Code 3, starring Rainn Wilson (Dwight of the Office) is a great EMS movie. It is an action comedy that packs an emotional punch and while at times exaggerating, still hits the bullseye when it comes to the truth of the job. It is not a dumb slapstick movie that makes EMS look like a bunch of buffoons. I give it an A, and rank it up there with Broken Vessels and Asphalt City as one of the great EMS movies. I love Mother, Jugs and Speed, but this movie is better. And I like it better than Bringing Out the Dead.
Wilson plays Randy, a paramedic with19 years on the job who is burned out and about to snap. (Sadly the burned out paramedic is the center of most EMS movies, but it is hard to argue with it as the archetype). Together with his partner Lil Rel Howery (the comedian) and their ride-along, Aimee Carrero, the threesome journeys through a challenging 24 hour shift.
In the beginning, Wilson says, “All of the shit you are about to see, happened to a real paramedic…me”
I decided to keep a list of all the things in the movie that happen to Wilson (or he recalls) that have happened to me in my 30 years, as well as a list of things that I have never experienced.
Here it is.
Yes (most of these happened to me multiple times)
Witnessed “police ABCs” (ambulance before cruiser)
Stuck by a needle
Had gunshots on my scene
Been puked upon, and in specific, had someone puke in my mouth
Wrestled with a patient
Been talked down to by an ED MD
Suffered burnout
Begged to get off schedule and couldn’t get off
Had a partner who refused to let me drive (“I wheel, you heal”)
Gave my uneaten breakfast to a patient
Transported a trauma patient in cardiac arrest to ED only to have patient called as soon as I moved patient to stretcher, and got an attitude from the doctor for transporting patient (You had to be there, doc, to understand.)
Was yelled at by a citizen for where I parked my ambulance while trying to get something to eat
Denied discount offered to police and fire, but not EMS.
Had naked patient in middle of street
Broke a patient’s ribs doing CPR
Had a rider question my actions as not following the book
Been yelled at for tracking mud into ED
Had an ED vending machine steal my money
Been called to a nursing home for difficulty breathing and found the patient in rigor mortis
Had a bystander nurse try to take over a scene.
Had a motorcycle patient with an F-ed up eye
Been called Ambulance driver” by a citizen
Been asked “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” by a citizen
Had a decapitated patient
Started as a paramedic because I wanted to make a difference
Had police rile up the psychiatric patient I had under control
Asked for wrong med (brain fart) on a medical control patch
Been told to take my patients to other hospitals because the ED staff was tired of me bringing in patient after patient
Had a pediatric code
Received applause from bystanders after resuscitating a patient in public
Told someone they were going to be all right and then they died
Almost been hit by car at an accident scene
Been on a multiple fatal MVA
Had a shouting match with an MD
Had a resident ride with me.
Felt like I didn’t make a difference (at times).
No (never happened to me)
Abused a third rider (but saw others do it)
Had a gun pointed at me (know of it happening to others)
Slammed naloxone into an overdose patient (seen others do it)
Had a panic attack (seen it happen to a partner)
Hit a patient with an oxygen tank (Know an EMT who was hit by one, but never and EMS person hitting a patient with one)
Only made $42,060 a year (I started as an EMT in 1983 making $6 a hour, but once a paramedic in 1995 I began making much more than $42,060 a year (thanks to OT made much, much more).
Had a decapitated two year old.
Code 3 is an action comedy and not a serious drama like The Pitt, but it uses its comedy for a serious purpose and not for cheap laughs. The characters are real and so is the message. EMS can come close to breaking you, but it’s a job worth doing, even if sometimes, it doesn’t seem that way.
I also want to mention there is a scene where the crew has to talk down a violent psychiatric patient and then the police arrive and threaten to tragically escalate the situation. The scene, which shows EMS at its best, defusing chaos, hits home for me. Frighteningly realistic and very well done. I want to say Bravo to the writers for this one in particular.