There is a new “ER” style show on Max called The Pitt that stars Noah Wylie, the guy who played Carter, the young doctor on ER. Wylie now portrays Dr. Rabinavitch (“Dr. Robby”), the senior attending in a busy Pittsburgh emergency department, who goes from patient to patient, emergency to emergency, overseeing a cast of younger doctors, nurses and other medical staff. Each episode of the show takes place over one hour’s time.
I have seen four episodes now. There will be 15 in all. I have gone from saying it is a really good to show to the appraisal that it is magnificent. From a medical standpoint, it is realistic. Sure there a few minor points I could nitpick, but the show does a phenomenal job of educating about the conditions that patients face and explaining the treatments the ED staff provides. It also deals with the realities of EDs today, overcrowding, overworked and underpaid staff, boarding patients in the ED because the hospital administrators are trying to save money and increase profits.
Where this show stands tallest is the portrayal of the acts of compassion and decency that the ED staff shows to patients, acts that occur every day in EDs across the land, acts that may go unnoticed by the larger world, but are deeply felt by those who receive them.
Many of the patients’ stories carry over from episode to episode. The one I want to focus on is that of a man dying of respiratory failure and the difficulty his two adult children have with letting him go. Dr, Robby shepherds them through the painful frustrating process with the heart and skill of a man who has been privy to the painful private moments of many others in similar situations, even as he struggles to deal with his own PTSD. He tells them of a Polynesian custom of saying goodbye that is very simple. You tell the dying “I love you. I thank you. I forgive you. Please forgive me.” The results of his advice are stunning.
This isn’t sappy syrupy sentimentalism. The emotions are real and earned. Bravo to the writers, actors and technical advisors behind this show.
So far, the show hasn’t really touched much on the prehospital. There are the same scenes of EMS bringing the patients in on their stretchers and giving their short concise reports to the awaiting doctors, who help move the patients over to the ED beds. No scenes yet of EMS waiting in lengthy triage lines or searching for staff to give a report to, or finding and making beds and cleaning the rooms for their patients because the ED staff hasn’t gotten to it. One EMS crew is scolded for not recognizing their “drug seeking” patient is in a serious sickle cell crisis. Another EMT is made fun of for leaving the keys in the ambulance allowing unknowns to steal it. I’m hoping they will better integrate EMS into the show, but that is a small request. The shows’ focus is inside the ED and the staff who make it run.
One last patient encounter I want to focus on. Two students accidently overdose on fentanyl contaminated Xanax that they acquired to help sleep after a long caffeine fueled study session, one to likely death and the other to a second chance. The survivor is warned to avoid any pill not coming from a legitimate prescription. She is given fentanyl test strips and take home Narcan just in case. This little scene will no doubt make some difference in the world and save some lives of those who might not have otherwise been warned. Thanks for doing this in the show.
I predict “The Pitt” is going to lead to a renaissance of people wanting to become ED doctors and nurses and maybe even EMS workers by holding these professions up to the nobility they deserve.
Check out a preview here:
https://www.max.com/shows/pitt-2024/e6e7bad9-d48d-4434-b334-7c651ffc4bdf