 @ 10:52am EST
One of NBC’s longest running programs said its final farewell Thursday night. After 15 years, “ER” leaves a legacy in hospitals across the country.

What made “ER” so groundbreaking back in 1994 was how accurately the show portrayed what really happens in emergency departments like this one at Geisinger. While the doors of County General Hospital have closed for good --its legacy is seen in hospitals across the country. We're talking about the unknown number of medical professionals who say the show inspired them to work in a real life ER.

For fifteen seasons ER's fast pace and rapid-fire medical jargon carried viewers to a place most of us want to avoid. But it lured Jay Conlon right through the ER doors. "I saw it as an exciting career where I could help a lot of folks in different situations." A surgical resident when ER debuted in 1994, Conlon switched to emergency medicine in part because of what he saw on-air. He's now director of Wilkes-Barre General's emergency department. "You saw folks come in, work hard during the day, take care of all sorts of situations, you never knew what you were up against."

Brian Krahel of Geisinger Wyoming Valley says he enjoys the rush of never knowing what you're going to deal with at any moment. Going from laying down doing nothing to 100 mph --drop of a hat." When tragedy strikes Geisinger paramedic Brian Krahel responds. Watching the early years of ER helped Brian choose his career.

The show's impact isn't lost on Noah Wyle who played doctor john carter for eleven seasons. I asked him about that last week. “I've received a lot of gratifying mail that says that people went into medical school because of us. Initially we swelled the ranks of applicants going into medical school."

And Conlon says what those med students saw on TV --is remarkably similar to real life. “Michael Crichton was a real genius. He was able to put a show together that was realistic in nature."

But the reality, Conlon says, emergency medicine is facing a crisis. Millions of uninsured flock to ER’s for their primary health care. It's a problem Wyle wants solved. “I'm hoping our legacy would be universal health care for everybody."

But as ER takes its final curtain call, the show's current legacy can be found in the men and women who work diligently to save lives in your local ER.